Force!
One way to appreciate the relative force of the water moving through the watershed is to translate the volume into weight:
Q: What would 6860.7 cubic feet of water weigh, and why is this relevant?
1.0 cubic foot of water contains approximately 7.5 gallons of water
(1.0 gallon of water weighs approximately 8.0 pounds)
7.5 gallons/cf X 8.0 pounds X 6860.7 cf =?
Approximately 411,642 pounds or about 206 tons of water would be generated by this area in two hours in one heavy storm!
This explains the connection between stormwater and erosion: it is the force of the water moving through the watershed from a higher elevation to a lower elevation that is responsible for scouring the tributaries and streams en route to Lake Champlain. 206 tons of force can move a lot of sediment!
Do erosion and the displaced sediment really matter? According to Mike Winslow of The Lake Champlain Committee in Burlington: "Sediment is the leading cause of water quality problems in urban streams..." *
*Mike Winslow is a staff scientist at the Lake Champlain Committee