GIS-Based Lesson: Hydrologic - Environmental Assessment

Author: Joseph J. Kerski – [email protected] - Page 1 of 13

Name: __________________________________

Hydrologic-Environmental Assessment

Skills Involved

1. Downloading and examining National Hydrography Dataset (NHD) data

from the USGS.
2. Downloading and examining point data from the EPA.
3. Downloading and examining water quality and streamflow data from
the USGS.
4. Performing environmental assessment within a GIS environment.

Problem:
The EPA wants you to prepare a report on the effect that mines and landfills
in the Upper Kootenai watershed could potentially have on the water quality
there.

You will first need the National Hydrography Dataset (NHD) for the Upper
Kootenai Sub-basin (or watershed).

NHD data is stored by watershed number. You will need this number to
access the NHD data. There are a number of places to obtain watershed
numbers, but one of the best is EPA’s Surf Your Watershed site:

http://www.epa.gov/surf/

Select: Locate Your Watershed.

On the next screen, select “Locate By Geographic Unit”, and using the
Watershed Name, enter Upper Kootenai, as follows:

1) What is the Sub-basin number for this watershed?

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2) Examine the map. In what part of Montana is this watershed located?

3) What other state does this watershed cross into?

Now that you know the watershed number, you are ready to download the
watershed vector spatial data.

Access the NHD site:

http://nhd.usgs.gov

You will be using “medium” resolution NHD data.

4) Examine the documentation on the NHD site. At what scale was the
medium resolution data collected?

Select “Data” in the left panel.

Note that you have 2 choices through which to download the NHD data: (1)
through the map interface, and (2) through an FTP site.

If you wish to download using the map interface, use the following
procedures. Note that this method is slower but may be more convenient for
downloading several watersheds in a map-based intuitive interface. When
the file is ready (which may be several minutes or several hours depending
on web traffic), you will receive an email indicating the URL where the data is
available for pick up.

For this lesson, use the FTP method, and skip to the next page in this lesson.
However, you may wish to have the map-based download procedures for
your future use. They are provided below.

Map-Based Download:
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Polygon Extracts can be created using one of the following reference polygon
layers: Subbasins, Counties, 108th Cong Dists, or one of the USGS Quad
index layers. You must select one of these reference layers. You must
have one of the following reference polygon layers "Active" in order to use
the tool: Subbasins, Counties, 108th Cong Dists, or one of the USGS Quad
index layer. NOTE: IF YOU RECEIVE A MESSAGE THAT SAYS: 'layer isn't
available at this scale' YOU MUST ZOOM IN MORE FIRST, and THEN GO
BACK.

1 - Zoom In to choose which reference layer and area you want to extract.
To do this, click the Zoom In tool on the left and draw a square on the image
in the area you are interested in.
2 - Click on the Hydrologic Units tab in the layer list on the right.
3 - Click in the square boxes of the layers (ie. Subbasins) to make them
appear.
4 - Click in the circle to make the subbasin layer "Active."
5 - Click the "Redraw Map" at the bottom right of the screen.
6 - Click the Polygon Extract button on the tools menu to the left.
7 - Click inside the reference polygon (ie. Subbasin (watershed)) for which
NHD data you wish to extract.

Note: With the map-based method, you may select multiple subbasins.
Up to 5 high-resolution NHD subbasins, or 10 medium resolution NHD
subbasins may be extracted at once by selecting "Polygon Extract" and
drawing a box that "touches" multiple subbasins.

A separate window will be displayed listing the reference layers that you
selected.

8 - Select your desired NHD Resolution (ie. High, Medium or Local).

Note: High and Local Resolution are not yet available in certain parts
of the USA.

9 - Select your desired extract format (ie. Geodatabase or NHDGeoinArc) by

clicking in the box next to it.
10 - Type in your email address, then click the Extract button.

A zip file containing either a personal geodatabase or NHDGeoinArc will be

created and stored on a FTP site. An email will be sent to you with
instructions on where to download the file. Please be patient.

FTP-Based Download:

To download via the File Transfer Protocol (FTP) site:

Go to the site: ftp://nhdftp.usgs.gov/SubRegions/

Select “Medium” resolution.

