A watershed is an area of land that channels rainfall, snowmelt, and runoff into a common body of water. It is also known as a drainage basin. Every body of water has a watershed, and it can be a small area, such as a backyard, or a large area, such as a river basin. The term "watershed" is often used interchangeably with "drainage basin". The landscape is made up of many interconnected basins, or watersheds, and the process of finding a drainage boundary is referred to as watershed delineation. Watersheds are important in ecology because as water flows over the ground and along rivers, it can pick up nutrients, sediment, and pollutants, which can affect the ecological processes along the way as well as in the receiving water source. Land use can contribute to the volume of water reaching the river, in a similar way to clay soils. By preserving natural resources from overdevelopment, we protect the animals that call those spaces home and ensure critical water resources remain in pristine condition for human use.