The Watershed Connection

We all live in a watershed.  What is a watershed?  A watershed is an area of land where water flows and drains to a common waterway such as a stream, lake, or the ocean.  What are the boundaries of a watershed?  A watershed starts at a ridge or mountaintop area and ends at the shoreline.  Any pollution that occurs in a watershed area can eventually enter our coastal waters. 

When it rains, the storm water collects all the contaminants, dirt, and pollutants and this runoff enters our coastal waters.  Polluted storm water runoff can be harmful to plants, animals, marine life, and people.  Our coastal waters sustain marine life, our tourism based economy and our recreational activities.  Therefore, if a watershed area is contaminated or polluted, the coastal waters off shore of the watershed will also be contaminated or polluted.

The Department of Planning and Natural Resources-Division of Environmental Protection (DPNR-DEP) is planning to post watershed signage around our islands.  These signs will designate the watershed area.  At DPNR-DEP, we encourage you to get to know your watershed areas and the bays in which they are connected.  Here are the names of our watersheds by island.

• St. Thomas

Fortuna Bay, Perseverance Bay, Lindberg Bay, St. Thomas Harbor, Frenchman Bay, Jersey Bay, Red Hook Bay, Smith Bay, Mandahl Bay, Magens Bay, Dorothea Bay, Santa Maria Bay, and Botany Bay.

• St. John

Great Cruz Bay, Rendezvous Bay, Fish Bay, Reef Bay, Great Lakeshore Bay, Coral Bay, Mennebeck Bay, Leinster Bay, Mary Point, Maho Bay and Hawknest.

• St. Croix

Sandy Point, Long Point Bay, Enfield Green, Manning Bay, Bethlehem Gut, Krause Lagoon, Cane Garden Bay, Halfpenny Bay, Fareham Bay, Great Pond Bay, Robin Bay, Turner Hole, Teague Bay, Coakley Bay, Chenay Bay, Altona Lagoon, Christiansted Harbor, Long Reef, Salt River Bay, North Side, Cane Bay, Annaly Bay, Hams Bay, Butler Bay, Rainbow, and Frederiksted Harbor.

Please don’t take our coastal waters for granted.  Keep our watersheds clean.  Every bay or every beach lies within a watershed area.   Remember whether you live uphill, near shore, in a valley, or in the middle of town, you are in a designated watershed. By keeping our watersheds areas clean, you are helping our efforts to improve and maintain our coastal water quality.

Follow this link for more information on Watersheds: http://dpnr.gov.vi/dep/watersheds/index.htm

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By Director, Nadine Noorhasan, Ph.D.
Department of Planning and Natural Resources
Director Division of Environmental Protection