Meeting Minutes
– TWG Meeting February 23, 2005
IDWR Office – Boise, ID
In Attendance –
Al
Rea, USGS
Leigh Bailey, Payette National Forest
Tracy Fuller, USGS
Christa Braun, BLM – Idaho State Office, Boise
Gene Dana, USGS
Roger Hirschman, NRCS
Linda Davis, IDWR
Sandra Thiel, IDWR
Genna Ashley, IDWR
Valdon Hancock, Sawtooth National Forest
The
meeting began at approximately 10:15 a.m.
NEWS
TO REPORT
Tracy
Fuller reported on the status of the National Hydrography Dataset (NHD).
The USGS recently posted five additional hydrologic units on the web
Geodatabase server: http://nhdgeo.usgs.gov/viewer.htm
17050201
17060101
17050102
17050107
17050106
The following are in-work:
17010216
17060103
17050115
17050103
17050108
17050104
17050105
ESRI
is building a tool for editing both geography and attributes.
It should be available in June, and training should follow sometime this
summer. Tracy will keep everyone
updated as more information becomes available.
4th
FIELD HUC REVIEW
Al
Rea and Tracy Fuller explained the USGS 4th field boundary project to
the group. The goal of this project
is to discriminate between the perennial and intermittent streams for the entire
state. This process will involve
taking all the 1:24k streams from the NHD layer, and “burning them in” the
DEM’s, based on 8-digit huc boundaries. For
this reason, USGS needs a very accurate 4th field boundary, and the
TWG is currently reviewing the 4th field boundaries for the state.
Valdon
Hancock with the Sawtooth National Forest called in to review some of the
changes he had submitted. The two
main areas were the 4th field boundary line between the Salmon Falls
and Upper Snake-Rock hucs at Hopper Gulch, and the 4th field boundary
line between Goose Creek and Upper Snake Rock at Big Cottonwood Creek.
The boundary line at Hopper Gulch was reviewed and re-delineated to stay
on the high point of the ridgeline. The
boundary line at Big Cottonwood Creek has been reviewed moved to include the Big
Cottonwood Creek stream into the Upper Snake-Rock hydrologic unit, per research
done by Valdon Hancock (Sawtooth NF), and Gary Young (BOR – Burley Office).
There was another area close to Hopper Gulch that went too far southeast,
following a ridgeline. The TWG
created a shapefile “Meeting-fix.shp”, referencing the changes to the USGS
boundary lines. Valdon stated that
the remaining areas within the Sawtooth National Forest area were much smaller
changes, and did not involve very large edits.
The
group went through some of the areas that Genna Ashley had flagged:
A
portion of the line in the draft master watershed coverage between the Middle
Snake-Payette and Weiser hucs is preferable to the new proposed USGS line.
This specific line had been delineated in a previous TWG meeting, and
that linework has been draft-approved. Genna
Ashley will check and make sure that this is the most-current linework.
See edits made to shapefile “Meeting-fix.shp” for the line to follow.
A
portion of the line between the Lower Boise and Payette hucs in the USGS
linework is preferable to the linework in the draft master watershed coverage.
See edits made to shapefile “Meeting-fix.shp”.
There
are several large discrepancies between the boundary line between the Lower
Boise huc and the draft-approved Middle Snake-Succor hucs.
Erv Cowley had said in the past that this boundary line was difficult to
delineate and there could be some flexibility in his linework.
It was decided to send screen-shots of the differences and shapefiles of
both sets of linework to Erv Cowley for his approval.
There
is a large discrepancy between the boundary line between the Lower Boise and C.J.
Strike Reservoir hucs. It was
decided to send screen-shots of the differences and shapefiles of both sets of
linework to Erv Cowley for his approval.
The
group went through some of the areas that Leigh Bailey had flagged:
There
is a line that appears to go nowhere northeast of Mica Ridge and the headwaters
of the Little Weiser River. After
some review, the TWG group decided that neither the USGS nor the draft master
watershed coverage line was optimal, so they drafted a new line in the shapefile
“Meeting-fix.shp”.
A
portion of the line by Lick Creek Summit and Summit Lake was redrawn to more
accurately reflect the ridgelines. See
edits made to shapefile “Meeting-fix.shp”.
