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<br />. <br /> <br />Chapter 2 <br />Understanding Your Watershed <br /> <br />There are many types of flood problems. You could have overbank flooding from <br />large rivers, .coastal flooding during storms and hurricanes, flash flooding on <br />small'streams, basement flooding from sewer backups, or a combination of those.. <br />The first step in taelding your flood problem is understanding what causes it. <br />To begin, it is important to note that flooding is a lUllural occurrence. <br />Rivers, lakes, and salt-water bodies have always overflowed their normal beds to <br />inundate the nearby land. The land adjacent to these bodies of water is called the <br />floodplain. <br />Floodplain lands look dry most of the time, b\lt nature intends that they be <br />covered with water periodically. As long as we can live with this, there will be no <br />problems. Flood problems arise when we interfere with the natural process of <br />riverine, coastal, and other types of flooding. <br /> <br />Riverine Flooding <br /> <br />Riverine flooding simply means flooding of a river, stream, or other channel. To <br />understand riverine flooding, you need to be aware of your watershed. <br /> <br />. The watershed <br /> <br />A watershed is the area that drains to a lake, stream, or other body of water. It is <br />also called a basin or catchment area. <br />The boundary of a watershed is a ridge or divide. The divide is the high <br />ground and the river or lake is the lowest ground. Rain and snowmelt flow from <br />the divide to the receiving stream. <br /> <br />A WATERSHED BOUNDARY <br /> <br />. <br /> <br /> <br />5 <br />