by Pete Steeves Rainy River and Lake of the Woods (RRLOW) StreamStats Demonstration for the International Joint Commission October 2, 2014 U.S. Geological Survey Northboro, MA

What is StreamStats? n A map-based Web application that provides information that can be used by engineers, managers, planners, and others to make informed decisions on water-related activities n Primary product is regression-based streamflow statistics

Example Regression Equation n Q 100 = 5.39DA (E/1000 )-1.13 P 1.18 where Q 100 is the 100-year flood, in feet 3 /second DA is Drainage Area, in square miles E is mean basin elevation, in feet P is mean annual precipitation, in inches Citation: Berenbrock, Charles, 2002, Estimating the Magnitude of Peak Flows at Selected Recurrence Intervals for Streams in Idaho: U.S. Geological Survey Water-Resources Investigations Report 02–4170, 59 p.

How is StreamStats Information Used? n Engineering Design—Bridges, culverts, flood-plain management n Water and Land Management—Water rights adjudications; water & land-use planning; in- stream flow, fish passage, & habitat studies n Water Quality Regulation—Low flows, perennial vs. intermittent streams (TMDL’s, NPDES Permits) n Design of Sampling Networks—Cover a range of desired flows

State Implementation Process n Usually funded through cooperative agreements with local agencies 1. Local USGS Water Science Centers Prepare GIS datasets Populate database of statistics for USGS gages 2. Development team sets up internal test site 3. WSC evaluates accuracy of internal test site 4. Development team and/or WSC makes any needed changes 5. Site is made available to public

StreamStats Status March 2014 n 31 states fully implemented n 1 state partly implemented n 9 states in implementation process n Regional Studies * Connecticut River Basin implemented * Delaware River Basin partly implemented * Rainy River Basin in development Fully Implemented Undergoing Implementation Undergoing final testing Not participating Delineation and basin characteristics only Regional study

RRLOW StreamStats Cooperators n USGS Project Lead and GIS: Pete Steeves (MA WSC) Regression Analysis: Erich Kessler (MN WSC) n International Joint Commission (IJC) n RRLOW River Board n Ontario Ministry of Natural Resources (OMNR) n Environment Canada n Regional Stewards of framework datasets (‘harmonized’ watersheds and hydrography)

Framework Datasets n Drainage Areas Coding Edgematching Standardizing Sub-dividing n Hydrography (NHD/NHN) Includes lakes, ponds, rivers, reservoirs, dams Edgematching Networking (connectivity for tracing) Attribute crosswalk

GIS Data Preparation n Data preparation and watershed characteristics measurements done using the ESRI ArcHydro Data Model and USGS Tools n Data for boundary delineation DEM – National Elevation Dataset (NED) Stream network – National Hydrography Dataset (NHD) Basin boundaries – Watershed Boundary Dataset (WBD) n DEM forced to conform with stream network and basin boundary datasets n Standard data processing is done by 8-digit WBD (HUC)

Rainy River and Lake of the Woods

2/20/2016 International Souris River Basin 11

StreamStats Components n USGS Station Statistics site National site that provides information for data- collection stations only n State Applications Separate application for each state All raster (watershed) and vector (network) analysis performed here Functionality varies ArcGIS Server 9.2 based (soon to be 10.1 platform)

National Site Capabilities Provides ability to locate any USGS streamflow data-collection station in the Nation and get: n Descriptive information about the station n Previously published basin (physical and/or climatic) characteristics n Previously published streamflow statistics n Displays digital topographic maps and aerial imagery as base map

State-Application Capabilities n For data-collection stations, same as national site n For user-selected ungaged sites: Delineates drainage basin (watershed) boundaries Editing of basin boundaries, if necessary Computes basin characteristics Provides estimates of streamflow statistics based on regression equations Download of basin boundary shapefiles Printing of maps shown in user interface Much more (i.e. network navigation tools)

StreamStats Home Page

State Applications

Massachusetts Introductory Page Lists statistics estimated by regression equations Gives report citations Describes limits of applicability Link to application Other issues, cooperative statement Special notices about application

User Interface with NHD Gages and Dams

Select Ungaged Site Note: Scale must be at least 1:24,000 Click on Point Delineation button

Delineated Basin

Flow Statistics from Regression Equations Click on Estimate Flows Using Regression Equations Regression equation estimates assume natural flow conditions at the selected site

RRLOW Status: GIS n Watershed delineations can be performed from any point on any stream location in the study area n A number of basin characteristics can be readily summarized including mean-annual precipitation, temperature and runoff; drainage area, channel slope, land cover, wetlands, and storage n These characteristics have been computed for all gage drainage areas of interest (computing regressions relies on fixed site summaries)

RRLOW Status: Flow Statistics n Of the 60 Canadian flow stations with computed values of discharge, 15 were used for the regional analysis since they are not regulated, and contain the required 10 years of flow record. n 6 of these sites were analyzed in the Ministry of Natural Resources of Ontario Report "Flood Flow Statistics" January n The remaining 9 sites had data that would be considered inadequate to perform the standard Bulletin 17B analysis as per USGS Standards; mainly that the flow record was only complete for the spring-summer months. After an analysis of the gages on the MN side of the boarder, it was determined that this wouldn't be a problem since more than 95% of the peak flows occurring in MN fell within the period of record that the Canadian gages would have recorded.

Regional Skew Red = negative skew Green = positive skew (Mean and Standard Deviation have also been computed)

Red = negative skew Green = positive skew

RRLOW Regression Equation (pre-published findings) n PK100 = 10^1.908 * DRNAREA^.820 * LAKES^-.421 where: PK100 is the 100-year flood, in feet 3 /second DRNAREA is Drainage Area, in square miles LAKES is percent of area covered by lakes and ponds

Contact Information n URL s (production and development) (production) (development *this demo n Team GS-W n This presentation Provided upon request n User Manual: