National Hydrography Dataset and Watershed Boundary Dataset

The USGS has announced the cessation of National Hydrography Dataset (NHD) and (Watershed Boundary Dataset (WBD) editing in the very near term. If you have any pending edits to the NHD or WBD, please contact Joel Skalet. USGS is attempting to gage the number of incoming edits to expect in the next 2 months so please reach out to Joel if you plan to submit edits either through the Markup App or through Job Checkouts.

IMPORTANT DATES

NHD and WBD edits must be submitted through the Markup App before NOVEMBER 30,2022 to be implemented.
All NHD Job Checkouts will be halted December 31, 2022 and non-USGS edit access will be phased out.
All WBD Job Checkouts will be halted June 30, 2023.

NHD & WBD Overview

The National Hydrography Dataset (NHD) is a comprehensive set of digital spatial data that contains information about surface water features such as lakes, ponds, streams, rivers, springs, and wells.

The Watershed Boundary Dataset (WBD) defines the areal extent of surface water drainage to a point, accounting for all land and surface areas.

The NHD is stored in and distributed as a geodatabase. The NHD geodatabase contains two feature datasets: Hydrography and WBD. The Hydrography Feature Dataset contains the classic NHD features and the WBD Feature Dataset includes the WBD Hydrologic Units. Subbasins along the US/Canadian boundary now include NHD and WBD into Canada at the 8-digit level.

USGS will no longer be actively editing or updating the NHD in order to focus on the development of the 3D Hydrography Program (3DHP). Static versions of the NHD, WBD, and NHDPlusHR will be published Sept. 30, 2023. These static versions and related services will remain available for the foreseeable future. HydroAdd will continue to work with the static copy of the NHD and will be ported to 3DHP.

For more information on the 3D Hydrography Program and the cessation on NHD & WBD updates, please watch the following video presentations:

The Next Generation of Hydrography, Our Future in 3D: The 3D National Topography Model and the 3DHP. USGS Hydro. Community Call, Aug. 24, 2021
The 3D National Topography Model, The 3D Hydrography Program – Transition Timelines. ISU Tech Talk, Aug. 25, 2022
Transition from NHD to 3DHP: Current Status and Timeline. NSGIC Presentation, Aug. 17, 2022 (Note: NSGIC login required.)

There is also a Hydrography Stewards Community at NSGIC. This community exists as a place for hydrography stewards to communicate and share their successes and failures. The group will complement the 3DHP Interest group at NSGIC which is focused on the future of National Hydrography Mapping at USGS. Hydrography Stewards Community will share challenges of maintaining, updating and sharing hydrography data and how we will transition to new models in the future. These are exciting times to be mapping hydrography, and we all have valuable knowledge to share. If you are interested in joining the community, you can visit: https://nsgic.memberclicks.net/mynsgic-community-join and fill out the form.