Please learn where your water goes and what you can do to protect it. Using topographic maps, trace the path of a drop of water from the time it hits the ground at your school until it reaches a wetland, stream, river, lake, or maybe even an ocean. A. Locate your place on a topographic map. If the map is old, your house or school may not show. C. Numbers on the maps tell how many feet above the sea the land is located.
Contour lines close together indicate steep slopes.
Contour lines far apart indicate flat land. D. Water will flow toward the lower numbers. A drop of waterflowing off your land will flow across the contour lines toward lower numbers to the nearest stream, lake, ditch, or wetland. Many times when real estate is bought or sold, built or remodeled, maps are created to document the site, its size, or a building's relationship to its boundaries. Refer to your files for a map that documents your site.