Peter A. Steeves

Stream-Network Navigation in the U.S. Geological Survey StreamStats Web Application

StreamStats is a U.S. Geological Survey Web-based geographic information systems application developed as a tool for water-resources planning and management, engineering design, and other applications. The primary functionality of StreamStats allows users to obtain drainage-basin boundaries, basin characteristics, and streamflow statistics for gaged and ungaged sites. Recently, tools that allow stream-network navigation were added to StreamStats. These tools allow users to select any point along a stream and locate activities upstream and downstream from the selected point, such as streamgaging stations, dams, and point-source discharges, and obtain information about such activities. Users also can obtain stream-reach addresses and estimates of streamflow statistics for the selected points.

Use of the StreamStats Web Application for TMDL Analysis

StreamStats (http://streamstats.usgs.gov) is a U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) Web-based geographic information systems application developed as a tool for water-resources planning and management, engineering design, and numerous other applications, and is a useful tool for analyzing Total Maximum Daily Loads (TMDLs). StreamStats users can select data-collection station locations shown on an interactive map interface to obtain previously published streamflow statistics, basin characteristics, and descriptive information for the stations. Users also can select any location along a stream to obtain the drainage-basin boundary, basin and climatic characteristics, and streamflow statistics for the location, estimated based on either regional regression equations or on the flow per unit drainage area for the statistics at nearby streamgaging stations. These estimates of streamflow statistics can be useful for TMDL analysis. For example, StreamStats applications for several states provide estimates of 7-day, 10-year low flows, which are used by many states for permitting of effluent discharges.