Pocket Watersheds

Connecting to watersheds requires imagination. Watershed boundaries are invisible, and yet the flow of water connects us all. How can people engage in learning about and understanding how to care for the water that flows through their lives?

I developed Pocket Watersheds so people could imagine the vast connections that make up a watershed and envision themselves within these invisible geographies. Using wool roving in three shades, one dyed indigo blue, participants assemble the layers of a watershed and consider its parts: landforms, basin shape, surface water. Wet felting with soap and water transforms loose fibers into wool tiles that illustrate these ideas. With a model of a watershed to aid the imagination, people can then begin to explore the unique size, location, components of, inputs and outputs of their home watershed, including their individual contributions. This allows the Watershed Management Organization or District to become relatable in the context of the participant. Far from a faceless utility, watershed management organizations are active caretaking systems of which residents are a key part.

Pocket Watersheds grew out of the Felted Watershed project to allow participants to take home a tangible artwork of their creation and continue the conversation in their own lives.