This product consists of 29 datasets of tabular data and associated metadata for watershed characteristics of 1,530 study sites of the Surface Water Trends (SWT) project of the U.S. Geological Survey’s (USGS) National Water Quality Program (NWQP). The project is conducting national studies of trends in water quality of streams and rivers for periods ranging from 10 to 40 years, between 1972 and 2012. The data here include both static and time-series characteristics. Static data include primarily physical characteristics which have changed little over this period, such as geology, soils, and topography. Time-series data represent characteristics which may or may not have changed over time, such as land use, agricultural practices, precipitation, hydrologic modifications, atmospheric deposition, and population changes.

GIS shapefiles of cumulative watersheds models based on NETN's long-term water quality monitoring stations. Holdings include step-by-step instructions on how they were produced. Cumulative watersheds are one of several physical characteristics compiled and entered into the NETN water database (NETN_H2O) and represent the geographic extent from which surface water may have traveled to reach the monitoring site. Periodicity, flood attenuation, chemical buffering capacity, nutrient load, contaminants, invasive species, and water volume are just a few of the metrics that can be better understood when viewed from a cumulative watershed context. In addition to the watershed files, a Standard Operating Proceedure (SOP) documenting the geoprocessing steps required to calculate the area or region from which all surface water drains to NETN’s water quality monitoring sites (i.e. cumulative watershed) is also included. The process steps documented in this SOP were adapted from a University of Virginia Scholar’s Lab lecture assignment of unknown authorship titled “GIS Watershed Delineation Exercise”, circa 2012.

Water availability for human and ecosystem needs is a function of both water quantity and water quality, as described in the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) Water Science Strategy (Evenson and others, 2013). Recently, a quantitative approach to prioritize candidate watersheds for monitoring investment was developed to understand changes in water availability and advance the objectives of new USGS programs (Van Metre and others, 2020). In this study design, the contiguous United States (CONUS) was divided into 18 regions (referred to here as “hydrologic regions” or “HRs”) with relatively homogeneous hydrologic drivers and processes to represent the wide diversity in conditions that exist across the CONUS. The gap analysis focused on prioritizing new capabilities beyond the current USGS science in discharge and constituent concentration trends to develop integrated capabilities for assessing and modeling of the water-quality drivers of aquatic ecosystem health. Water availability can be limited by various water-quality parameters such as temperature, salinity, excess nutrients, suspended sediment, geogenic constituents, and other contaminants of emerging concern (CECs) depending on water sources and human or ecosystem needs (Stanton and others, 2017). This data release contains more than 100 geospatial variables summarized for each watershed at the Hydrologic Unit level 4 (HUC4) that were used to prioritize watersheds targeted for USGS research. Additionally, the data release includes the polygon layers of the modified HUC4 watersheds and the hydrologic regions used for the analyses.

Water availability for human and ecosystem needs is a function of both water quantity and water quality, as described in the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) Water Science Strategy (Evenson and others, 2013). Recently, a quantitative approach to prioritize candidate watersheds for monitoring investment was developed to understand changes in water availability and advance the objectives of new USGS programs (Van Metre and others, 2020). In this study design, the contiguous United States (CONUS) was divided into 18 regions (referred to here as “hydrologic regions” or “HRs”) with relatively homogeneous hydrologic drivers and processes to represent the wide diversity in conditions that exist across the CONUS. The gap analysis focused on prioritizing new capabilities beyond the current USGS science in discharge and constituent concentration trends to develop integrated capabilities for assessing and modeling of the water-quality drivers of aquatic ecosystem health. Water availability can be limited by various water-quality parameters such as temperature, salinity, excess nutrients, suspended sediment, geogenic constituents, and other contaminants of emerging concern (CECs) depending on water sources and human or ecosystem needs (Stanton and others, 2017). This data release contains more than 100 geospatial variables summarized for each watershed at the Hydrologic Unit level 4 (HUC4) that were used to prioritize watersheds targeted for USGS research. Additionally, the data release includes the polygon layers of the modified HUC4 watersheds and the hydrologic regions used for the analyses.

Water availability for human and ecosystem needs is a function of both water quantity and water quality, as described in the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) Water Science Strategy (Evenson and others, 2013). Recently, a quantitative approach to prioritize candidate watersheds for monitoring investment was developed to understand changes in water availability and advance the objectives of new USGS programs (Van Metre and others, 2020). In this study design, the contiguous United States (CONUS) was divided into 18 regions (referred to here as “hydrologic regions” or “HRs”) with relatively homogeneous hydrologic drivers and processes to represent the wide diversity in conditions that exist across the CONUS. The gap analysis focused on prioritizing new capabilities beyond the current USGS science in discharge and constituent concentration trends to develop integrated capabilities for assessing and modeling of the water-quality drivers of aquatic ecosystem health. Water availability can be limited by various water-quality parameters such as temperature, salinity, excess nutrients, suspended sediment, geogenic constituents, and other contaminants of emerging concern (CECs) depending on water sources and human or ecosystem needs (Stanton and others, 2017). This data release contains more than 100 geospatial variables summarized for each watershed at the Hydrologic Unit level 4 (HUC4) that were used to prioritize watersheds targeted for USGS research. Additionally, the data release includes the polygon layers of the modified HUC4 watersheds and the hydrologic regions used for the analyses.