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On the next screen, find the file NHDM1701.ZIP. Note that this will include
all watersheds beginning with 1701.

Download this file and unzip.

Examine the resulting files in Windows Explorer or in ArcCatalog.

5) In what ESRI format is the NHD data stored in?

Access ArcMap and start a new map document.

Add Data and move inside your new geodatabase, go to Hydrologic Units.

Add SubRegion, Basin, and SubBasin. Label each of these layers on the
names of the subregions, basins, and subbasins.

6) Which layer contains the largest geographic areas?

Add Data again, move up one level, and add HydroNet.

7) In your ArcMap table of contents, what 2 feature classes were added with
HydroNet?

Turn off your HydroNetJunctions. Save your map document.

It may be helpful to change the symbology for the boundaries of the

polygons to answer the following question.

8) What 3 basins have you downloaded NHD data for?

Select the Kootenai basin using the “select feature” button.

Use the ArcToolbox Clip function to clip the NHD Flowlines to the Kootenai
Basin, naming your output feature class NHDFlowline_kootenai, as shown
below:
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Examine the attribute table of your new NHD flowlines for the Kootenai
Basin.

9) What is the name of the longest stream, in kilometers, in the basin you
are analyzing?

Examine this river on your map.

10) Why is this stream segment longer than even the Kootenai River, which
runs through more terrain in this basin?

The point source data from the EPA is now needed.

Go back to the EPA Surf Your Watershed web site that you were examining
earlier for the Upper Kootenai.

In the upper part of the screen, shown below, click on the word “water” after
the word “EPA Home.”

On the next page that appears, under Current Information, select “Map Your
Waters.”
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Now you should be on the page: http://www.epa.gov/waters/

Click on “Geography” in the left panel.

Scroll down to the following table near the bottom of the page:

In this table, under the column “OW Program,” select “Water Quality
Monitoring.”

Now, you should be on the STORET data site:

http://www.epa.gov/waters/data/prog.html#STORET

Under the column “Program Database” on the screen that appears, select
STORET. This is one of the EPA’s water quality data sites. You should be on
this page:
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http://www.epa.gov/storet/dbtop.html

On the screen that appears, select “Browse or Download Modernized STORET

Data.”

Under STORET station descriptions, select “Stations by Geographic Location:”

STORET Station Descriptions

Stations by Geographic Location

Next, select by drainage basin, and enter the watershed number that you are
investigating:

Select “continue” at the bottom of the page.

Now, you should be at:

http://oaspub.epa.gov/stormodb/DW_STATION_COUNT

Select “Continue” until you receive notice that your downloadable file is
ready. Name it Kootenai_storet.txt and place it in the folder where you are
working. Note: If the site is down, check the file in the eCollege Doc
Sharing area.

Use WordPad to open your STORET text file that you just downloaded.

Recall that one way to bring x-y coordinate data into ArcGIS from a text file
is to delimit, or separate, each field by a tab, or comma.

11) What character separates most of your data?

Therefore, you’ll need to do some editing on this file before you can import it
to ArcGIS.

First, notice that there are a few commas in the file. These will interfere with
the correct delimitation, so perform a REPLACE on all commas, replacing
them with a blank space. Then replace the character you indicated in
answer 11) above with a comma.

Save your file as Kootenai_storet_edited.txt

Your data will import more smoothly into ArcGIS if you bring it into Excel and
save as a DBF (Database Format).
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Open Microsoft Excel and open your text file.

Pay careful attention to the text import wizard (below), making sure to
choose the fact that you have a delimited file (step 1 of 3), and that it is
delimited by commas (step 2 of 3).

Import all columns under the “general” format.

Once it imports into Excel, access the two columns containing the latitude
and longitude values. Format these two columns as “number” with 5 decimal
places.

12) Why is this formatting step necessary?

Highlight all of your data in the spreadsheet and save as Kootenai_edited.xls

– an Excel spreadsheet (in case you need to return to it).

Next, because ArcGIS cannot import Excel files, save your spreadsheet as a
DBF4 file: Kootenai_edited.dbf Indicate “yes” when you receive
warning that you are not saving in Microsoft format.

