Subwatersheds

Part of speech: noun

Definitions

1. A smaller subdivision of a watershed that collects and channels water to a specific stream or river tributary
2. a distinct area within a larger drainage basin where water converges and feeds into a larger watercourse
3. an ecosystem component focused on the management of water resources within a defined sub-area of a watershed

Etymology: "Subwatersheds" is the plural of "subwatershed," a compound formed from the prefix "sub-", meaning "under" or "subordinate to," and "watershed." The "sub-" prefix comes from Latin "sub," and in English it is widely used to mark a unit that sits within a larger one, so a subwatershed is a smaller drainage area nested inside a larger watershed. The base word has its own shift in meaning. "Watershed" originally referred to a ridge or line of high ground dividing one river basin from another, the "shed" in the sense of a dividing line, the same root as "shed" meaning to separate or part. Only later did the word come to mean the whole area of land draining into a particular river, and then, figuratively, a turning point. Subwatersheds inherit the older geographic sense: each is a land area whose streams all flow into one particular channel.

Synonyms: drainage basins, catchments, tributaries