Future of applied watershed science at regional scales

Abstract

Resource managers must deal increasingly with land use and conservation plans applied at large spatial scales (watersheds, landscapes, states, regions) involving multiple interacting federal agencies and stakeholders. Access to a geographically focused and application-oriented database would allow users in different locations and with different concerns to quickly access similar types of information in a consistent format. Agencies could pool their resources, thereby saving costs, increasing availability of the highest resolution data and most advanced tools, and providing smaller groups with data and tools they could not otherwise afford. Local projects can contribute to a community database and analysis system if data acquisition and metadata requirements are managed in a central location, consistent methods are used to synthesize the data into forms usable by widely avaiable analysis tools, and protocols for data storage and distribution are established.

Citation

Benda, L.; Miller, D.; Lanigan, S.; Reeves, G. 2009. Future of applied watershed science at regional scales. Eos, Transactions of the American Geophysical Union. 90(18). 2 p.