Tools
List
Effective watershed management requires the integration
of theory, data, simulation models, and expert judgement to solve
practical problems and still provide a scientific basis for decision
making at the watershed level. Increasingly, State, Federal and
Tribal water resource professionals as well as watershed managers
and local governments in the Midwest are experimenting and supporting
some web-based
education, data distribution and decision support tools. |
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The decision support systems, (DSS) with
Geographic Information Systems (GIS), interactive modeling,
and on-line scenario development options are in their early stages
of evolution and use. Yet, these more advanced interactive systems
hold the most potential for having the greatest impact on decisions.
(For more information about web-based GIS applications throughout
EPA Region 5, including a comparison and analysis of targeted audiences,
interfaces, data models, and more, see: Survey
of Web-GIS applications in EPA Region 5)
These DSS tools can help decision makers in understanding and evaluating
alternative management approaches:
- They can often serve as the initial screening tool for analyzing
information of a particular environmental problem, doing the “up-front
“ legwork that a consultant normally would undertake.
- They bring together numerous databases for instant comparison,
making many costs, benefits, and impacts of the alternatives clear
from the very beginning of the screening process.
- After the initial screening DSS tools can also provide assistance
to formulating the right questions to ask a consultant or about
the environmental problem selecting the right alternative and
- Throughout the process they allow the focusing of resources,
both of the community and its consultant, upon the actual decision
and not on the massing of decision data.
A selection of
Case
Studies is available to further illustrate how a number of DSS
tools have been applied to solve problems in a variety of situations.
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BASINS
 BASINS
is a multipurpose environmental analysis system for performing watershed
and water quality based studies.
Quickly assess large amounts of point source and nonpoint
source data in a format that is easy to use and understand. Installed
on a personal computer.
http://www.epa.gov/OST/BASINS
System Developer: Office of Water,
U.S.EPA
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Digital
Watershed Mapping
 The
digital watershed website is designed to provide both a centralized
information repository and an online computing center for watersheds
in the United States.
The site has other tools and demos.
http://www.iwr.msu.edu/dw
System Developer: Institute of Water
Research (IWR), Michigan State University (MSU)
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Farm.edu Site Specific
Decision Support System (FSSDSS)
 The
map engine at this site will allow you to quickly locate, create,
and print maps of your operation and surrounding areas. The map
tool bar allows you to identify, buffer, measure distances, calculate
acreage and a number of other activities. Other tools designed to
improve decision making can be found in the left column.
http://space1.itcs.uiuc.edu/website/farmedu/
System Developer: Farm.edu, University
of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign |
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Geospatial
Data Gateway (GDG)
 The
Geospatial Data Gateway provides One Stop Shopping for natural resources
or environmental data at anytime, from anywhere, to anyone. The
Gateway allows you to choose your area of interest, browse and select
data from our catalog, customize the format, and have it downloaded
or shipped on CD.
http://datagateway.nrcs.usda.gov/
System Developer: Natural Resources
Conservation Service (NRCS), U.S. Dept of Agriculture (USDA) |
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Geo-spatial Interface
for the Water Erosion Protection Project (GeoWEPP)
 The
Water Erosion Prediction Project (WEPP) model is a continuous simulation,
process-based model that allows simulation of small watersheds and
hillslope profiles within those watersheds.
http://www.geog.buffalo.edu/%7Erensch/geowepp/
System Developer: The
State University of New York (SUNY), Buffalo; Purdue University,
West Lafayette; and Agricultural Research Service (ARS), National
Soil Erosion Research Laboratory (USDA-NSERL), West Lafayette.
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Lake Rim GIS
 Gathering
all available environmentally related data of Northwestern Indiana
into a single repository of information.
Interactively create a customized map using layers
of interest.
Download datasets and layer information.
http://igs.indiana.edu/arcims/lrim/index.html
System Developer: Indiana Geological
Survey, Indiana University. |
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Local Government Environmental
Assistance Network (LGEAN)
 The
Local Government Environmental Assistance Network (LGEAN) is a "first-stop
shop" providing environmental management, planning, funding,
and regulatory information for local government elected and appointed
officials, managers and staff.
http://www.lgean.org/
System Developer: International
City/County Management Association (ICMA) and the other LGEAN Partners.
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Long Term Hydrological
Information Assessment (L-THIA)
 L-THIA,
Long-Term Hydrologic Impact Assessment, is designed to help these
people to quantify the impact of land use change on the quantity
and quality of their water.
This tool uses the land use and a soil characteristic
from the user along with thirty years of precipitation data to determine
the average impact that a particular land use change or set of changes
will have on both the annual runoff and the average amount of several
non-point source pollutants.
http://www.ecn.purdue.edu/runoff/lthianew/
System Developer: Purdue University
in cooperation with U.S. EPA. |
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Performance
and Results Management System (PRMS)
 PRMS
collects information about natural resource conservation that is
being accomplished at a local level by Natural Resources Conservation
Service and its Conservation Partners.
Information is collected at a county level and is updated nightly.
Information is collected on many areas of conservation including
erosion reduction, nutrient management, irrigation water management,
and conservation systems.
http://prms.nrcs.usda.gov/prms/
System Developer: Natural Resources Conservation
Service (NRCS), U.S. Dept of Agriculture (USDA). |
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Resource Management Mapping
Service (RMMS)
 Quickly
locate, create, and print maps of large and small areas within Illinois
in a few minutes. Numerous map layers may be added to the base map
to give a better idea of a specific location's resources and other
important attributes.
System Developer: University
of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign in cooperation with
Illinois Dept of Natural Resources.
http://space1.itcs.uiuc.edu/website/rmms/ |
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Software for Environmental Awareness (SEA)
 Download
dozens of free interactive software on environmental topics or use
some of them on-line.
These programs are produced by Purdue University in
cooperation with US EPA.
http://www.epa.gov/glnpo/seahome/
System Developer: Purdue University
in cooperation with U.S. EPA Region 5. |
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Understanding
Your Watershed: An Interactive Mapping Program
 An
interactive web-based mapping program utilizing the capabilities
of a Geographic Information System (GIS).
The program enables a user to select a Michigan watershed and display
various features within that watershed such as streets, water bodies,
elevation, risk areas, wetlands and other information available
across the state.
http://www.hydra.iwr.msu.edu/water/
System Developer: Institute of Water
Research (IWR), Michigan State University (MSU) |
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Window
to My Environment (WME)
 Window
To My Environment(WME)--a powerful new web-based tool that provides
a wide range of federal, state, and local information about environmental
conditions and features in an area of your choice.
http://www.epa.gov/enviro/wme/
System Developer: U.S.
EPA in partnership with other federal, state, and local organizations. |
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