USGS National Hydrography Dataset
Stewardship in West Virginia
George Heleine
USGS NHD POC Region 5
NGTOC – Rolla, Missouri
U.S. Department of the Interior
U.S. Geological Survey
U.S. Department of the Interior
U.S. Geological Survey
NHD Stewardship
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The NHD was designed and substantially built by three Federal partners: USGS, EPA and the USDA Forest Service. It
was designed to be a reliable source of data that would grow both through system-wide revisions and the
contributions of its users. While the Federal agencies generally represent a national perspective, thousands of other
users have used the NHD to record and analyze waterways in their local areas. The data they have developed as
users are then fed back to develop and refine the NHD as a whole.
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Because the data will come increasingly from local sources, there will be a greater need for management and
oversight at an intermediary level. Those intermediaries are referred to as "data stewards." The NHD will be
maintained through data stewardship, a program in which the user community assumes more responsibility for the
success of the NHD. Stewardship will be distributed across the Nation, typically on a State-by-State basis, and the
principal stewards will coordinate and assume responsibility for the NHD at this level. Other organizations, which
could have specific local or topical interests, may then assume further stewardship under the auspices of the
principal stewards. This distributes stewardship down to the organizations that have the best available information
on the hydrography in their area. These users can perform the actual enhancements with oversight and support from
the principal stewards. These edits will become transactions provided to the NHD database that the USGS will
maintain on behalf of the entire user community.
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The NHD has been specifically designed to accommodate these transactions. Obviously, some changes can have
significant impacts. Stream classification, for example, can affect natural resource management, flood hazard risk,
development, storm water management, water rights, etc. It is essential that any changes made to the NHD are
valid. The NHD also will depend on users not just to add and improve data, but to help identify policies and
procedures that assure reliability and validity.
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The USGS is already working with some agencies and groups that are interested in becoming NHD data stewards.
Common needs and interests offer opportunities for partnerships to collect, maintain, access, and use basic spatial
data among federal agencies and with other public organizations, notably State agencies or regional organizations.
The most direct benefit of shared maintenance is the ability to have access to up-to-date information of changes on
the landscape and to receive spatial data that faithfully represents those changes. The best sources for information
about changes are those closest to the change, such as State and local governments.
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The key to implementing stewardship is having an editing tool that can deal with the unique characteristics of NHD
data. It will allow stewards to upgrade the NHD while preserving the integrity of the model and the geometric
network. An editing tool specific to the NHD, known as NHDGeoEdit, was developed by ESRI for the Forest Service.
USGS has assumed responsibility for maintaining and improving the tool. The tool will be available to the data
stewards, but it does require some training to use. The USGS will train the principal stewards and they, in turn, will
train their cadre of supporting organizations.
The Role of the Data Steward
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The data steward's responsibilities include:
Guarantee that updated NHD data pass all validation tests.
Assure that the core content (features, attributes and
relationships identified in the NHD standards) is included.
Keep the data current.
Consider any change submitted and decide authoritatively if
it will be accepted or not. (Some changes can have
significant impacts, and it is essential that any changes
made to the NHD are valid.)
Report the decision publicly.
Respond to proposed changes within some agreed upon
reasonable time.
Provide publicly available information on status of data
development and updating.
Maintain awareness of activities by other agencies and
groups.
Why Stewardship
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The community of users become the
stewards of the data
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The USGS facilitates the stewardship process
 The users evolve the data to best meet their
needs
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The USGS guides the evolution for national
continuity
Challenges for State Stewardship
(Past, Present & Future)
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Critical lack of available funding for NHD
projects such as conflation and maintenance
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Options?
 Current economic environment does hurt projects
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but environmental management still important
USGS grant funding available through USGS NSDI
Partnership Liaisons
EPA funding available (support via TMDL or
STORET projects)
Stewards must seek out in-state funding through
partnerships with water management agencies,
regional planning councils, counties and/or
municipal governments
Challenges for State Stewardship
(Past, Present & Future)
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Lack of good communication/web resources
for the NHD
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Options?
 USGS developing a “MyUSGS” web site for
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stewards and technicians to communicate
USGS Stewardship web site developed
NHD POC reorganized into 6 regions and all
positions filled
Monthly NHD newsletter available via Jeff Simley
States should develop a web site for secondary
stewards and in-state stakeholders
Challenges for State Stewardship
(Past, Present & Future)
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Selling the NHD to prospective stakeholders
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Options?
 GIS is a decision making tool, but needs good
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quality data to support good decision making.
Water systems are dynamic and require
maintenance to increase data quality.
Sell the use of the NHD as a subset for water
quality, monitoring and habitat management
NHD POC’s deal with 9-10 states plus internal
issues; allow response time accordingly.