Georeferencing Water Quality Information to the NHD

Kimberly SparksAnne Marie Miller

Research Triangle InstituteRTP, NC

NHD Applications SymposiumAustin , TX

WQSDatabase

STORET

Inte

rnet

TMDLEvents

305(b)Events

NationalAssessmentDatabase

Reach Address Database

WQSEvents

NHD

TMDLTrackingSystem

GRTS(P2000)

303(d)Events

STORETEvents

GRTSEvents

WATERS(Watershed Assessment Tracking Environmental Results System)

What is the NHD-RIT?• ArcView 3.x extension

• Used to index 303(d) waters, 305(b) waters, Water Quality Standards, Fish Consumption Advisories, and Beaches

– georeferencing point entities to a point along a linear route reach in NHD

– georeferencing waterbody entities to waterbody reaches in NHD

• Tool for …

– georeferencing linear entities to linear route reaches in NHD

National Hydrography Dataset (NHD)

Storing Locational Information

Reach Code Entity ID150400010000001 WB-A150400010000002 WB-A150400010000003 WB-A150400010000004 WB-A150400010000005 WB-A150400010000006 WB-B150400010000007 WB-B150400010000008 WB-B150400010000009 WB-B150400010000010 WB-C150400010000011 WB-C150400010000012 WB-C

Water Quality Database Link to GIS Database

Event Table Indexed to NHD

NHD Coverage

Rch_code T_meas F_meas Entity_ID10190006000012 0.00 100.00 WB-A10190006000013 0.00 100.00 WB-A10190006000014 0.00 100.00 WB-A

Rch_code T_meas F_meas Entity_ID10190006000012 0.00 100.00 WB-A10190006000013 0.00 100.00 WB-A10190006000014 0.00 50.00 WB-A

Linear Event ThemesReferences to Geographic Information allow event tables to be displayed as themes in ArcView.

Point Events

Rch_code P_meas Entity_ID10180005000135 89.40 DWS-1

Can be used to display drinking water intakes, point source discharges,or as a place holder for small streams that are not in the 1:100K linework.

Waterbody Features

Stored as shapefiles, but function similarly to event tables when used with the NHD-RIT.

Technical Benefits

• Hides the complexity of the dynamic segmentation model

• Provides a user-friendly interface• All ArcView functions still available

Management Benefits

• Data integration improves decision making• Reduces Costs :

• tool can be used by non-GIS staff• overall reduced time/effort to create maps• tool and data are available for free• ArcView vs. ArcInfo

Waters listed under the Clean Water Act Section 303(d) (1998)

http://fish.rti.org

Georeferenced BeachesState of California

More Information & Training

NHD-RIT and reach indexing web site: http://georef.rti.org/

NHD web site:http://nhd.usgs.gov/

ksparks@rti.org