catchment — English Dictionary

Noun

1. Any structure or land feature which catches and holds water; the collection of such water.

   Usage

   • attributive
   • often

   Examples

   More examples (2)

   Do you think that there ought to be some board or some authority for each catchment basin, which must be appointed with adequate powers to prevent the pollution of streams?

   [paragraph 515] Now let us come to this point: you are quite clear that serious evil exists in this union of navigation and drainage? […] [paragraph 517] And you are also clear that one obstacle is the taxation of the catchment area, and that it needs some plan to be devised for meeting it, although this plan may have defects?

   The catchment area is the slope of a great mountain range covered with fine forests, and there are many good reservoir sites.

   More examples (2)

   Isotope hydrograph separations determined by simple conservative-mixing models have shown repeatedly, in a variety of climactic and hydrogeologic environments, that streamflow generated during rainfall or snowmelt is derived primarily from water stored in the catchment prior to the event, a surprising insight that has profoundly changed how hydrologists view the runoff process. […] Catchment hydrology is more than just the study of water, or rocks, or biota – it encompasses the physical and biogeochemical interactions that control the hydrology and biogeochemistry of the system.

   Every mountain in Petra has carved water channels in the indigenous stone that catch the seasonal erosion floods. Every building seems to be positioned to maximize water catchment.

2. A catchment area, or the people it serves.

   Examples

   More examples (3)

   The Hospital Plan first set out the objective: a network of large district general hospitals, each providing specialised medical and surgical facilities for a catchment of 200,000 to 300,000 population[…].

   The publication of regular newsletters providing updates of floodplain management activities and distributed to individual residents in the catchment is an effective means of keeping the community informed.

   In August 2019, Redcar & Cleveland and Middlesbrough councils announced details of a joint project, supported by TVCA to build a new park and ride station on the Whitby line between Nunthorpe and Great Ayton. The two councils say the station would have a population catchment of 70,000 from local towns and villages.

Verb

1. To divide into catchment areas.

   Examples

   the catchmenting of mental health services

Noun

1. a structure in which water is collected (especially a natural drainage area)

   Broader terms

   structureconstruction