SCREENING WATERSHED HEALTH USING SPATIAL DATASETS

摘要

Water is considered a renewable resource - but growing problems with adequate sustainable access to high quality water resources are resulting from population growth; surface and groundwater contamination; globally increased water demand for agricultural, industrial, and personal uses; rising global and regional temperatures; and rising water demands for energy production. Problems with access to fresh water supplies vary spatially and temporally, but are growing in extent and duration and will contribute towards political strife and regional instability in many parts of the world. A national screening for watershed health used existing validated datasets and GIS mapping to evaluate the health of HUC8 watersheds. National maps were used to assess the vulnerability of Army installations to issues of water supply and demand. The value of a validated national tool for watershed screening is two-fold. National data sets provide sustainability indicator status for a region or watershed. National maps and data sets also allow comparisons among and between regions. Individual indicator data may be examined, either in tabular format or as GIS output, in order to assess regional watershed vulnerability as it relates to a single sustainability issue.