WELCOME to the NHDPlus Web Site

NHDPlus is a geo-spatial, hydrologic framework dataset envisioned by the US Environmental Protection Agency. The EPA Office of Water, assisted by the US Geological Survey, has supported the development of NHDPlus to enhance the EPA Watershed Assessment, Tracking & Environmental Results (WATERS) activities and the USGS National Water Quality Assessment (NAWQA) Program's SPARROW modeling. Since its first release in 2006, NHDPlus has been made available by EPA to the wider water resources community and has been used for many diverse applications inside and outside of EPA and USGS.

NHDPlus is an integrated suite of application-ready geospatial data sets that incorporate many of the best features of the National Hydrography Dataset (NHD), the National Elevation Dataset (NED), and the Watershed Boundary Dataset (WBD). NHDPlus Version 1 (NHDPlusV1) was released in 2006. NHDPlus Version 2 (NHDPlusV2) began its public debut in June 2012.

Both versions of NHDPlus are available from the links on the left-hand side of this page. NHDPlusV2 is the most recent and comprehensive version of NHDPlus and replaces NHDPlusV1. New and existing NHDPlus users are strongly encouraged to use the vastly improved NHDPlusV2. While the NHDPlusV1 remains available from the archive page, user support for the NHDPlusV1 data and tools will be limited.

Like NHDPlusV1, NHDPlusV2 data is distributed by drainage area. NHDPlusV2 divides the continental U.S. into 21 drainage areas, all of which are available for download. NHDPlusV2 for Hydrologic Regions 20 (Hawaii) and 21 (Puerto Rico and the US Virgin Islands) will be developed when resources permit.

NHDPlusV2 extended "Metadata", described in the NHDPlusV2 User Guide, will be posted when it is complete. Ancillary datasets, referenced in the NHDPlusV2 User Guide as "National" data and "Global" data, will be posted as they are completed. The specific data that is yet to be released includes:

• \NHDPlusMetadata\NHD.met
• \NHDPlusMetadata\Precip and Temp Metadata
• \NHDPlusMetadata\Runoff Metadata
• \NHDPlusGlobalData\BoundaryUnit
• \NHDPlusGlobalData\NHDPlusConnect
• \NHDPlusGlobalData\SuperCatchments
• \NHDPlusGlobalData\SC

See the NHDPlusV2 User Guide for additional information about these data.

NHDPlusV2 is different from NHDPlusV1 in a number of significant ways. You are encouraged to read the NHDPlusV2 User Guide which contains sections that compare and contrast the two versions.

Thank you for your continued interest in, and use of, NHDPlus!

The NHDPlus Team can be reached at NHDPlus@hscnet.com.

News & Updates

For the latest information on the development of NHDPlus, go to NHDPlus News.

If you would like to receive occasional emails about the availability of NHDPlus data, tools and updates, send your name, phone number, organization, and email address to nhdplus@hscnet.com.

All NHDPlus Support is available through email to nhdplus@hscnet.com.