The Watershed: Definition

An area that topographically appears to contribute all the water that passes through a given cross section of a stream. More simply, an area of land which drains to a common point. Water passing through a watershed originated as meteoric water (precipitation) on the watershed.

The Watershed Divide

Divide: the surface topographic boundary that delimits the area of a watershed. All water inside the divide will tend to flow towards the stream channel outlet.
Chesapeake Bay Watershed

Stream Order

Pie chart shows the percentage of total stream-kilometers in each order in Maryland.

The Hudson River

Middle Hudson Watershed
Albany

U.S. Watersheds

Scale 1:250,000 m or County scale

Major U.S. Watersheds & Drainage Basins

#7: Upper Mississippi River Basin (Watershed) #12: Texas Gulf Coast Drainage Basin

The water resources regions of the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) follow the major continental watersheds and drainage basins.

Summary
The watershed is a basic spatial reference unit in hydrology. Topography determines the extent of a watershed. All water generated inside the watershed divide flows toward the stream outlet. A drainage basin is different from a watershed. It can route water to any surface water body over a wide area.