We're going to learn a little about watersheds and how they work and why they're important.

And we're with Ali Pablo and you are the environmental education coordinator for the Saint Joseph County Soil and Water Conservation District.

Got it all in the correct one title but you have this special apparatus.

We're going to talk about that in just a minute, which is really cool.

We should first talk about what is a water.

Yes.

That's important.

So a watershed, to put it in simple terms, is an area of land in which water, whether it be rain falls, snowmelt, precipitation falls and collects into one larger area, usually a larger body of water, such as a reservoir or a basin or sometimes a major river Okay.

And it just so happens we're at St Patrick's County Park under a shelter because we need some kind of shade.

Yes, we do.

So we're essentially right now, we are in the watershed of the Saint Joseph River, which is flowing right by here on its way to St Joseph, Michigan, where it will dump out into Lake Michigan.

That's correct, yeah.

This apparatus is got a name like it's a 3D watershed thing, right?

Yeah.

So this is called our Augmented Reality or Air Sandbox.

Okay.

And so with the air sandbox, the 3D component comes into effect.

As you can see, here on the sand.

And basically what we have here is like a big wooden tub and there's lots of sand nailed in here.

And it's the way you kind of shaped it right now.

We've got a mound in the middle and there's some different colors.

So why don't you tell us a little bit about the colors so we understand what's happening here.

This is obviously a high spot This is all representing a watershed, right?

Yeah, that's correct.

And so with the sandbox here, the blue colors or the more blue, the color is, the lower in elevation we are theorizing.

Whereas the more red and color, the higher in elevation, as we can see here.

And so this camera right here is creating that 3D effect on the sand.

And so as you move the sand, so if I take a chunk out here for example, it moves in real time.

To be able to reconstruct that map.

Okay.

And then also this kind of shimmering blue purple color that represents water like a collection of.

Yes, exactly.

Okay.

So through using this, then people can literally manipulate it to see what changes in the watershed and how it impacts bodies of water.

That's correct.

Yeah.

So, like, this would be a hill or a mountain right?

Yeah.

So if I if I can go for it.

Okay.

So if I drag like this and it does take a little while, right?

Yes.

So like for it to catch up.

Yeah.

Because it's monitoring the movement of the sand.

And so it'll also monitor if your hand is in the way as by the way.

Okay.

Okay.

Now I can see water's kind of collecting in this kind of a ditch thing.

Yeah.

Channel, right.

Wow.

So how do you think this helps people get a better understanding of what happens in a watershed?

So I feel like it gives you more of a hands on approach, especially for kids, but also adults to to see how if they live in a very high elevation area, how that water that they see like rainfall, it doesn't really stay in that area.

And some of it may absorb into the ground and become ground water.

But some of it is also going to run just run off right away and collect into that watershed basin area.

Do you is there a way to manipulate like in this simulation if to make more rain or less room?

And so how do you do that?

Yeah.

So sometimes what you can do is put your hand up above and shake it open.

That's a rain cloud simulation or a faster method that we use is going over to the computer over here, which is where the program is running off of.

Okay.

And just pressing down are for rain, right?

Are for rain.

And so that oh yeah.

Now I see a little trend of kind of coming down things.

Okay.

Yep, yep.

And I see little trickles.

Yeah.

And I see now even my ditches intensified.

Yeah.

And there's more water kind of collecting in there.

Wow.

That's great.

I bet this is, as you say, a hit with kids.

Definitely.

Yeah.

They like to see the biggest melt in the sand.

Right, right.

Or the biggest ditch they can be and the biggest ditch that they can make.

Yeah, it's really interesting.

Let's talk a little bit about the watershed for the St Joseph River.

Yeah, because as I said, we're here at St Patrick's County Park.

The river's right nearby.

That watershed covers a large area, right?

Yes, it does.

And any idea how big that is?

So the St Joseph River Watershed covers approximately 14 counties.

14 counties Now, that doesn't include the entirety of the county.

Some of them, yes, but not all of them.

So in St Joe County, for example, roughly about half of the counties covered by the St Joseph River Watershed.

But the other half, especially in the south western corner of the county, that's the Kankakee River watershed.