In 2013, the first of several Regional Stream Quality Assessments (RSQA) was done in the Midwest United States. The Midwest Stream Quality Assessment (MSQA) was a collaborative study by the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) National Water Quality Assessment (NAWQA), the USGS Columbia Environmental Research Center, and the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (USEPA) National Rivers and Streams Assessment (NRSA). One of the objectives of the RSQA, and thus the MSQA, is to characterize the relationships between water-quality stressors and stream ecology and to determine the relative effects of these stressors on aquatic biota within the streams (U.S. Geological Survey, 2012a). To meet this objective, a framework of fundamental geospatial data was required to develop physical and anthropogenic characteristics of the study region, sampled sites and corresponding watersheds, and sampled ecological reaches. This dataset comprises of 139 selected environmental characteristics for the 100 sites sampled for the Midwest study.

In 2013, the first of several Regional Stream Quality Assessments (RSQA) was done in the Midwest United States. The Midwest Stream Quality Assessment (MSQA) was a collaborative study by the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) National Water Quality Assessment (NAWQA), the USGS Columbia Environmental Research Center, and the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (USEPA) National Rivers and Streams Assessment (NRSA). One of the objectives of the RSQA, and thus the MSQA, is to characterize the relationships between water-quality stressors and stream ecology and to determine the relative effects of these stressors on aquatic biota within the streams (U.S. Geological Survey, 2012a). To meet this objective, a framework of fundamental geospatial data was required to develop physical and anthropogenic characteristics of the study region, sampled sites and corresponding watersheds, and sampled ecological reaches. This dataset comprises of 139 selected environmental characteristics for the 100 sites sampled for the Midwest study.

In 2013, the first of several Regional Stream Quality Assessments (RSQA) was done in the Midwest United States. The Midwest Stream Quality Assessment (MSQA) was a collaborative study by the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) National Water Quality Assessment (NAWQA), the USGS Columbia Environmental Research Center, and the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (USEPA) National Rivers and Streams Assessment (NRSA). One of the objectives of the RSQA, and thus the MSQA, is to characterize the relationships between water-quality stressors and stream ecology and to determine the relative effects of these stressors on aquatic biota within the streams (U.S. Geological Survey, 2012a). To meet this objective, a framework of fundamental geospatial data was required to develop physical and anthropogenic characteristics of the study region, sampled sites and corresponding watersheds, and riparian zones. This dataset represents the boundaries for the 100 watersheds studied in the MSQA, and is one of the four fundamental geospatial data layers that were developed for the Midwest study.

This dataset provides watershed delineations for 1,703 U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) streamgaging stations (gages) for geospatial statistical study of peak streamflows in and near Texas. These streamgaging stations are in Texas, Oklahoma, and New Mexico (east of the Great Continental Divide) with some of the watersheds associated with the 1,703 streamgaging stations extending into several surrounding states or into Mexico. Watershed characteristics are indexed by using the National Hydrography Dataset (NHD) version 2.2.1 Indexing was accomplished by using the Permanent Identifier (PERMID; a string that uniquely identifies each feature in the NHD) and by using the USGS identification number for the streamgaging station (gage). The following watershed characteristics are included: watershed centroid, area, perimeter, basin shape index, sinuosity, drainage area, contributing drainage area, functional drainage area, summed values per watershed from the National Inventory of Dams (NID), mean watershed slope, main-channel slope, 10-85 slope, streamgaging station point elevation, mean elevation per watershed, mean annual precipitation per streamgaging station, mean annual and monthly precipitation per watershed, mean annual and monthly solar radiation per streamgaging station, mean annual and monthly solar radiation per watershed, hydrologic soil groups per watershed, land cover per watershed, and multi order hydrologic position of streamgaging stations and stream segments. The watershed characteristics in this dataset are used to describe the point at the USGS streamgaging station, the full watershed that defines each site, and the main channel segment of each watershed.

This product contains 1,297 watershed boundaries for water quality study sites of the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) National Water Quality Program (NWQP) Surface Water Trends project. These include sites where water quality information was collected by both USGS and non-USGS agencies. The data consist of 1,285 boundaries in the conterminous United States, and 12 in Puerto Rico. Twenty-seven percent of boundaries were assembled from other efforts within the USGS which are using the same sites, and 73 percent of boundaries were created new for this project. The data are posted as a single shapefile with separate polygons for each boundary.