Let's Play ... Jeopardy!

Posted by – Shawn Keenan, Water Resources Coordinator

Alex, I’ll take “Watersheds for $1,000.”

It’s the Daily Double.  How much do you wish to wager? Alex, I’ll bet $950 for the lead.  OK, big gambler here’s your clue, “In the great City of Auburn Hills lies these two watersheds.”

Oh, that’s easy … Uhm … Uhm … Uhm …. “What is ……………….”  Wait, I need a second to think this through, Alex.

Well, do you know the answer?  WAIT!!!

Now, picture this … everything stops and you enter into a dream sequence, where you have a chance to pause the game and talk to your trusty water expert guy at the City. Pretty convenient, huh … just go with it.

Here’s what he would tell you.  Everyone lives in a watershed, but interesting enough not many people know what watershed they live in.  To help you out, he would give a few additional clues:

1. A watershed is an area of land where the runoff from rain, sleet, and snow will ultimately drain into a particular river, lake, or other body of water.
2. There are 84 watersheds in Michigan.
3. Oakland County lies within four watersheds – the Clinton River, Huron River, Rouge River, and Shiawassee River.
4. One watershed covers almost the whole City of Auburn Hills and is named after the river than runs through it.  The other begins with the french word for red.

OK, with these clues you should now have a good chance of giving the right answer and potentially winning this game of Jeopardy! – once you leave the dream sequence, of course.

Before you give the answer, your trusty water expert guy would also point out that since everyone lives in a watershed … everyone has an impact on the water quality of our local rivers, lakes, and streams.

Activities that disturb the land affect the quality of water in a watershed.  Development which increases pavement and rooftops – called “impervious surface” –  also increases runoff volume and velocity causing flooding and erosion.

Impervious surface prevents water from soaking into the ground and replenishing the groundwater.  Groundwater provides a steady supply of cold fresh water to local water bodies – like the Clinton River – which is very important during the summer time to keep fish and other wildlife alive.

In addition, careless household activities can have an impact on water quality. The stormwater that enters our storm drains and ditches, eventually flows to nearby waterways, often carrying with it those pollutants from our daily activities.

As many know, these pollutants have an adverse impact on our local waters, which in turn degrades the quality of life of the community.

Well, wake up … time is running out … What’s your response in the form of a question?   Alex, “What is the Clinton River Watershed and the Rouge River Watershed?”

That’s correct!  It looks like you’re on track to win the game.  Yeah!

To find out how you can prevent water pollution and protect our resources for future generations, please visit www.auburnhills.org/stormwater.