U.S. Geological Survey

Data Series DS–270

Digital Atlas of the Upper Washita River Basin, Southwestern Oklahoma

By Carol J. Becker, Jason R. Masoner, and Jonathon C. Scott

U.S. DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR

DIRK KEMPTHORNE, Secretary

U.S. GEOLOGICAL SURVEY

Mark D. Myers, Director

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Abstract

Numerous types of environmental data have been collected in the upper Washita River basin in southwestern Oklahoma. However, to date these data have not been compiled into a format that can be comprehensively queried for the purpose of evaluating the effects of various conservation practices implemented to reduce agricultural runoff and erosion in parts of the upper Washita River basin. This U.S. Geological Survey publication, “Digital atlas of the upper Washita River basin, southwestern Oklahoma” was created to assist with environmental analysis. This atlas contains 30 spatial data sets that can be used in environmental assessment and decision making for the upper Washita River basin.

This digital atlas includes U.S. Geological Survey sampling sites and associated water-quality, biological, water-level, and streamflow data collected from 1903 to 2005. The data were retrieved from the U.S. Geological Survey National Water Information System database on September 29, 2005. Data sets are from the Geology, Geography, and Water disciplines of the U.S. Geological Survey and cover parts of Beckham, Caddo, Canadian, Comanche, Custer, Dewey, Grady, Kiowa, and Washita Counties in southwestern Oklahoma. A bibliography of past reports from the U.S. Geological Survey and other State and Federal agencies from 1949 to 2004 is included in the atlas. Additionally, reports by Becker (2001), Martin (2002), Fairchild and others (2004), and Miller and Stanley (2005) are provided in electronic format

Introduction

The upper Washita River basin encompasses about 3,200 square miles in southwestern Oklahoma. This area supports various types of agricultural activities such as the cultivation of row crops, small grains, pasture, and livestock. The largest water body in the basin is Fort Cobb Reservoir. The reservoir was built in 1959 and receives inflow from 314 square miles. The reservoir is managed by the Bureau of Reclamation (U.S. Department of Interior) for drinking-water supply, crop irrigation, flood control, recreation, and fish and wildlife habitat. In 2002 Fort Cobb Reservoir was designated an impaired water body and listed on the Oklahoma 303(d) list for impairment due to excessive phosphorus and sedimentation (Oklahoma Department of Environmental Quality, 2006). Various types of conservation practices have been implemented since 2002 to decrease the inflow of nutrients and sediments into the reservoir. For example, landowners with assistance from State and Federal agencies have modified agricultural practices and livestock grazing habits, established better management of riparian zones and stabilized streambanks. The upper Washita River basin has been designated by the Agricultural Research Service (ARS) and Natural Resources Conservation Service as one of 14 Benchmark Watersheds under the Conservation Effectiveness Assessment Project (CEAP) in an effort to identify and quantify the environmental benefits resulting from the conservation practices (Natural Resources Conservation Service, Agricultural Resource Service, 2006). The U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) and ARS have worked collaboratively in the upper Washita River basin since 2005 on collecting surface-water-quality information and identifying trends in sediment transport for CEAP.

The purpose of the digital atlas is to provide environmental information that has been collected in the upper Washita River basin in a format that can be easily queried and used in environmental assessment and decisionmaking. This digital atlas contains 30 spatial layers covering parts of Beckham, Caddo, Canadian, Comanche, Custer, Dewey, Grady, Kiowa, and Washita Counties and includes ground-water and surface-water information collected by USGS. The spatial layers include: cities; county boundaries; land-surface elevation contours; slope and shaded-relief derivatives of the 30-meter Digital Elevation Model; 8, 10, and 12-digit watershed boundaries from the National Watershed Boundary Dataset; streams and waterbodies from the National Hydrography Data set; indexes of USGS 1:24,000, 1:100,000, and 1:250,000-scale topographic quadrangles; USGS 1:24,000-scale Digital Raster Graphics; roads; soil properties; public land-survey information; surficial geology; and land-use information. The digital atlas also includes USGS ground-water and surface-water sampling sites with associated water-quality, water-level, and streamflow data in related tables. These data were collected during past USGS studies and include more than 150,000 measurements collected from 1903 to 2005. Unique site identifiers allow the linking of the data in tabular files to the associated sampling sites.

