The Geography of WATERS

Geography is at the heart of how WATERS works. Geography considers the physical features, especially the surface features, of a region, area or place. More specifically, the geography of water considers the physical water features, especially the surfacewater features, such as watersheds and the streams, lakes, swamps, etc within watersheds. The framework WATERS uses to integrate EPA Office of Water Program data is based upon this geography of water. WATERS and the National Hydrography Dataset Geography attempts to represent the earth's physical features on a map (or in a computer) as points, lines, and polygons. The National Hydrography Dataset (NHD) is a digital (computerized) collection of points, lines and polygons that represent surfacewater features, such as streams, lakes and swamps. Simply put, the NHD can be thought of as 'the blue lines on a map'. In fact, the NHD includes more than 50 types of surfacewater features found on U.S. Geological Survey topographic maps. The surfacewater features within the NHD are further described by associated attributes, including geographic location, type and name (when one exists). WATERS uses the NHD addressing system to link EPA Water Program features, such as water monitoring sites, to the underlying surfacewater features (streams, lakes, swamps, etc). This linkage enables geographic integration, analysis and display of data stored in different EPA Water Program databases using computer-based tools, such as a Geographic Information Systems (GIS). The NHD addressing system employs a unique, standard identifier, known as the reach code, for each segment of water across the country. Reach codes provide the foundation or common 'language' supporting integrated surfacewater analysis between EPA Water Programs, states, tribes and other users. EPA Water Program data can be displayed and analyzed geographically. Individual Water Program features are represented as points, lines, and polygons.

Another way to georeference your house is to describe its location based on street address. Do you know who grew up in this house? 613 Marion Avenue Springdale, PA 15144

The NHD has its own addressing system based upon reaches instead of streets. A reach is the portion of a stream between two points of confluence. A confluence is the location where two or more streams flow together. In the NHD addressing system, a reach code identifies each reach in the same manner that a street name identifies each street. Reach codes are comprised of the 8-digit watershed code followed a 6-digit arbitrarily-assigned sequence number. Using the reach coding scheme, we can see that watershed 01080105 contains the five reaches:
		- 01080105000001 - 01080105000002 - 01080105000003 - 01080105000004 - 01080105000005
We georeference a Water Program feature by its reach address the same way we georeference a house by its street address. In this sense, a 'water monitoring site on a reach' is just like a 'house on a street'. The reach code serves the same purpose as the street name and the position along the reach serves the same purpose as the house number.
		Position along a reach is determined relative to the reach extent. We label the downstream end of a reach as 0% and the upstream end as 100%. If a Water Program feature lies halfway along a reach, its position is 50%. Linear Water Program features are described using both a 'Begin Position' and an 'End Position'. The extent of a linear Water Program feature may span more than one reach, such as the Designated Use Water in this example. In this case, multiple reaches are listed, and begin and end positions are recorded for each reach.
To link EPA Water Program data to the NHD, EPA, states and tribes record and store the reach address of each Water Program feature in an EPA database called the Reach Address Database (RAD). Within the RAD, an individual Water Program feature and its associated reach address are recorded in a row in a table similar the one below. Once the reach addresses have been stored in the RAD, the Water Program databases are logically connected through the NHD enabling the sharing of information across Water Programs.

Georeferencing Water Program Features to the NHD
Map Symbol	Description	Water Program	Water Program Feature ID	Reach Address
				Reach Code	Begin Position	End Position
	Monitoring Site	Water Quality Monitoring	STORET-A	01080105000001	60%	-
	Point Source Discharge	Water Permits	PCS-B	01080105000002	85%	-
	Drinking Water Supply	Safe Drinking Water	SDWIS-C	01080105000005	55%	-
	Designated Use Water	Water Quality Standards	WQS-D	01080105000005 01080105000003 01080105000001	0% 0% 0%	100% 100% 100%
	Assessed Water	305(b) Water Quality	NAD-E	01080105000002	0%	100%
	Impaired Water	303(d) Listed Waters	TMDL-F	01080105000002	30%	100%

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