Forests to Faucets

The USDA Forest Service Forests to Faucets project uses GIS to model and map the continental United States land areas most important to surface drinking water, the role forests play in protecting these areas, and the extent to which these forests are threatened by development, insects and disease, and wildland fire.

The results of this assessment provide information that can identify areas of interest for protecting surface drinking water quality. The spatial dataset can be incorporated into broad-scale planning, such as the State Forest Action Plans, and can help identify areas for further local analysis. In addition it can be incorporated into existing decision support tools that currently lack spatial data on important areas for surface drinking water.

This project also sets the groundwork for identifying watersheds where a payment for watershed services (PWS) project may be an option for financing conservation and management on forest lands. On a macro scale, the Forests to Faucets data identifies areas that supply surface drinking water, have consumer demand for this water, and are facing significant development threats—all important criteria for successful PWS initiatives.

In perhaps its most important role, this work can serve as an education tool to illustrate the link between forests and the provision of surface drinking water—a key watershed-based ecosystem service.

Maps

Explore the Forests to Faucets map using the interactive map viewer…

Browse each Forests to Faucets index individually by viewing the following map attributes:

• Surface drinking water importance
• Forest importance to surface drinking water
• Insect and disease threat to forests important to surface drinking water
• Wildland fire threat to forests important to surface drinking water
• Development threat to forests important to surface drinking water

Printable Maps

• From the Forest to the Faucet: Selected Map Results (PDF, 824 KB)
• Colorado Front Range Surface Drinking Water Importance Index Map Poster (PDF, 9.5 MB)

Data

• Data "Read Me" File (PDF, 217 KB)
• 12-digit Watershed Boundary Dataset (Download from the Geospatial Data Gateway (GDG)

• EPA Safe Drinking Water Information System information (SDWIS) Data (PDF, 123 KB)

• Get the Forests to Faucets Data…

Documentation

• From the Forest to the Faucet: An Overview (PDF, 561 KB)
• From the Forest to the Faucet: Drinking Water and Forests in the US, Methods Paper (PDF, 1.7 MB)

Videos

• Forest to Faucet Maps and Data (.wmv, 27.8 MB)
  A video tutorial describing how to access the Forest to Faucet web page, use the interactive map viewer, browse available data, and presenting advanced features. The video is in Windows Media Player format (.wmv). A transcript of this video is available in PDF format (67 KB).

Related Articles and Reports

• Valuing Drinking Water as an Ecosystem Service, The Pinchot Letter, Winter 2010 (PDF, 1.02 MB)
• Forests, Water and People Analysis: Drinking water supply and forest lands in the Northeast and Midwest United States, USDA Forest Service, June 2009

Contact

Ecosystem Services & Markets, ecosystemservices@fs.fed.us
USDA Forest Service, Cooperative Forestry
Washington, DC