This report contains approximately 8.5 gigabytes of data stored on three DVD discs. The spatial layers can be displayed on personal computers with GIS software. Twenty-eight of the thirty spatial layers and related tabular files in this publication are located in a relational database referred to as an ARC/INFO Geodatabase titled “WASHITA1.mdb” on DVD 1. All spatial layers also are provided in shapefile or ArcInfo GRID formats in the “GISDATA” directory. The tabular files also are provided in dBASE format and are located in the “ENV_DATA_TABLES” directory. Documentation files, referred to as metadata, are located in the "METADATA" directory. These files contain attribute definitions and other detailed information about the spatial layers and related tabular files. DVD 2 contains one raster spatial layer (Drgs24k_east) in a Geodatabase titled “WASHITA2.mdb” and DVD 3 contains one raster spatial layer (Drgs24k_west) in a Geodatabase titled “WASHITA3.mdb”. A bibliography of past reports (Bibliography.htm) from the USGS and other State and Federal agencies from 1949 to 2004 is located in the “REPORTS” directory. Additionally, reports by Becker (2001), Martin (2002), Fairchild and others (2004), Miller and Stanley (2004) are provided in a PDF file format in the “REPORTS” directory.

Data Quality Statement

The spatial data sets were compiled from many different data sources with varying quality. Because of the different sources, features common to multiple layers may not overlay exactly. Users should check the metadata to determine proper use of these data.

The environmental data compiled for this publication include time-series data that measure streamflow (discharge), reservoir and lake levels, and surface-water quality in the basin. These data were collected by automatic recorders and manual measurements. The USGS publishes daily streamflow and peak-flow data for selected streams and rivers in Oklahoma in a series of annual water-data reports.

In the late 1980s, concentrations of certain trace elements in surface-water samples collected by USGS were discovered to be overestimated. Water samples analyzed for the dissolved trace elements arsenic, boron, beryllium, cadmium, chromium, copper, lead, and zinc were found to be contaminated during the collection and processing. As a result, USGS implemented an agency-wide protocol in October 1992 to assure that all water samples were collected and processed in a contamination-free manner and that results could be confidently produced at the parts-per-billion level. The user should understand that trace element data included in this publication, collected prior to October 1992, did not have quality-assurance samples to determine if contamination was or was not introduced during the collection phase. Before using the trace element data in this publication, users are encouraged to read USGS Office of Water Quality Technical Memorandum 92.05, titled “Quality of Existing Dissolved Trace-Element Data” included in the “REPORTS” directory on DVD 1 of this publication. The memorandum discusses the validity and usefulness of trace element data collected before October 1992.

Data Organization

DVD 1

/ENV_DATA_TABULAR/ -- Environmental data and support files in dBASE format.

/GISDATA/

/GRIDS/ -- Contains raster spatial layers in ArcInfo GRID format.
/SHAPEFILES/ -- Contains vector spatial layers in Shapefile format.

/METADATA/ -- Federal Geographic Data Committee (1994) metadata files in HTM format.

/REPORTS/ -- Bibliography, four reports in PDF file format, and USGS Memorandum 92.05.

/WASHITA1.idb/ -- Directory for ARC/INFO Geodatabase WASHITA1.mdb.

A_INSTALL.htm -- Directions on how to copy data to local disc space.

A_NOTICE.htm -- Liability disclaimer.

A_README.htm -- This file.

WASHITA1.ldb – Support file.

WASHITA1.mdb – ARC/INFO Geodatabase, contains spatial layers, environmental data, and support files.

DVD 2

/WASHITA2.idb/ -- Directory for ARC/INFO Geodatabase.

WASHITA2.ldb – Support file.

WASHITA2.mdb -- ARC/INFO Geodatabase (contains the spatial layer ‘Drgs24k_east’).

DVD 3

/WASHITA3.idb/ -- Directory for ARC/INFO Geodatabase.

WASHITA3.ldb – Support file.

WASHITA3.mdb -- ARC/INFO Geodatabase (contains the spatial layer ‘Drgs24k_west’).

Table 1. Spatial layers and tabular files on DVD 1, unless otherwise noted.

