Stewardship of the

National Hydrography Dataset (NHD)

2010 West Virginia GIS ConferenceHuntington, West Virginia – June 9, 2010

Dave ArnoldNHD Partner Support for Region 5

Origins of the NHD

Nationwide 100K NHD Completed in 2001

EPA Reach File

Version 3 (RF3)Completed in 1992

USGS,EPA, and USFS

Collaborationin 1997

USGS 100K Digital

Line Graph (DLG)Completed in 1988

GeographicNames

InformationSystem (GNIS)

History of the NHD

• 2002 – USGS, USFS, and others begin work to produce 24K NHD.

• 2003 – Feature Operational Database (FOD) was retired and the enterprise geodatabase came online.

• 2007 – Conversions and conflation of nationwide 24K geodatabase completed.

From Past to Present

Original Focus of the NHD:

• Defining the data model.

• Building a navigable stream network.

• Creating tools and procedures to enforce the data model.

Current Focus of the NHD:

• Improved accuracy with local resolution data.

• Building the stewardship program.

• Data maintenance.

The NHD Geodatabase Model

• Expansible model based on the needs of end-users.

• Contains hydrography, hydrologic units, and tables.

• Relationships among tables and features.

• Includes change management to track history.

Data ModelNHD Model version 1.06, on the left, versus version 2.0, which is still in draft form, but will be released

within in the next few weeks.

Role of the USGS

• Provides direction and overall management.

• Maintains and develops the NHD model.

• Develops tools to standardize editing of the database.

• Hosts and distributes the database.

• Provides training to the stewards.

• Quality control to enforce national continuity of the dataset.

Role of the State Stewards

Principal Steward:

• Focal point of stewardship within the state.

• Signatory on the Memorandum of Understanding.

• Approve and submit all NHD updates.

• Interacts directly with the USGS Technical Point of Contact.

Sub-Stewards:

• Provide local knowledge for their area of expertise.

• May edit the NHD and submit it through the principal steward.

• Offer input on improvements for the NHD.

Role of the USGS Partner Support

• Works with 8 to 10 states and territories.

• Advocate for the NHD.

• Technology expert that supports applications.

• Provides training on the NHD and editing tools.

• Coordinates overall activity for one of six regions.

NHD Quality Control

• State steward runs quality control checks.

• USGS point of contact runs quality control checks.

• Database team in Denver runs the final quality control checks.

NHD Stewardship Regions

Memorandum of Understanding Status

Resolutions of NHD Data

Medium

• 1:100,000 scale

• Lower 48 + HI

High

• 1:24K (1:63K AK)

• 50 States + PR/USVI

Local

• Higher than 24k

• Increasing number

100K “Medium” Resolution – Providence Creek Headwaters in Delaware

20K “Local” Resolution – Providence Creek Headwaters in Delaware

100K “Medium” Resolution – Sarasota Bay Subbasin in Florida

24K “High” Resolution – Sarasota Bay Subbasin in Florida

Future of the NHD

• Watershed Boundary Dataset (WBD) Integration.

• GNIS Database Integration.

• Completely Revised NHDGeoEdit tool.

• Expansion of the NHD Model.

Questions? – http://nhd.usgs.gov