ELECTRONIC DATA MANAGEMENT SYSTEM FOR WATERSHED ASSESSMENT AND RESTORATION PLANNING

摘要

Watershed Restoration Plans (WRP) and subsequent restoration activities are generally only as good as the data and data analyses on which they are based. Until recently, watershed assessments in Pennsylvania have generally not incorporated a watershed-wide approach. Portions of a given watershed may have been assessed several times over the years by various groups, organizations and agencies, each collecting and analyzing their own data without coordinating efforts, techniques, or interpretations. This usually resulted in an incomplete assessment of the watershed as a whole and subsequent allocation of funding to projects that may not efficiently lead to watershed restoration. This paper presents the development and use of an Electronic Data Management System (EDMS) designed specifically for watershed groups to manage and evaluate water quality and other physical data for the preparation of a WRP. The EDMS consists of two separate but linked components. The first is a relational database designed for both functionality and ease of use. Key to the database structure is the ability to conduct comparative analyses across several discharges, as well as comparative analyses within individual watersheds and between watersheds. More importantly, the EDMS provides a means for quick and efficient input of water quality and other physical data as well as providing a final repository for the data. The second component is a geographic information system (GIS) which provides the spatial relationship lacking in the database. Key to the GIS structure is the development of routines to display and analyze the spatial distribution of discharge loadings and levels of specific contaminants. The EDMS has been found to significantly increase the ability of local watershed groups to conduct watershed-wide assessments and data analysis. The system allows less technical users to conduct more thorough evaluations of data and data trends and assists in the spatial analysis of contaminant loadings. Incorporation of widely available GIS data themes and layers provides additional data tools to evaluate local land use, topography, and land ownership, if available.