The Athabasca River watershed is the area of land that captures all precipitation (rain, hail, and snow) that eventually drain into the Athabasca River. Together with the area of land within Alberta that drains into Lake Athabasca, they form the Athabasca watershed within Alberta. As water flows downhill over and through land our activities on land eventually affect rivers, streams, lakes, wetlands and ocean. Whatever we do upstream affects water and land downstream. Therefore, the watershed is the appropriate land unit for managing our activities so that the land, water, and wildlife remain healthy.