Coordinated by
Lynn C. Bjorklund, New England Liaison
U.S. Geological Survey, National Mapping Program
Northborough, MA, 508-490-5074
lcbjorklund@usgs.gov

The National Hydrography Dataset (NHD) is seamless surface waters data. Consider it as a generation (or 3) beyond USGS DLGs and EPA Reach files. It’s available nationwide at 1:100,000-scale - keep reading! --the Delaware River Basin (NY/NJ/PA/DE) and the White River, VT Basin are completed at 1:24,000-scale (the White may be close to 1:5K by NEARC), and more high-resolution production is underway or planned across the northeast. The data is in the public domain, downloadable off the web, and is being developed through multi-agency public/private collaboration for a wide variety of applications. Look at http://nhd.usgs.gov for details.

The first 1.5-hour panel discussion will focus on National Hydrography Dataset characteristics, availability, and production issues. Reps from many states will be present to answer questions and address state-specific perspectives.

The National Hydrography Dataset (NHD) is a comprehensive set of digital spatial data that encodes information about naturally occurring and constructed bodies of water, paths through which water flows, and related entities. The information encoded about these features includes classification and other characteristics; geographic names; positions, lengths, and areas; “reach codes” through which other information can be related to the NHD; and the direction of water flow. In addition to this geographic information, the dataset contains metadata and information that supports the exchange of future updates and improvements to the data. The data support many applications, such as geocoding observations, modeling the flow of waters, making maps, and maintaining data.

presenter: Lynn Bjorklund (with input from others), USGS New England Mapping Liaison, Northborough, MA, lcbjorklund@usgs.gov

The original 1:100,000-scale NHD has been available for a while now. 1:24,000-scale is complete in the multi-state Delaware River Basin, and under development in VT, NH, and ME. The White River Basin in VT was recently completed at 1:24K, and will be the first full cataloging unit to be completed at 1:5,000-scale. What about elsewhere? Join the discussion.

presenter: Roger Barlow, USGS/National Mapping Program Liaison for NY,NJ,PA, and the Chesapeake Bay Watershed, Reston, VA, rbarlow@usgs.gov

The Delaware River supplies drinking water to 4% of the U.S. population, and is heavily used for recreation. Documenting watershed condition changes in an interdisciplinary manner is now more focused, with recently available NHD data to help employ watershed strategies designed to maintain the viability of this resource. Roger will trace the origin of the requirements leading to creation of the hi-res NHD of the Delaware River Watershed. Benefits from standardized reporting, to integrated monitoring among multiple agencies, State and Federal will be highlighted.

presenter: Mike Brouillette, GIS Project Manager, Vermont Center forGeographic Information, Burlington, VT

The Vermont Center for Geographic Information (VCGI), in coordination with other state and regional agencies, is enhancing Vermont's spatial data infrastructure by extending the USGS/USEPA National Hydrography Dataset(NHD) standard to locally generated surface water data statewide. Building on the valuable resource of a statewide digital ortho-photography program, producing 1:5,000 scale based imagery, the NHD model is being extended to a super high resolution surface water data set. This three-year initiative will meet the needs of many different users and replace existing surface water data of variable quality organized to political boundaries, with highly accurate and enriched data, organized at the eight digit Cataloging Unit watershed level. Technical and procedural issues encountered in the extension of the NHD model to the super high resolution level will be discussed in conjunction with a brief report on the status of the statewide effort.