A watershed is an entire river system. An area drained by the river and all its tributaries. It is sometimes called a drainage basin, because it captures, stores, and releases surface water.
Haiti relies on rainwater to meet a majority of its needs. The country's main water basins provide Haiti's water supply and are themselves fed by a variety of interweaving streams carrying fresh water down from the mountains.
Because most of the vegetation in Haiti has been cut, there is nothing to hold the water under the soil. This means that Haiti's crop yields have gone down and they have lost soil fertility. Why? The soil has been washed away, never to be returned to the mountainsides.
The intermittent streams of these systems, particularly on the windward mountain slopes, are vulnerable to rainfall-induced flash floods during rainy seasons. Their watersheds suffer from a lack of environmental management and the absence of conservation practices impairs their agricultural productivity.
Without conservation practices, Haiti's land will continue to wash away.