New Strategies for America's Watersheds (1999) / Chapter Skim
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4 Data and Information
4 Data and Information
Pages 112-138
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From page 112... ...
The application of that general knowledge in management, however, depends on the acquisition and skillful use of data about specific places and situations. This chapter explores the characteristics of available data and the state of our ability to use those data in the actual practice of watershed management.
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From page 113... ...
As a result, data collection efforts now are more diffuse and include economic, social, and perceptual data. Data Sources There is a long tradition of collecting data in selected "experimental" watersheds, and these have provided the setting for the development of our current understanding of physical and biological watershed processes.
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From page 115... ...
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From page 116... ...
The purpose of watershed research, as implemented via experimental watersheds, is to collect, document, interpret and disseminate basic data, information, and knowledge of watershed processes and functions. These activities serve as a basis for design, implementation, monitoring, evaluating, and understanding watershed management practices and programs, and to predict watershed response to alternative land use and management practices.
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From page 117... ...
For example, the U.S. Geological Survey monitored water quality parameters in many watersheds after passage of federal water laws in the 1960s and 1970s, but was forced to abandon many of the sites in the late 1970s when funding for monitoring programs expired.
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From page 118... ...
The majority of technical information transfer occurs between agency staffs and the public. But agency involvement in watershed management
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From page 119... ...
Scientists can stress, among other things, the importance of land-water connections, the role of natural disturbances in maintaining ecosystem processes, and the need to view watershed management in terms of large landscape units. The success of agricultural and forestry extension services, in which the public can turn for advice to local extension agents familiar with the region, can serve as a model for the establishment of integrated watershed extension services.
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From page 120... ...
Because GIS provides the ability to manage and analyze data across spatial and temporal scales, it effectively supports activities related to most, if not all, of the watershed management elements mentioned above. The development of GIS capabilities and databases have greatly facilitated watershed research and planning efforts.
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From page 121... ...
This system has been used since 1977 for the USGS National Stream Quality Accounting Network (Briggs and Ficke, 1977) , and is widely used for a variety of other surface water applications.
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From page 122... ...
, size and age, source of water, method of sewage disposal, and type of plumbing facilities. Census data are also available on economic activities.
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From page 123... ...
In some instances, aggregations of counties can be used to approximate large river basins or the Water Resource Regions discussed in Chapter 3. Files that summarize data from a variety of sources aggregated at the county level are also available.
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From page 124... ...
Stream stage, water chemistry, species diversity and abundance, and habitat conditions all need to be measured in monitoring programs designed to evaluate regional environmental conditions and to provide benchmarks that can be compared to nearby sites. It is especially critical to sustain long-term (longer than 10 years)
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From page 125... ...
This is especially true for integrating biophysical and social science research, even though this combination is exactly what is most needed to support watershed management decisionmaking.
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From page 126... ...
These are precisely the types of studies this committee believes are needed to enhance our ability to implement watershed management activities. No evaluation of the program has been done, however, to track whether the research has actually worked to increase the effectiveness of watershed management or benefit the environment, a common failing in watershed science.
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From page 127... ...
In addition to complex numerical models, there also remains a need for elegant, simple models, such as Vollenweider's P loading model for lakes, that can be based on reliable existing data. Finally, watershed management cannot wait for the resolution of all of these important questions.
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From page 128... ...
Gaps in Data and Information One of the most fundamental goals of watershed management is protection of water quality. Over $100 billion have been spent on measures to comply with point source pollution reduction since enactment of the Clean Water Act in 1972.
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From page 129... ...
Toxic contaminants, and even nutrients, are considerably more difficult to analyze, but tell much more about the effectiveness of watershed management. Unfortunately, contamination artifacts and lack of sensitive, reliable methods render much of the existing data record useless for substances whose impact is felt at trace levels.
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From page 130... ...
:: ~ ~ ~ I: :~ : :~::~-: ~::~ :: : ~ :::: If::: ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~: I.. ~ ~ ~:~ ~ ~:~:~ ~:~:~ :, ~ ~ :~ ~ -I: ~ ~ ~: ~ ~ :~ Sediment~yields,~a~ccumulation,~ and~concentrations~are ~impor~tant~data Elfin watershed management.- Conventionally~deri~ved~ sediment yield~l~data which deepened on stream sampling, are often of questionable ~reliability, expensive, and from only~limited~ locations.
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From page 131... ...
. It will be important in future years to continue this integration effort and to avoid shortsighted cutbacks in monitoring programs, which supply critically needed data for watershed management programs nationwide.
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From page 132... ...
The flexibility of simulation models with large numbers of output variables makes arriving at a decision difficult without a systematic methodology to evaluate the output. There is an urgent need to provide scientists with a bridge for the gap between the tools of technology needed for development (computers and computer software)
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From page 133... ...
Also, the Colorado Water Conservation Board is developing a DSS for water planning in the Colorado River Basin. Several large efforts are under way to develop decision support systems for watersheds.
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From page 134... ...
They cite the Missouri River Basin modeling as part of the Annual Operating Plan process as an example of how federal leadership with simulation models can help resolve conflicts. Given the difficulties of using and interpreting complex natural resource simulation models and data at the watershed scale, it is necessary that we develop decision tools to assist decisionmakers in watershed management programs and to facilitate transfer of simulation modeling technology.
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From page 135... ...
But for nonpoint sources, contaminants with complex biogeochemical behavior, and stormflows, reliably relating inputs to final water quality pushes the limits of current understanding of watershed processes and how to incorporate them into the present generation of models. Models exist, but their ability to reliably predict contaminant loads from nonpoint sources, especially for unusual "worst case" conditions, is questionable.
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From page 136... ...
Implementation of watershed management activities requires more effective integration of ecological, economic, and social considerations, and such integration depends on the availability of appropriate data and information. More data and information are readily available to the interested citizen, manager, researcher, and decisionmaker than ever before often free over the Internet (see Appendix B for examples)
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From page 137... ...
1996. Decision Support Systems for Water Resources Management.
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From page 138... ...
U.S. Geological Survey (USGS)
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