Close Microsoft Excel and go back to your ArcMap session where you are
working with the watershed.

Add your new DBF file into your ArcMap session. Open the table and check
it.
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Perform a SUMMARY on the Primary Type (Primary_TY) field and open the
resulting table.

13) How many landfills exist, and how many mines/mine discharge sites
exist?

Use ToolsÆ Add XY data to map your water quality data. Assign it the
Geographic Coordinate System: GCS_North_American_1983.

Export this data set as a shapefile.

14) Describe the spatial distribution of the landfills and the mine drainage
site in the Upper Kootenai watershed, indicating which rivers they are on or
near.

Set the Data Frame’s Properties –Display Units – to meters.

Select the landfills and mines/mine drainage discharge sites.

Buffer these features by 200 meters.

Use Selection By Location and select the streams that intersect the areas of
concern (i.e. the buffers around the landfills and mines), as follows:
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15) How many streams are selected?

Zoom into the area where the 3 landfills exist near the confluence of the
Kootenai River, Callahan Creek, and O’Brien Creek.

Go to View Æ Toolbars, and access the Utility Network Analyst tool:

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Make the original NHD Flowline layer visible.

Under Flow, select Display Arrows. Change color and size if you wish.

16) Describe the direction that the streams in this area of the 3 landfills
flow.

Click on the junction flag tool (the flag), and add it to the junction of the
Kootenai River and Callahan Creek. Make the Task: Trace Downstream.
Click on Solve (the symbol on the far right of the toolbar).

17) Into what country does the Kootenai flow?

Next, trace upstream from the same point.

18) Approximately what percentage of the land of the Upper Kootenai basin,
based on your visual inspection, do these rivers upstream from these landfills
cover?

19) Describe the hydrographic relationship between the landfills and mine
drainage area that you are examining, mentioning which ones are upstream
from the others, and which streams connect them.

Access the Terraserver tool and download a DOQ for the area covered by the
three landfills. Make the DOQ permanent, if you wish, saving it as a TIFF.

20) Can you see the landfills on the DOQ? Which looks like the largest of
the three?

Next, download a DRG in this area.

21) What is the name of the small town just a few kilometers to the north of
these 3 landfills?

22) Create a layout and paste it into these lab sheets. Include the DRG
and/or DOQ, along with the streams, the landfills, and any other pertinent
data you feel needs to be included.

Go back to your map view. You are interested in the current flow of the
Kootenai River in this area. Access the USGS stream gage at:

http://waterdata.usgs.gov/mt/nwis/uv/?site_no=12301933&PARAmet
er_cd=00060,00065,00010
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Add this point to your map as a graphic.

Or, alternatively, go to water.usgs.gov Æ Real Time Æ Select Montana Æ

Statewide Streamflow Table Æ Search for “Kootenai” Æ Select this stream
gage.

23) What is the current gage height here?

You need to know exactly where this gage is in relationship to your study
area. Under “Available data for this site”, select Site Map:

24) Convert this number (degrees minutes seconds) to decimal degrees, and
show your work below.

Add this point to your map as a graphic in the correct location, as follows.

On the Draw toolbar, click on the square to turn it into a dot. Click on the
map, and before moving it, right click on it. Tab to the Size and Position and
see the dialog box, as below, replacing the x and y positions with those you
calculated above.
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25) Is the gaging station upstream or downstream from the 3 landfills you
were examining earlier?

26) Why is the gaging station not shown exactly on the Kootenai River?

Download a DOQ at this location.

27) What physical feature is the Kootenai River running through at or near
the gaging station?

On the USGS gaging station web page, change the request to “water
quality—Discrete Samples.”

28) Describe how you could create a point shapefile for the gaging station
here in ArcGIS that contains all of the water quality information in the table
currently on your screen.

29) Summarize in a few sentences what you have learned about using
USGS-EPA NHD and EPA tabular data in a problem-solving environment using
GIS in this lesson.

30) What other variables might you consider using in a study such as this?
Based on these additional variables, what other public domain data would
you need to make more study more complete?

*** End of Lesson ***