Spatial layers and related tabular files	Feature class/vector data [1]	Raster data set [2]	Tabular files [3]	Description	Metadata	Relates to
Cities	X			Names and locations of cities and towns	Metadata
Counties	X			County names and boundaries	Metadata
Drgs24K_east (DVD 2)		X		Mosaic of 1:24,000-scale digital raster graphs for eastern half of basin (scanned topographic quadrangles)	Metadata
Drgs24K_west (DVD 3)		X		Mosaic of 81 1:24,000-scale digital raster graphs for western half of basin (scanned topographic quadrangles)	Metadata
ElevCon	X			Land-surface elevation contours	Metadata
FC_Wtrshd	X			Drainage area for Fort Cobb Reservoir	Metadata
Filled_Dem		X		30-meter Digital Elevation Model	Metadata
Geo100K	X			Surficial geology of the Anadarko 1:100,000-scale quadrangle	Metadata
Geo250K	X			Surficial geology at a scale of 1:250,000	Metadata
Huc8	X			Boundary of the 8-digit hydrologic unit 11130302	Metadata
Huc12	X			Boundaries of the 12-digit hydrologic units	Metadata
Land_Cover		X		30-meter land cover from the 1992 National Land Cover Dataset	Metadata	LandCover_key
LandCover_Key			X	Land cover descriptions	Metadata	Land_Cover
Mesonet	X			Locations of Oklahoma Mesonet weather stations	Metadata
Precip		X		5-kilometer grid of mean annual precipitation from 1961-1990	Metadata
Quad24K	X			Index of USGS 1:24,000-scale quadrangles	Metadata
Quad100K	X			Index of USGS 1:100,000-scale quadrangles	Metadata
Quad250K	X			Index of USGS 1:250,000-scale quadrangles	Metadata
Roads	X			Roads and highways	Metadata
Shdrlf		X		Shaded relief derived from “Filled_Dem”	Metadata
Slope		X		Slope of land surface in degrees derived from “Filled_Dem” Digital Elevation Model	Metadata
Soil_att			X	Hydrology relevant soils data for “Soils250K”	Metadata	Soils25OK
Soils250K	X			Soil polygons from the STATSGO database at a scale of 1:250,000 (Schwarz and Alexander, 1995)	Metadata	Soil_att
StreamsHR	X			Streams and rivers from the National Hydrography Dataset. High resolution based on 1:12,000/1:24,000-scale maps	Metadata
StreamsMR	X			Streams and rivers from the National Hydrography Dataset. Medium resolution based on 1:100,000-scale maps	Metadata
TnRngSec	X			Public land survey system	Metadata
USGS_codes			X	Descriptions of USGS parameter codes (code for constituent or parameter measured) and analytical method codes from the National Water Information System	Metadata	USGS_gw_wq USGS_lake_wq USGS_other_wq USGS_stream_wq
USGS_gw_sites	X			USGS ground-water sites	Metadata	USGS_gw_wq USGS_waterlevels
USGS_gw_wq			X	Water-quality data collected at USGS ground-water sites	Metadata	USGS_gw_sites USGS_codes
USGS_lake_sites	X			USGS lake sites	Metadata	USGS_lake_wq
USGS_lake_wq			X	Water-quality data collected at USGS lake sites	Metadata	USGS_lake_sites USGS_codes
USGS_other_sites	X			USGS spring and meteorological sites	Metadata	USGS_other_wq
USGS_other_wq			X	Water-quality data collected at USGS spring sites	Metadata	USGS_codes USGS_other_sites
USGS_stream_sites	X			USGS stream sites where water-quality data and streamflow measurements were collected	Metadata	USGS_streamflow USGS_streamflowDV USGS_stream_wq
USGS_stream_wq			X	Water-quality data collected at USGS stream sites	Metadata	USGS_codes USGS_stream_sites
USGS_streamflow			X	Discrete streamflow measurements collected at USGS stream sites	Metadata	USGS_stream_sites
USGS_streamflowDV			X	Computed mean daily values of streamflow and suspended sediment collected at USGS stream sites	Metadata	USGS_stream_sites
USGS_waterlevels			X	Depth to water measurements collected at USGS ground-water sites	Metadata	USGS_gw_sites
WaterbodiesHR	X			Waterbodies from the National Hydrography Dataset. High resolution based on 1:12,000/1:24,000-scale maps	Metadata
WaterbodiesMR	X			Waterbodies from the National Hydrography Dataset. Medium resolution based on 1:100,000-scale maps	Metadata

Geometric Registration

The Albers Equal-Area Conic map projection (Snyder, 1987) is used as the base projection for all spatial layers included in this publication. This projection frequently is used for spatial-map data sets within the conterminous United States because of the visual presentation and equal-area characteristic, which facilitates areal analysis. This projection slightly distorts shapes and distances (scale) to maintain equal-area properties. Scale is true along the standard parallels, which are to the north and south of Oklahoma. Scale distortion in Oklahoma reaches a maximum of slightly less than 1 percent at the northern border of the State (Snyder, 1987). Table 2 provides map projection information.