So that is interesting that we can think about in St Joseph's County, Indiana, two different watersheds apply because water is going to different essentially bodies of water when it runs off of off of the ground.

And of course the St Joseph River begins in Hillsdale, Michigan.

Right.

And as I mentioned, ends in St Joe, Michigan.

It's essentially spends the river spends most of its time in Michigan right now.

Quite a bit of time.

Yes.

And I actually have a map to show you.

Let's take a look right over here.

A few maps, but say if we can focus on these top two right here.

And so as you can see on this top map right here, Hillsdale, Michigan, is approximately right over here where the start of the St Joseph River is.

And you can see it kind of lined through some of these counties, including Central Michigan, right here and further down until it crosses into the Indiana state border across and around St Joe, Indiana, right here, South Bend, Mishawaka, and then back up into Michigan through Berrien County and then finally ending in Lake Michigan itself.

So two counties in Indiana, Elkhart and St Joseph County, and then all the rest is pretty much across Michigan area.

And of course, what I like about this map is you can see like these tributaries, right, coming into the river, all impacting the main watershed, correct?

Yeah.

And so these little tributaries are further eating the overall watershed itself.

So any water, if you don't live close and see just a river, but you live closer to, say, Prairie River, for example, here in Grand County, all the water that rainwater and snowmelt that doesn't get absorbed by the ground that will eventually move into Prairie River and then from there into the C, Joseph River, and then eventually to Lake Michigan.

Right.

It's a collaborative effort.

And again, it's across 14, 15 counties total in Indiana and Michigan.

Okay.

And you have another map over here that said, maybe we can reach that and bring it up over here.

So this right here is from the Indiana Hoosier River Watch program.

And we can see right here the hydrological unit code or you see code of areas in Indiana.

And so we can see here as well in a colored map that you locate St Johnstone County.

Right, right there you can see it's two different color colors.

So yellow represents the St Joseph River watershed, but it also represents the major basin overall in this area of Indiana.

Okay.

And it shows that it's a part of the Great Lakes Major Basin, which makes sense because the Central River does flow into Lake Michigan.

Right.

And then over here with the other half state, your county, Kankakee River Watershed, and from there it goes actually into the Illinois River.

Major your basin.

And I'm thinking that eventually it heads down to the Mississippi.

Yeah, exactly.

So if we're looking at even bigger picture.

Yeah.

Not just focusing on where we are, but overall, eventually that water from Lake Michigan does go through the Mississippi River.

So we're part of an even larger watershed.

The Mississippi River watershed and eventually all that water ends up going south and exiting out into the ocean, into the Gulf of Mexico.

Okay.

Let's step back over here to the simulator, because I've got one more question as we're looking at this watershed and, you know, people live in watersheds, people work in watersheds, businesses.

There's industry scattered all around the watershed.

What are some things that people can do to be sensitive to watersheds or even to help watersheds?

Yeah, because not only do watersheds help our environment and our wildlife, but they also benefit us greatly as well.

And so one thing we can do is to keep an eye on our point and non-point source pollutions that occur within our, you know, our homes, our daily environment.

And so some of those things can include like making sure you recycle instead of just throwing something in the trash, picking up after your pets, because pet waste can actually be a point or source of pollution for these watersheds.

And river waste.

Another one as well can be maybe watching the amount of herbicides and pesticides that you use as well in your yards and just being more aware of what's going on in your area.

You might even look, I think for storm drains, if you have storm drains in your area, think about what's going in there.

You know, don't dump stuff down in there.

And then even, you know, I always also think of you mentioned pesticides and herbicides.

I also think of even things like grass clippings, right?

They accumulate and can wash into a water system.

And then that brings in a lot of nitrogen that impacts the water quality right now.

And even things like sediment can be a pollution in our watersheds in waterways.

So not something that people normally think about that.

Something to really keep in mind since it's something you don't normally think about being a pollutant.

Keep in mind, controlling erosion, essentially.

Exactly.

Yeah.

Great.

Well, this is really fascinating way to learn about watersheds and what they do and why they're important.

So thanks so much for helping us learn about watersheds and the Saint Joseph River watershed specifically as well.

Thanks so much, Alec.

Thank you.

Remember you can find your own outdoor elements if you visit area parks in natural areas.

We'll see you soon.