Process Paper for Tracking the Completion of 6^th Level Watersheds

Dguenther, REO 1/18

Issue

Agencies in the PNW have coordinated in the development of 6^th level watersheds for all of Washington, Oregon and N. California. This work was completed through a series of workshops coordinated through the Regional Ecosystem Office (REO). The results of these workshops is a dataset containing the existing high resolution 5^th and 6^th Level watersheds, as well as low resolution draft lines.

In order to compile these into one seamless product the REO has contracted this digitizing work to Titan Corp. Contained here is the recommended process to track and review the completion of this project.

In addition to Titan, NRCS Oregon will provide this same service (to the same contract specifications) as Titan. Approximately 27 HUC’s will be completed through NRCS. Additional HUC’s may be managed by a separate entities as well.

Processing

All processing will be done on a HUC by HUC basis. No partial processing will be accommodated.

Deliverables will be by zone. Oregon, Washington, and California were divided into zones in order to stratify processing and focus the review process. See attached for a zone map. Once a zone is complete then this will be delivered to REO for review.

The basic process will be:

1. A pilot HUC will be processed and delivered to REO. This will then be reviewed by the partners to ensure the process, data standards and deliverable meet expectations.

2. The digitizer (Titan, NRCS, etc) will complete a zone. This will be sent into the REO for distribution via ftp to a special directory. The projection is UTM 10 meters, with a datum of NAD 27.

3. REO will then notify the appropriate agency and field Hydrologists it is available for review. Review will end February 28. The intent of this review is to ensure that Titan complied with the directions from the workshops. This review will not include any changes outside of the workshops. These will be dealt with as part of the ongoing maintenance of the dataset. The intent of this review is to ensure that the contractor followed the directions of the workshops, or follows existing data submitted prior to the workshops. It does not include reviewing line-to-ridgetop placement by the contractor.

4. Suggested changes will then be submitted to the REO in a standard format. The REO will then compile these changes to the contractor for adjustments. The technical specifications for this format and processing instructions are described under Section 2 below.

5. The agency hydrologists will then run a review of the changes proposed. Significant changes will go through a detailed review, which may include meetings with the change authors to finalize. Once this review is complete the REO will compile and provide the changes to the digitizer

6. The digitizer will then update the HUC’s in the zone and ship to REO the final product.

7. REO will then merge the zones together into one dataset and distribute.

Watershed Zone Map

Note: This map is DRAFT. California Zone is composed of 3 areas, not one; East, West, and Northern.

Section 2

Technical Specifications for Review Data

As described above each agency, and associated field units will be provided an opportunity to review the draft 5^th and 6^th Level watersheds provided by the contractor. In order to expedite the compilation of these changes the REO will require all responses to be provided with the following format and procedures.

Note: Command line ftp (issueing the ftp command from a unix or DOS prompt) will not work because of agency firewalls. You must use an ftp client, a free download off of the internet, or Exceed.

File Transfers:

The REO has established the following directories to facilitate ftp transfers:

- Incoming – Agencies will use this directory to place review files. These files describe suggested changes to the draft watersheds. See format below.

o Path: ftp://www.reo.gov/review6/incoming

- Outgoing – Agencies will use this directory to get draft watershed coverages.

- Path: ftp://www.reo.gov/review6/outgoing

Please contact Jim Edmonds, 503-808-2168 (j1edmonds@or.blm.gov) for login/passwords to the directories.

The files placed in this directory will follow the naming format:

Zone_Unit.eoo

Zone – refers to the zone which contains the watershed. (Oregon Zone 1 = Oregon01). See attached map.

Agency – refers to the agency submitting the change. (FS – Forest Service).

Unit – refers to the unit code submitting the change. (Umpqua NF = 15).

Example: Oregon01_FS15.e00

File Format:

After review the units will need to provide suggested changes to the draft watersheds. These changes will be in the form of a coverage. This coverage may be in shapefile or Arc .e00 format. Preferred is Arc .e00 format. In this coverage only submit the lines or arcs which are a change. We do not need the entire coverage returned.

Each change will be represented by a line. This line will be either an ‘Add’ or ‘Drop’ line, and will have associated attributes. Each line will have the following attributes:

Field Name: Change_Number

Type and Size: Character, 10

Description: The combination of agency (Forest Service = FS), unit code (Umpqua NF = 15) and a sequential number for each feature or change requested.

Example: FS15.0001, FS15.0002, etc.

Field Name: Action

Type and Size: Character, 4

Description: Valid codes – Drop or Add. Describe whether this line represents dropping an existing line, or adding another. If an existing line is to be changed, then first a line is drafted to represent the drop, and a line to represent the new location. New lines (Add) need not be drafted to 1:24,000 accuracy. A simple representation of location is all that is needed.

Example: Drop

Field Name: Reason

Type and Size: Character, 132

Description: Describe the reason for the change.

Example: Draft line placed on wrong ridge.

Field Name: Name

Type and Size: Character, 25

Description: Hydrologist requesting the change.

Example: Bruce McCammon

Name or Number Changes:

The digitizer will copy watershed names and numbers, for each 5^th and 6^th Level, where none exist. If the proposed watershed name or number is not correct, a second coverage will be submitted and the hydrologist will add the new name or number to that watershed. This coverage will be a polygon coverage with only those watersheds having a name change.

Each 5^th and 6^th watershed polygon coverage supplied by the contractor will contain following attributes:

Field Name: 5^th_New_Name

Type and Size: Character, 35

Description: Initially blank, the hydrologist will put the new watershed name here only if a change is requested.

Field Name: 5^th_New_Number

Type and Size: Character, 35

Description: Initially blank, the hydrologist will put the new watershed number here only if a change is requested.

Field Name: 6^th_New_Name

Type and Size: Character, 35

Description: Initially blank, the hydrologist will put the new sub-watershed name here only if a change is requested.

Field Name: 6^th_New_Number

Type and Size: Character, 35

Description: Initially blank, the hydrologist will put the new sub-watershed number here only if a change is requested.

Contact:

Project or contract questions may be directed to Dale Guenther, 503-808-2188 (dguenther@fs.fed.us). Technical questions should go to Jim Edmonds, 503-808-2168 (j1edmonds@or.blm.gov).