Project Summary:

During the Connecticut River Watershed Sustainability workshops held in 2004, a common message voiced by participants was the need for a centralized database of information to support assessments of the current and future health of the watershed by a variety of users. This project is addressing these science priorities by creating a data-sharing system in the form of a Web-based Geographic Information System (GIS) watershed atlas. Results will also provide data for the other science priorities associated with Connecticut River Watershed sustainability - water budgets, water quality, and ecological flow determinations.

Integrating features and basic map layers in the USGS National Map together with the National Hydrography Database (NHD), data associated with the New England SPARROW water-quality models, data from The Nature Conservancy's ecoregional planning studies, and other natural resource information -- an interactive, point and click, web-based data browser is under development for the Connecticut River Watershed. This browser will disseminate spatially based natural-resource and environmental-quality data sets, grouped by approximately 7800 small watersheds, to resource decision makers. This prototype will serve as the basis for a long-term Connecticut River Watershed Atlas that can be built upon in the future. The initial data presented in the Watershed Atlas includes descriptions of physical and societal features, river water-quality conditions, and terrestrial ecosystem type and health.