The NHD and the Future of The NHD and the Future of Stream Mapping in West VirginiaStream Mapping in West Virginia

Evan FedorkoWest Virginia GIS Technical Centerwww.wvgis.wvu.edu

Jackie StragerNatural Resource Analysis Center

www.nrac.wvu.edu

Introduction

• 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• The Plan• How YOU can help!

• Introduction• Current NHD• Stewardship

NHD Status in WV

• 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

• Introduction• Current NHD• Stewardship

Local resolution NHD

• 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

• Introduction• Current NHD• Stewardship

LR-NHD Conclusions

• 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

• Introduction• Current NHD• Stewardship

Evaluating the NHD

• 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)

• Introduction• Current NHD• Stewardship

Issues with 24K NHD

• 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

• Introduction• Current NHD• Stewardship

Issues with NHD: Source data

NHD Source data:USGS Topo maps

• Introduction• Current NHD• Stewardship

Issues with NHD

Quantifying issues with the NHD

Primarily based on WVDEP review

• Introduction• Current NHD• Stewardship

Issues with NHD

Quantifying issues with the NHD

Primarily based on WVDEP review

• Introduction• Current NHD• Stewardship

Quantifying issues

Type of problemNumber of Segments

% of Segments

Total Length (mi)

Possible geometry error 614 0.28 254

NHD attribute error (FCODE) 6 0.00 3

Karst/sinking streams 291 0.13 107

NHD format error (reaches) 6 0.00 n/a

Name issues (possible) 204 0.09 89

Name issues 1,337 0.62 657

TOTAL 216,579 94,796

• Quantifying 24K NHD issues as identified by WVDEP review

• Introduction• Current NHD• Stewardship

Geometry issues in NHD

• Stream updates needed due to:• Construction of dams, impoundments• Roads, highways• Ongoing mining-related alterations

• Introduction• Current NHD• Stewardship

Coal River case study

• 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

• Introduction• Current NHD• Stewardship

Original 24K NHD• Introduction• Current NHD• Stewardship

2003 Aerial photos

2003Photo

• Introduction• Current NHD• Stewardship

Mining visible in 2003

2003Photo

• Introduction• Current NHD• Stewardship

Aerial photos 2007

2007Photo

• Introduction• Current NHD• Stewardship

Mining visible 2007

2007Photo

• Introduction• Current NHD• Stewardship

Summary for 24K NHD in Coal

Description Area (acres)

Length of 24K streams

(mi)

Entire Coal watershed 570,000 2,232

Impacted by mining (2003) 12,321 59

Impacted by newer mining (2007)

10,757 33

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

• Goal: Establish a stewardship program for NHD in WV, including:– Ensure data updates and maintenance (immediate & long-

term)– Develop procedures & policies– Identify principal steward, technical lead, sub-stewards, et al.

• Steps taken so far: – Drafted a business plan for NHD in WV– Drafted an MOU between potential NHD steward and the

USGS– Drafted a tentative plan – debuting today!

• Introduction• Current NHD• Stewardship

Business Plan

• 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

• Introduction• Current NHD• Stewardship

Plan (1)

• Identify the principal NHD steward for West Virginia– MOU Signatory: WV Office of GIS State Coordination,

Tony Simental

• Responsibilities of the principal steward:– Sign MOU with USGS– Work with Technical Coordinator and Sub-Stewards

to lead, fund and maintain an NHD Stewardship program

• Introduction• Current NHD• Stewardship

Plan (2)

• Identify the Technical Lead of NHD Stewardship for West Virginia:– West Virginia GIS Technical Center

• Responsibilities of Technical Lead:– Trained to use USGS NHD Geo Edit tools – actively

edits the NHD– Leads and coordinates stewardship efforts– Acts as the principal authority on stewardship issues– Coordinates sub-stewards and works to ensure best

available knowledge is utilized to improve the NHD

• Introduction• Current NHD• Stewardship

Plan (3)

• Identify a core group of sub-stewards– Candidates: Natural Resource Analysis Center, WV

Department of Natural Resources, USFS – Mon National Forest, WVDEP – Office of Water Resources, et al.

• Responsibilities of sub-stewards:– Trained to use USGS NHD Geo Edit tools– May participate in editing of NHD data– Fill in knowledge gaps

Plan (4)

• Work as a group with the NSDI and NHD liaisons to secure start up funding for NHD Stewardship

• Tentative Plan:– WVGISTC and NRAC joint project with the goal of editing

the NHD beginning with known errors (Slide #9)– Will also include analyzing HR-NHD lines and FEMA

DFIRM flood zones and editing geometry (extent TBD)– Plan for the future: addressing the changes to hydro

features in the coalfields

• Introduction• Current NHD• Stewardship

Plan (5)

• Develop a coordination framework for editing the NHD; emphasize:– Organized editing– Information sharing

• Schedule an onsite NHD Geo Edit training session – At a minimum, technical lead and sub-stewards will

participate

• Introduction• Current NHD• Stewardship

Plan (6)

• 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

• Introduction• Current NHD• Stewardship

Plan (7)

• 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.

• Introduction• Current NHD• Stewardship

DiscussionNatural Resource Analysis CenterNatural Resource Analysis Center

West Virginia UniversityWest Virginia Universitywww.nrac.wvu.eduwww.nrac.wvu.edu

WV GIS Technical CenterWV GIS Technical CenterWest Virginia UniversityWest Virginia University

wvgis.wvu.eduwvgis.wvu.edu