National Streamflow Information Program Network Analysis--Memos

In Reply Refer To:
Office of Surface Water
Mail Stop 415

MEMORANDUM
July 21, 2000
To:    District Chiefs
District Data Chiefs
District Site Administrators
District GIS Specialists

 
From:    Robert M. Hirsch /signed/
Chief Hydrologist

 
Subject:    PROGRAMS AND PLANS: Station List for National Streamflow Information Program

RESPONSE REQUESTED BY SEPTEMBER 15, 2000

The U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) has outlined in several recent reports its plans for a National Streamflow Information Program (NSIP) built on a national network of streamgaging stations. In fiscal year (FY) 2000, we were successful in getting an appropriation of $2 million; in FY 2001, we anticipate an appropriation of between $3.7 and $5.1 million, respectively, for the Real-Time Hazards Initiative, the first steps in building this national network. In the budget process for fiscal year 2002, soon to get underway, we wish to maintain this positive momentum by presenting to the Department of the Interior, Office of Management and Budget, and Congress a well-planned initiative to continue building the needed network.

The first step in developing this initiative is to compile a master list of around 5,000 stations for a basic Federally funded streamgaging network and associated infrastructure. We have developed five goals that the network should meet. They are:

  1. Water Quality . Stations required by the three national USGS water quality networks (HBM, NASQAN, NAWQA LIP).
  2. Treaties, Compacts, and Flow Across State Lines . Stations required for treaties and compacts and for flows across State lines with drainage areas greater than 500 square miles.
  3. River Basin Outflows . Stations that best represent outflows from the hydrologic accounting units.
  4. Sentinel Watersheds . Stations that best represent the flows from the "eco-hucs" in the Nation that help define regional hydrologic conditions and their changes over time.
  5. National Weather Service Forecast Locations . Stations needed by the NWS to forecast floods.

I believe it is important for this basic Federal network to have a high degree of specificity. We need to be able to say to our many customers and supporters: "If we can get the NSIP plan funded, these are the stations that we will fund entirely with USGS appropriations. We will still rely on you extensively for funding through the Cooperative Water Program, but this is a set of stations that simply ought to be operated regardless of support from other agencies." We would like to be able to show them (as well as OMB and Congress) what the network looks like and justify the design.

The process of defining this network needs to be a partnership between headquarters and the districts. The first approximation of the network was completed with the publication of the NSIP report "Streamflow Information for the Next Century." This was done quickly and presents a national overview but is not suitable for detailed planning. We are now moving to a more detailed process. Right now in the Office of Surface Water, using GIS tools, the staff is defining a headquarters "best estimate" of the streamgaging stations needed to meet the goals. We expect to send this best estimate to the districts for verification and correction based on your, more detailed, knowledge. Our aim is to have this iteration complete by October 2000 for use in presenting enhancements in our FY 2002 budget. To do this we will need your input completed by September 15, 2000. Even after the October 2000 version of the network there will be opportunities to refine and improve the network. In particular, we would hope that districts would engage cooperators and users of gage information in the process of refinement. This involvement of cooperators will help us gain the buy-in that is crucial to the success of NSIP.

To carry out the process of defining the basic Federal network, the Office of Surface Water will be sending you a CD with a set of coverages in ARCmap and a set of instructions for its use. The ARCmap software will be distributed to your System Administrators by August 14, 2000. To carry out the task effectively, we are asking that each Data Chief (or Field Office Chief) work closely with a skilled GIS specialist to review the maps provided on the CD and make specific recommendations for station locations where a goal is not met, make corrections if listed stations are not the best ones to meet the goals, and approve listed stations that do best meet the goals. We expect that this effort could take from a few days to a week of the Data Chief's and GIS specialist's time, and that they will need significant support from the District Computer Site Administrator. Please look at work schedules now to try to identify the time when they can do this work together. Computer system requirements are outlined in Attachment 1. In addition we plan to hold a cyber-seminar on August 16, 2000, at 1:00 p.m. (Eastern Time) to explain the tasks and to demonstrate the software. Details on this cyber-seminar will be provided as soon as arrangements are finalized.

We think that this initiative is important enough to justify the expenditure of time. We are gaining momentum in our attempts to increase Federal support for streamgaging. We think this next step is crucial to keeping the process going. We expect that the network funding will change gradually over the next few years, with more funds going to the data-processing infrastructure and an increasing percentage of funds going to the basic Federal network stations each year.

Your help is vital to this process. Thank you for your help and cooperation.

Copy to:    Regional Directors
Regional Hydrologists
Regional Program Officers
Regional Surface-water Specialists

Attachment 1 . System Requirements

ARC/INFO 8.0.2 Workstation and Desktop will be required for the NSIP project. This needs to be installed on an NT running NT 4.0, serve pack 5, that is configured as follows. Only one NT needs this configuration for the Data Chief and the GIS Specialist, not everyone in the district office. This is the only configuration has been tested and has been certified to work. Other configurations, such as Windows Terminal Servers, are still being tested and are not recommended at this time.

System Requirements:

NT 4.0 w/serve pack 5
400mhZ minimum processor
128MB RAM minimum
8MB video card
200MB paging area
1.5 GB disk space for ARC/INFO Workstation & Desktop
ARC/INFO 8 Keycodes (which also works with ARC/INFO 7.x)
ARC/INFO 8 License manager software
ARC/INFO 8.0.2 Workstation Software
ARC/INFO 8.0.2 Desktop Software (which has the ARCmap module)
20MB disk space for NSIP data
CD-ROM

We want your feedback!

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