U.S. Department of the Interior U.S. Geological Survey MD-DE-DC District StreamStats: Delivering Streamflow Information to the Public By Kernell Ries and Al Rea

Uses of Streamflow Statistics n Water resources planning n Flood-plain mapping for zoning and insurance n Instream flow determinations for pollution and habitat n TMDLs n Design and permitting of facilities such as wastewater-treatment plants, hydropower plants, and water-supply reservoirs n Design of structures such as roads, bridges, culverts, dams, locks, and levees

StreamStats Web Application n Provides estimates of streamflow statistics, basin and climatic characteristics, and other information for user-selected points on ungaged streams n Automatically measures basin and climatic characteristics for ungaged sites using GIS n Provides published streamflow statistics, basin and climatic characteristics, and other information for data-collection stations

StreamStats Benefits n Published statistics are readily available n Ungaged site process takes < 10 minutes n Large collections of maps, equipment, and software are not necessary n Consistent information delivery n Little or no additional error is introduced n Only basic understanding of hydrology, computer science, geographic analysis is needed n Reduced information requests

Development Team n Jacque Coles (ID District) Ÿ ArcIMS Specialist / Site Administrator n Al Rea (ID District) Ÿ GIS Specialist n Pete Steeves (MA-RI District) Ÿ GIS Specialist n Kernell Ries (OSW / MD-DE-DC District) Ÿ Coordinator / Hydrologist n Contractors Ÿ ESRI, Inc. – Application programming / ArcHydro Ÿ Aqua Terra Consultants – NFF Program / StreamStatsDB

Massachusetts StreamStats n On Web at n Based on ArcView/ArcViewIMS/Java n Available internally Jan n Available to public Jan n Considerable interest nationally n Not easily modified for use in other areas

National Prototype Objectives n Potential expandability to all States n Improved basic functionality n Improved statistics database n Flexible use of GIS data n Potential to add other types of data, such as sediment, water use

Development Strategy n Initial development on desktop, then move to Web n Program based on the ArcGIS Hydro-Data Model and Tools ( n Standard GIS methods for measuring basin characteristics will be built into the ArcGIS Hydro Tools n Basin characteristics will be pre-processed for previously determined sub-basins n At least initially, all GIS data to reside on local server n The National Flood Frequency Program (NFF) will solve regression equations

User Interface Streamflow Statistics Database Statistics Calculation Program GIS Database StreamStats Components At a streamgage At an ungaged location

User Interface n Displays maps and enables site selection n Displays default data layers for selected scale ranges and allows adding/subtracting map layers n Zoom and pan to places of interest n Zoom to named geographic location or stream n Evaluate basin boundaries in the map frame n Print maps shown in the map frame n Download basin boundary

Statistics Database Includes n For data-collection stations : Ÿ Previously published streamflow statistics Ÿ Descriptive information, such as station name and number, coordinates, period of record Ÿ Basin characteristics, such as drainage area, total stream length, mean basin slope n For ungaged sites: Ÿ Data for solving regression equations in the National Flood Frequency Program (NFF) n Details in following presentation

Statistics Calculation Program n Determines drainage boundaries for user- selected sites n Measures basin characteristics n Runs NFF to solve regression equations n Delivers results in pop-up browser window

NFF Program User Interface n Solves regression equations for StreamStats

Modifications to NFF n Ability to solve regression equations for any flow type n Calculation of prediction intervals n Calculation of drainage-area ratio estimates and weighting with regression estimates n Solving of region-of-influence equations n Adding of data base attributes to allow use as a subroutine of StreamStats n Work done by Aqua Terra Consultants

National Flood Frequency Program n Solves regression equations for any flow type n Provides standard errors, equivalent years of record and/or prediction intervals as indicators of potential errors n Computes of region-of-influence estimates, where available n Urban equations, drainage-area ratio estimates, and weighted estimates not implemented initially in StreamStats

GIS Database Includes n Datasets needed to delineate accurate basin boundaries (DEM derivatives, streams, drainage divides) n Datasets needed to determine basin characteristics (precipitation, land use, soils, DEM, etc.) n Data-collection station locations n Basemap datasets (DRG topos, roads, political boundaries, etc.)

