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Procedures For Delineating And Characterizing Watersheds For Stream And River Monitoring Programs (Final Report)

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EPA has released the document, Procedures for Delineating and Characterizing Watersheds for Stream and River Monitoring Programs (EPA/600/R-17/448F). This manual describes how states and tribes can delineate and characterize watersheds. It explains how to delineate watersheds using two different methods and provides methods for five characterization steps (land use, base flow, channel slope/sinuosity, watershed slope, facilities of concern). The characterization ArcMap tools are not meant to be comprehensive; they are a starting point for stream monitoring organizations.

Impact/Purpose

This manual will help states and tribes delineate watersheds and characterize their properties. States and tribes can use these steps to select sites for stream and river monitoring and as covariates in analysis of stream data. They can also use the accompanying downloadable ArcMap tools to perform the watershed characterization steps.

Citation

U.S. EPA. Procedures For Delineating And Characterizing Watersheds For Stream And River Monitoring Programs (Final Report). U.S. EPA Office of Research and Development, Washington, DC, EPA/600/R-17/448F, 2018.

History/Chronology

Date Description
01- Mar 2017 Internal review of report.
02- Oct 2017 External peer review completed.
04- Jan 2018 EPA released the final report.

Download(s)

This document has been reviewed in accordance with U.S. Environmental Protection Agency policy and approved for publication. Mention of trade names or commercial products does not constitute endorsement or recommendation for use.

  • Procedures for Delineating and Characterizing Watersheds for Stream and River Monitoring Programs (EPA/600/R-17/448F) (PDF)  (62  pp, 2.3 MB, about PDF)
  • RMN GIS Tools, Dec 2017 (zip file) (ZIP)  (60.5 KB, about ZIP)

Related Link(s)

  • Regional Monitoring Networks (RMN) to Detect Changing Baselines in Freshwater Wadeable Streams (Final Report)

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Last updated on January 29, 2018
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