Leigh
Bailey also reported that there is another error in the Pony Meadows area, but
she would find that area later and send it on to Genna Ashley (IDWR) and Al Rea
(USGS).
The
group went through some of the areas that Steve Garcia (USGS) had flagged:
A
portion of the USGS linework between the Middle Bear and Portneuf hucs will be
replaced with the linework suggested from Gary Young, BOR-Burley.
Gary’s notation for this line was “extremely careful study of
contours”, so the group consensus was that this line had been carefully gone
over and researched. See edits made
to shapefile “Meeting-fix.shp”.
There
is a portion of 4th field boundary between the American Falls and
Lower Bear-Malad hucs that was flagged. After
review by the TWG, it was determined to take the linework delineated by Gary
Young. See edits made to shapefile
“Meeting-fix.shp”.
There
was some confusion regarding the boundary line between the Raft and Lake Walcott
hucs. Gary Young (BOR –Burley) had reviewed the USGS line and
suggested some minor changes, but the original line in the draft master
watershed coverage shows the line going to the lake.
After reviewing the documentation, it was determined that the TWG looked
at this linework during the December TWG meeting, and Sandra Thiel had made some
preliminary delineations to this hydrologic unit and worked with Valdon Hancock
and Erv Cowley, so this line should be revised in the USGS linework.
See meeting minutes from 12/8/04 for details.
The
group looked at the large circular area that Steve Garcia had flagged between
the American Falls, Blackfoot, and Portneuf hucs. The group wants to incorporate Gary Young’s linework, where
applicable, and also made some notations (crossed out areas, etc.) in the
shapefile “Meeting-fix.shp” to help show where the delineations should be.
There
is a major discrepancy between the USGS, draft master watershed coverage and the
computer-generated linework 4th fields that Karen Hanson had done on
contract for BLM. This mainly
affects the Birch Creek, Medicine Lodge, Beaver-Camas, Idaho Falls and American
Falls areas, primarily around the INEEL areas.
Some of this linework affects the Big Lost hydrologic unit, which has
already been draft-approved with Betsy Rieffenberger, Salmon-Challis NF.
After a review of the 4th field boundary linework between the
Big Lost and American Falls hucs, it appears that much of the hydrography in the
American Falls huc appears to be draining into the Big Lost Huc, draining
northwest, separated by Twin Buttes ridgeline.
It was determined to send this linework to Betsy Rieffenberger and ask
whether the option of putting this section of hydrography into the Big Lost
sub-basin would be feasible.
For
the other hydrologic units listed above (Birch Creek, Medicine Lodge,
Beaver-Camas, Idaho Falls and American Falls) affected by this change, it was
determined that the linework should be forwarded on to Lee Leffert in the
Caribou-Targhee National Forest for his review.
There
was a question regarding a portion of the boundary line between the Lower Salmon
and Middle Salmon-Chamberlain hucs, where they cross the Salmon River.
Leigh Bailey stated that she and Nick Gerhardt had gone through this area
and that it was decided to cross where the draft master watershed coverage had
the line, at the small stream and gaging station.
The draft master watershed coverage line will be substituted for the USGS
4th field boundary line here.
There
is a portion of the USGS linework on the Utah side that is not a 4th
field boundary line. It appears
that this is a 5th or 6th field Utah line and it will be
removed from the USGS 4th field coverage.
REGULAR
HUC REVIEW
Idaho
Panhandle NF Final Review: Due to
time limitations, review of the entire IPNF area was tabled until the next
watershed meeting on March 9th.
The group did address one question brought up by Rosa Nygaard (Montana
NRIS) regarding the possibility of connecting the 5th field units
1701021404, which are now disconnected and treated as frontal units at the
northern portion of Pend Oreille Lake. After
some discussion, it was determined that this 5th field could be
broken at Trout Creek, thus eliminating the disconnected 5th field
unit. Genna Ashley will draft a
line and send that question to Rick Patten with a cc to Rosa Nygaard.
Also,
it was determined that there is an area in the northern portion of the Pend
Oreille Lake unit 1701021401, that does not follow the shoreline.
Genna Ashley will draft a new shapefile and send to Rick Patten for
review.
