Watershed Geographic Information Technology
The Watershed Geographic Information Technology section develops, provides and facilitates access to comprehensive and up-to-date geographic information on and relating to New York State's waters.
Under a Cooperative Technical Partnership with the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), the Group implements DEC's Floodplain Mapping Program.
The National Hydrography Dataset (NHD) is a comprehensive set of digital lines and polygons representing surface water features such as lakes, ponds, streams, rivers, springs and wells. The NHD program is a cooperative effort of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (USEPA) and the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS). The NYS-DEC has an agreement with the USGS making NYS-DEC the Steward of the NHD for New York State, meaning NYS-DEC manages the update and maintenance of New York State's surface water features in the NHD.
Updates to the NHD originate from various sources. Currently, NYS-DEC is actively involved in updating the NHD line work to better align with the NYS Digital Orthoimagery, available internally as well as through the NYS GIS Clearinghouse. High resolution line work devloped as part of FEMA's Floodplain Mapping Program is also utilized to update and improve the NHD. In addition, individuals familiar with specific surface waters may submit updates.
The NYS-DEC collects and/or maintains much valuable information related to lakes, streams and other surface water features. This information is typically stored in traditional database systems; however, it can be indexed to the NHD, allowing it to be displayed on a map.
Efforts to create this cross-referencing are ongoing for several programs that maintain surface waters related data, including New York State's Classes and Standards of Quality and Purity for surface waters. Much of this mapped information will eventually be available to the public via the Web and/or other means.
