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The NHD and the Future of Stream Mapping in West Virginia. Evan Fedorko West Virginia GIS Technical Center www.wvgis.wvu.edu. Jackie Strager (NRAC) www.nrac.wvu.edu Kevin Kuhn Kurt Donaldson WVGISTC. Introduction. Introduction Current NHD Stewardship. Outline:
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The NHD and the Future of Stream Mapping in West Virginia Evan Fedorko West Virginia GIS Technical Center www.wvgis.wvu.edu Jackie Strager (NRAC) www.nrac.wvu.edu Kevin Kuhn Kurt Donaldson WVGISTC
Introduction • Introduction • Current NHD • Stewardship • Outline: • History of NHD Development in West Virginia • Overview of NHD status in WV • Local Resolution NHD Pilot Projects • Existing stream map: 24K NHD • Known issues • Need for upgrades/stewardship • What’s next: Stewardship and the future of NHD • Challenges • Recommendations
NHD Status in WV • Introduction • Current NHD • Stewardship • National Hydrography Dataset (NHD) • NHD is complete in WV for: • Medium resolution (1:100,000 scale) • High resolution (1:24,000) • Local resolution NHD (1:4,800) • Pilot projects complete • Gauley • Upper Guyandotte
Local resolution NHD • Introduction • Current NHD • Stewardship • Local streams mapped from 2003 SAMB aerial photography and 3m DEM • Benefits: • Better cartographic base for local mapping • Captures changes in stream geometry, length • Status: • Pilot projects complete for Gauley, Upper Guyandotte watersheds in late 2008 • Not currently downloadable from USGS
LR-NHD Conclusions • Introduction • Current NHD • Stewardship • Two pilot watersheds completed • WV one of the first states to complete conflation using USGS’ new conflation tools • At this time, continued development of LR-NHD is not recommended. Reasons: • Issues with 1:4,800 source data – inconsistent inclusion of “special features” such as ditches and culverts • Comparative difficulty of conflation process • Propagation of HR-NHD errors • General lack of interest by the WV NHD community • The persistent generalization question • Continued changes in stream geometry
Evaluating the NHD • Introduction • Current NHD • Stewardship • At this time, most complete statewide stream dataset is the 24K NHD (HR-NHD) • What can be improved in 24K NHD in WV? • Evaluation of the 24K NHD • Statewide review by WVDEP • Documentation of errors by NRAC, WVDEP • Case study of mining-related changes (Coal River)
Issues with 24K NHD • Introduction • Current NHD • Stewardship • Main issues: • Errors in geometry • Errors in attributes • Errors in NHD formatting, reach coding • Changes in stream geometry since streams were mapped • Source data for 24K NHD: • 24K DLG data • Topo map blue lines • GNIS names
Issues with NHD: Source data • Introduction • Current NHD • Stewardship NHD Source data: USGS Topo maps
Issues with NHD • Introduction • Current NHD • Stewardship Quantifying issues with the NHD Primarily based on WVDEP review
Issues with NHD • Introduction • Current NHD • Stewardship Quantifying issues with the NHD Primarily based on WVDEP review
Quantifying issues • Introduction • Current NHD • Stewardship • Quantifying 24K NHD issues as identified by WVDEP review
Geometry issues in NHD • Introduction • Current NHD • Stewardship • Stream updates needed due to: • Construction of dams, impoundments • Roads, highways • Ongoing mining-related alterations
Coal River case study • Introduction • Current NHD • Stewardship • Goal: Quantify amount of stream drainage change related to mining for southern WV watershed • Input datasets: • 24K NHD stream lines • 1:4,800 local stream lines • 2003 SAMB aerial photos • 2007 NAIP aerial photos
Original 24K NHD • Introduction • Current NHD • Stewardship
2003 Aerial photos • Introduction • Current NHD • Stewardship 2003 Photo
Mining visible in 2003 • Introduction • Current NHD • Stewardship 2003 Photo
Aerial photos 2007 • Introduction • Current NHD • Stewardship 2007 Photo
Mining visible 2007 • Introduction • Current NHD • Stewardship 2007 Photo
Summary for 24K NHD in Coal Total: 4.1% of stream length NOTE: Similar analysis shows that 1.3% of mapped local scale streams were impacted by mining between 2003 and 2007.
Future of NHD for WV • Introduction • Current NHD • Stewardship • Goal: Establish a stewardship program for NHD in WV, including: • Ensure data updates and maintenance (immediate & long-term) • Develop procedures & policies • Establish central point of contact • Identify principal steward, sub-stewards • Steps taken so far: • Drafted a business plan for NHD in WV • Drafted an MOU between potential NHD steward and the USGS
Business Plan • Introduction • Current NHD • Stewardship • Completed business plan for NHD in WV • Business plan includes: • History of the NHD • Local Resolution Development • Current uses/users of NHD in WV • A plan for NHD stewardship in WV • A draft memorandum of understanding between the USGS and a stewardship entity
Recommendations (1) • Introduction • Current NHD • Stewardship • Identify the principal NHD steward for West Virginia • Candidates include: WVDEP Water, WVDEP TAGIS, WV GIS Technical Center, Natural Resource Analysis Center • Responsibilities of the principal steward: • Sign MOU with USGS • Leads and coordinates stewardship efforts • Acts as the principal authority on stewardship issues • May or may not be editor of NHD data with USGS Geo Edit tools
Recommendations (2) • Introduction • Current NHD • Stewardship • Identify a core group of sub-stewards • Candidates: West Virginia GIS Technical Center, Natural Resource Analysis Center, WV Department of Natural Resources, USFS – Mon National Forest, et al. • Responsibilities of sub-stewards: • Trained to use USGS NHD Geo Edit tools • Participate in editing of NHD data • Fill in knowledge gaps
Recommendations (3) • Introduction • Current NHD • Stewardship • Work as a group with the NSDI and NHD liaisons to secure start up funding for NHD Stewardship • We believe funding equivalent to 1 FTE employee will be necessary to get an NHD stewardship program off the ground
Recommendations (4) • Introduction • Current NHD • Stewardship • Develop a coordination framework for editing the NHD; emphasize: • Organized editing • Information sharing • Schedule an onsite NHD Geo Edit training session • PS and sub-stewards will participate
Recommendations (5) • Introduction • Current NHD • Stewardship • Convene a hydrographic data users group • Some suggested tasks and topics: • Develop a “best practices” document for NHD use within groups or agencies • Explore, document and promote NHD tools and software such as the Hydro Event Management Tool (HEM) • Identify and discuss NHD stewardship policy issues
Recommendations (6) • Introduction • Current NHD • Stewardship • Continue and expand the compilation of known errors to the NHD • Develop a methodology to receive potential edits from stewardship community, such as a web editing or web based problem reporting tool. • Several states have deployed or are developing similar tools; Vermont, Alabama, Texas, et al.
Discussion Natural Resource Analysis Center West Virginia University www.nrac.wvu.edu WV GIS Technical Center West Virginia University wvgis.wvu.edu