GIS Data n Local map layers used when needed to solve local equations or where resolution is better than available national layers n National map layers used where local layers are not available at higher resolution n Flexibility is key to wide use of application

National Data Layers n NED – elevations n EDNA – catchments, synthetic streams, etc. n NHD – networked streams n WBD – drainage divides n DRG – topographic base maps n NLCD – land use n SSURGO – soils n PRISM - precipitation

New User Interface at Startup

Example Point Selection

Drainage Boundaries 1. User selects point on stream 2. GIS determines boundary from flow-direction grid up to points at which the boundary for the new site intersects boundaries in boundary map layer 3. GIS accumulates all upstream areas and dissolves internal boundaries

Example Drainage Boundary

Example Output

Software n ESRI ArcGIS with ArcHydro Tools n ESRI ArcSDE n ESRI ArcIMS n Microsoft SQL Server n IIS n ASP n Tomcat

Programming languages n Visual Basic for Applications n ArcObjects n Javascript n XML n HTML

System Design Client (IE 6.0) Web Server (IIS, ASP) Map Server (ArcIMS) Application Server (ArcMap, NFF) Data Server (ArcSDE) Database (SQL Server) Client (IE 6.0) Client (IE 6.0)

Status and Short-Term Plans n Prototype working in part of Idaho n Implement statistics database and rest of Idaho by 12/03 n Implement MA, NH, and VT by 5/04 n Partially implement TN by 9/04

Long-Term Plan n Include additional States n Add drainage-area ratio estimates n Add automated update of non-interpretive streamflow statistics n Add methods for regulated streams n Add sediment (and possibly other) data n Add internal desktop version with batch processing

State Implementation Process n Done through cooperative agreements between Districts and local agencies n Populate the streamflow statistics database n Generate and format any custom GIS data n Test accuracy of basin and climatic characteristics and equation results, and summarize results n Potentially develop new equations, using GIS data to measure basin characteristics n USGS OSW and District concurrence to put on Web

State Implementation Options 1. Implement database for data-collection sites first a.Populate with previously calculated statistics b.Calculate new statistics 2. Implement regression equations first a.Implement existing equations only b.Develop new equations 3. Implement database and regression equations at the same time

District Responsibilities—What will it take? n Building ArcHydro data sets from EDNA (experienced GIS expert) Ÿ ~30 min per 8-digit HUC interactive processing Ÿ 2-4 weeks building global and regional data sets Ÿ 2+ weeks learning curve for learning to do networks in GeoDatabase Ÿ Note: (ID and OR districts have people with experience, consider farming this out)

District Responsibilities—What will it take? (cont.) n ~2 weeks per state to prepare DRGs n ~1 week per state to append/prepare NHD n Optional “New England Method” Enhanced DEM processing, 3-6 hrs interactive work per HUC plus (typically overnight) CPU time n Multiply GIS total by ~2X for general data management n Multiply GIS total by ~2X—5X for less experienced GIS staff (AML and Grid experience very desirable) n Very fast PC essential for processing n District funding of StreamStats team for assistance with data preparation

District Responsibilities—What will it take? (cont.) n Hardware Ÿ Server and disk space <= $5K Ÿ Hardware maintenance plus replacement every 3 yrs ~$2K/yr Ÿ External USB 2 Hard Drive ~$400 (will return to district) n Software licensing and site support Ÿ Districts will pay for new licenses Ÿ Probable shared costs w/ OSW for support

District Interest in StreamStats n ID, MA, NH, VT, TN are prototype states n CO, CT, KY have ongoing projects n KS, PA have related projects n At least 12 Districts have cooperators that are highly interested in StreamStats n Less than half of Districts responded to 10/30/2003 query n Nine Districts attended a recent data-preparation workshop held for the SE Region in TN

Funding n Funding from NSIP/Headquarters Ÿ FY2001$160,000 Ÿ FY2002$200,000 Ÿ FY2003$200,000 Ÿ FY2004 ~ $150,000 n State of Idaho/National Forest Service Ÿ FY2002—3$75,000

Current ESRI Contract Tasks n Current contract for $51K began in September ‘03 n Implement ability to solve low-flow equations with NFF n Partly resolve issues related to multistate implementation n Implement StreamStatsDB for gage data/stats n Partly expand ArcHydro tools to enable easily adding new basin parameters n User ability to edit drainage boundary n Some bug fixes, web support, speed enhancement, documentation

Additional ESRI Work Needed n Additional cost ~ $100K n Fully resolve issues related to multistate implementation n Fully expand ArcHydro tools to enable easily adding new basin parameters, including addition of enhanced stream slope measurement n Documentation n Implement drainage-area ratio, weighting functionality n More bug fixes, web support, speed enhancement n Add batch delineation for desktop tool

Issue n How do we balance further program development with the need to support Districts with implementation? n Current $150K budget allows about 0.75 FTE labor plus about $40K for contracts, travel, etc. n As more Districts implement StreamStats, support needs increase but budget is stable n Districts will need to pay for support n Are there other approaches?

Summary n StreamStats Ÿ Is a Web application that provides estimates of streamflow statistics and other information for gaged and ungaged sites Ÿ Uses cutting-edge technology to provide the information to the public by running a GIS interactively over the Web Ÿ Implementation for States will be done through cooperative funding agreements Ÿ Available resources limit functionality and implementation speed Ÿ Full implementation will likely take several years

StreamStats Resources n Public informational page: streamstats.html (Major updates coming soon!) streamstats.html n NFF Program: n Proposals, presentations, poster available on request