The Great Lakes Hydrography Dataset: Consistent,Binational Watersheds for the Laurentian Great Lakes Basin |
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| Authors: | Danielle K Forsyth Catherine M Riseng Kevin E Wehrly Lacey A Mason John Gaiot Tom Hollenhorst Craig M Johnston Conrad Wyrzykowski Gust Annis Chris Castiglione Kent Todd Mike Robertson Dana M Infante Lizhu Wang James E McKenna Gary Whelan |
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| Institution: | 1. Institute for Fisheries Research, Michigan Department of Natural Resources and University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, Michigan;2. School of Natural Resources and Environment, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, Michigan;3. Ontario Ministry of Natural Resources and Forestry, Peterborough, Ontario, Canada;4. Mid‐Continent Ecology Division, U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, Duluth, Minnesota;5. New England Water Science Center, U.S. Geological Survey, Pembroke, New Hampshire;6. Agriculture and Agri‐Food Canada, Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada;7. The Nature Conservancy of Michigan, Lansing, Michigan;8. Lower Great Lakes Fish and Wildlife Conservation Office, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, Basom, New York;9. Department of Fisheries and Wildlife, Michigan State University, East Lansing, Michigan;10. Great Lakes Office, International Joint Commission, Detroit, Michigan;11. Great Lakes Science Center, U.S. Geological Survey, Cortland, New York;12. Fisheries Division, Michigan Department of Natural Resources, Lansing, Michigan |
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| Abstract: | Ecosystem‐based management of the Laurentian Great Lakes, which spans both the United States and Canada, is hampered by the lack of consistent binational watersheds for the entire Basin. Using comparable data sources and consistent methods, we developed spatially equivalent watershed boundaries for the binational extent of the Basin to create the Great Lakes Hydrography Dataset (GLHD). The GLHD consists of 5,589 watersheds for the entire Basin, covering a total area of approximately 547,967 km2, or about twice the 247,003 km2 surface water area of the Great Lakes. The GLHD improves upon existing watershed efforts by delineating watersheds for the entire Basin using consistent methods; enhancing the precision of watershed delineation using recently developed flow direction grids that have been hydrologically enforced and vetted by provincial and federal water resource agencies; and increasing the accuracy of watershed boundaries by enforcing embayments, delineating watersheds on islands, and delineating watersheds for all tributaries draining to connecting channels. In addition, the GLHD is packaged in a publically available geodatabase that includes synthetic stream networks, reach catchments, watershed boundaries, a broad set of attribute data for each tributary, and metadata documenting methodology. The GLHD provides a common set of watersheds and associated hydrography data for the Basin that will enhance binational efforts to protect and restore the Great Lakes. |
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| Keywords: | watersheds Laurentian Great Lakes Geographic Information System (GIS) surface water hydrology |
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