catchment

valuma-alue any structure or land feature which catches and holds water
1998, Isotope Tracers in Catchment Hydrology (preface) by C. Kendall and J.J. McDonnell

...that streamflow generated during rainfall or snowmelt is derived primarily from water stored in the catchment prior to the event....

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.

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.

(..) each providing specialised medical and surgical facilities for a catchment of 200,000 to 300,000 population.

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?

Now let us come to this point: you are quite clear that serious evil exists in this union of navigation and drainage ... And you are also clear that one obstacle is the taxation of the catchment area...?

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

Catchment hydrology is more than just the study of water, or rocks, or biota -- it encompassses the physical and biogeochemical interactions that control the hydrology and biogeochemistry of the system.