Lower
Snake-Asotin Review: Leigh Bailey (Payette NF)
worked with Caty Clifton (Umatilla NF) on this unit. The linework Leigh sent Caty was acceptable, and no changes
were recommended. The TWG group
voted to draft approve this huc for concept lines, with the only change being to
carefully check the 5th and 6th field confluences, and possibly refine them
where the boundaries cross the river, change the label attributes from all upper
case to lower case, and refine the 5th/6th fields to 24k
linework. This huc is draft
approved and needs to be incorporated into the draft master watershed coverage.
Middle
Snake-Payette: The group reviewed this
sub-basin. The 6th field
line between 170501150102 and 170501150103 where it crosses the Snake River was
refined on the Idaho side. See
edits made to shapefile “Meeting-fix.shp”.
The
6th field line between 170501150103 and 170501150104 where it crosses
the Snake River was refined to the east on the Oregon side to avoid crossing
what appears to be a natural stream. However,
since this suggested change is on the Oregon side of the border, this will be
sent to Oregon for review, and not incorporated into the Idaho coverage yet.
A
portion of the 5th field division between 1705011501 and 1705011502
was redrawn to avoid splitting up the eastern marshy area, and include it into
the 1705011502 5th field. See
edits made to shapefile “Meeting-fix.shp”.
The
TWG decided to break the 6th field unit 170501150202-Sand Hollow at
the legacy channel at Sand Hollow Creek, and put Cherry Gulch in with 6th
field unit 170501150204-Buttermilk Gulch. Also,
it was noted that the 6th field confluence at Sand Hollow should go
to the bank, no the middle of the stream. See
edits made to shapefile “Meeting-fix.shp”.
The
northern 4th field boundary line between the Middle Snake-Payette,
Brownlee, and Weiser hucs should be brought up to the Snake River/Weiser River
confluence. See edits made to
shapefile “Meeting-fix.shp”.
Genna
Ashley will make these changes and send the edits, with the suggested Oregon
edit to the Oregon REO contacts.
Leigh
Bailey reported that John Thornton has replaced T.J. Clifford for a watershed
contact with the Boise National Forest.
Al
Rea stated that there is a new set of watershed tools being developed that would
help with attributing and 24k linework. A
preliminary copy of this program should be available soon, and training will
probably be available sometime this spring/summer in Salt Lake.
This set of tools could prove to be very beneficial to both Genna
Ashley-Poulson (IDWR), and Steve Garcia (USGS) in watershed database management.
Al Rea will find out when an evaluation copy might be available and keep
everyone informed regarding possible training opportunities.
ACTION
ITEMS:
Genna Ashley will check the linework between the Middle
Snake-Payette and Weiser hucs and make sure that the most-current linework has
been incorporated into the draft master watershed coverage.
Genna Ashley will send screen-shots and linework to Erv Cowley and
Christa Braun of the differences for the Lower Boise and Middle Snake-Succor
hucs, and also the Lower Boise and C.J. Strike hucs.
Leigh Bailey will research the error she found for the Pony Meadows
area and send to Genna Ashley and Al Rea.
Genna Ashley will prepare linework and screen-shots to Betsy
Rieffenberger regarding the additional hydrography that should be in the Big
Lost sub-basin.
Genna Ashley will forward the Karen Hanson computer-generated
linework to Leigh Bailey so that she can work with Lee Leffert on the large
proposed 4th field boundary changes that fall within the
Caribou-Targhee National Forest.
Genna Ashley will draft a line to Rick Patten explaining the
proposed 5th field re-distribution for the frontal unit 1701021404 at
the northern portion of Pend Oreille Lake, with a cc to Rosa Nygaard.
Also, Genna will send Rick a new line (shapefile) for the very small area
that does not follow the lake shoreline.
Genna Ashley will mark the Lower Snake-Asotin hydrologic unit
“draft approved” for Idaho, and incorporate that linework into the draft
master watershed coverage.
Genna Ashley will work on the changes identified for the Middle
Snake-Payette hydrologic unit, and send that work, along with the proposed
Oregon change to the REO contacts.
NEXT
SCHEDULED TWG MEETING (S):
Wednesday,
March 9th – IDWR Offices, 322 W. Front Street, Boise, ID
For directions and/or NetMeeting connections, please contact Genna Ashley at (208) 287-4880 genna.ashley@idwr.idaho.gov
***Subject
to change before meeting***