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Table 2. Albers Equal Area Conic map projection parameters.

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Spheroid Geodetic Reference System 1980

Datum North American Datum 1983

First standard parallel 29° 30' 00" North

Second standard parallel 45° 30' 00" North

Central meridian - 96° 00' 00" West

Latitude of projection origin 23° 00' 00" North

False easting 0

False northing 0

Planimetric units of measure Meters

Selected References

Becker, C.J., 2001, Ground-water quality, levels, and flow direction near Fort Cobb Reservoir, Caddo County, Oklahoma, 1998-2000: U.S. Geological Survey Water-Resources Investigations Report 01-4076, 20 p.

Fairchild, James, Lakish, Ben, Echols, Kathy, Chapman, Duane, Johnson, Thomas, and Jones, Susan, 2004, An integrated assessment of the trophic status of Fort Cobb Reservoir, Oklahoma: U.S. Geological Survey, Columbia Environmental Research Center, Columbia, Missouri, 89 p.

Federal Geographic Data Committee, 1994, Content standards for digital geospatial metadata (June 8): Washington, D.C., Federal Geographic Data Committee, 78 p.

Martin, D.B., 2002, Fort Cobb Reservoir water quality investigations: U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, Ecological Services, Tulsa, Oklahoma, Agreement No. 97-AA-60-09790, 112 p.

Mesonet, 2006, Oklahoma Mesonet: Information available on Web, accessed May 28, 2006, at http://www.mesonet.ou.edu/

Miller, G.W. and Stanley, T.M., 2005, Geologic map of the Anadarko 30 x 60 quadrangle, Caddo, Canadian, Custer, Grady, Kiowa, and Washita Counties, Oklahoma: Oklahoma Geological Survey Open-File Report 4-2005, colored map on CD-Rom.

Natural Resources Conservation Service, Agricultural Resource Service, 2006, ARS Benchmark Watershed Studies: Information available on Web, accessed March 31, 2006, at http://www.nrcs.usda.gov/technical/NRI/ceap/ars.html

Oklahoma Department of Environmental Quality, 2006, Oklahoma 303(d) list: Information available on Web, accessed May 28, 2006, at http://www.deq.state.ok.us/WQDnew/305b_303d/2002_ir_app_c_category_5.pdf

Rea, Alan, and Becker, C.J., 1997, Digital atlas of Oklahoma: U.S. Geological Survey Open-File Report 97-23,
1 CD-RoM.

Schwarz, G.E., and Alexander, R.B., 1995, Soils data for the conterminous United States derived from the NRCS State Soil Geographic (STATSGO) Data Base, [Original title: State Soil Geographic (STATSGO) Data Base for the conterminous United States.]:U.S. Geological Survey Open-File Report 95-449, available on Web at http://water.usgs.gov/GIS/metadata/usgswrd/XML/ussoils.xml

Snyder, J.P., 1987, Map projections--a working manual: U.S. Geological Survey Professional Paper 1395, 383 p.

U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, 2000, Multi-Resolution Land Characteristics Consortium, 1992 national land cover data: Available on Web, accessed August 2, 2000, at http://www.epa.gov/mrlc/nlcd.html

U.S. Geological Survey, 2006a, National Elevation Dataset: Available on Web, accessed May 25, 2006, at http://ned.usgs.gov/

U.S. Geological Survey, 2006b, National Hydrography Dataset: Available on Web, accessed May 25, 2006, at http://nhd.usgs.gov/

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[1] Feature classes/vector data also are provided in Shapefile format in the /GISDATA/SHAPEFILES directory.

[2] Raster data sets also are provided in ArcInfo GRID format in the /GISDATA/GRIDS directory.

[3] Tables related to spatial data sets also are provided in dBASE format in the /ENV_DATA_TABULAR/ directory.