The Center for Watershed Protection has a nifty new quiz about watersheds. IT’S HARD! If you can pass, you’re definitely smarter than me. (If you fail, you still may be smarter than me.)

But it’s possible for us to be too smart for our own good. Without giving too many quiz answers away, a very large number of American adults can’t guess the definition of “watershed” on a multiple choice test. A VERY LARGE percentage.

And that means A VERY LARGE percentage will draw a blank when they read a headline about a “watershed improvement project,” scan a business card that has the title “watershed coordinator” on it, spot a bumper sticker for the “Nearby River Watershed Association,” or stumble across a webpage for the Center for Watershed Protection, for that matter.

The watershed is undoubtedly the most important concept running through our work — but it’s our habit to put the word front and center in our public communications, too. That keeps us preaching to a pretty small choir.

Hat tip to Central Indiana Watersheds for spotting this one.