USGS Geospatial Liaisons - Supporting NHD Stewardship

1. USGS Geospatial Liaisons - Supporting NHD Stewardship NHD Workshop April 14, 2009

2. The National Geospatial Program within USGS • Headquarters Leadership – Programmatic Guidance, Product and Service Leads • National Geospatial Technical Operations Center - Operations, Data Services, Technical POCs • Geospatial Research Center • Emergency Operations • Partnerships and External Coordination - Geospatial Liaisons

3. NHD is a vital component of TheNational Map The National Map is a collaborative effort to improve and deliver topographic information for the nation, with direction provided by the National Geospatial Program The goal of The National Map is to become the nation’s source for trusted, nationally consistent, integrated and current topographic information available online for a broad-range of uses

4. Partner input to The National Map • State, local, Tribal, Federal, and private entities produce and maintain a vast array of current, accurate geospatial data • Over the years, a significant objective and investment focus of NGP has been the development of mutually beneficial partnerships to coordinate data acquisition, integration, maintenance and stewardship • Partner contributions and data remain a primary input and foundation of TNM • NGP Geospatial Liaisons are placed in the states to support partnership development

6. Geospatial Liaison Role • Facilitate growth of NSDI and TNM in a state - link to FGDC activities and grants - serve on state/regional GIS bodies - support development of specific GIS layers - support stewardship development • Support Technology exchange - Provide presentations - Facilitate training • Local NGP investment manager • Conduit for National Information Exchange

7. Liaison Embedded in GIS Community • USGS Geospatial liaisons serve as Federal representatives on over 200 Councils and Committees, mostly GIS related • Liaisons serve as members of 39 state GIS steering committees or GIS councils, and numerous local and regional bodies • Liaisons also serve as members or chairs of multiple thematic sub-committees under the state councils, especially for elevation and imagery where USGS has A-16 responsibility • Many liaisons lead or support Federal GIS coordination groups in states and regions • Councils serve as a forum for GIS partnerships and framework data coordination – provides a broad community perspective to development of NHD stewardship in a state

8. NHD Stewardship Agreements 1/12/08

9. Liaisons Facilitate Workshops and Training • In FY08 Liaisons coordinated or actively supported over 80 GIS workshops and training sessions across the nation • Over 2,000 participants attended these sessions • Topics include: • National Hydrography Dataset (NHD) and Watershed Boundary Database (WBD) use and maintenance training • Metadata training • GIS support for homeland security and natural disaster response • LiDAR workshops • Fifty-States Initiative workshops • Liaisons also served as committee members on multiple planning boards of state, regional and national conferences

10. FY09 Partnership Projects - $800K+ NHD • Liaisons consult with Jeff Simley at beginning of fiscal year for proposal guidelines • Liaisons submit proposals after collaborating with partners in their states. Proposal characteristics are scored by the liaison, the product lead, the regional liaison chief, and NGTOC • Proposal Review Board votes on all proposals. Requires unanimous vote from at least 2 Regional Chiefs, 2 Product and Service Leads, and 1 NGTOC Location Chief. If not unanimous, forwarded to NGP managers for resolution • Hold continuous review meetings every two weeks throughout the year

11. Factors Considered in Allocating Partnership Funding • USGS to Partner funding ratio (50% match required) • NGP geographic area priorities • More current data • Improvement of resolution or accuracy • Data integration goals • Partner Priority/Statewide Plans • Technical soundness/completeness of proposal • Areal amount of coverage • Partner Stewardship Agreement • Partner Past Performance • Regional science priority • Leverages Federal partnerships

12. Understanding Complexities of USGS Contracting • Liaisons work with a USGS Contracting Officer from their region, and each region operates somewhat uniquely • Liaisons have experience with multiple contracting vehicles – work share, cooperative agreement, grants, Joint Funding Agreements • Liaisons will develop the initial statement of work and requisition paperwork, in conjunction with the state • Liaisons can help with Grants.gov process, or work with the contracting officer to have some initial training provided as required

13. National Information Sharing • Partnership Proposal myUSGS Community • Liaisons can access results of PRB decisions • Liaisons can review proposals from other states • Geospatial Liaison myUSGS Community • Share Stewardship Agreements • Share other documents – Colorado NHD Investment Review, Oregon WBD/NHD Integration MOU • Share NHD partnership project results – local resolution • Repository of past agreements • USGS Liaison State Pages in Development

14. Partnership and Liaison Web Presence – Liaison Contact Page

17. Final Comment The USGS Geospatial Liaison, the NHD Technical POC and NGTOC, and Jeff Simley as NHD Product lead, work together to provide support to state stewards.

18. Thank You Questions?