Abstract
The U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) provides streamflow
and other related information needed by water-resource managers
responsible for protecting people and property from floods,
planning and managing water-resource activities, and protecting
water quality. Streamflow statistics provided by the USGS, such
as the 1-percent annual exceedance probability (100-year flood)
and the 7-day 10-year low flow, are frequently used by engineers,
flood forecasters, land managers, biologists, and others to guide
their everyday decisions. Additionally, resource managers often
need to know basin characteristics, the physical and climatic
characteristics of a drainage basin, to help understand the
mechanisms that control water availability, water quality, and
aquatic habitats at various locations.
Users of streamflow information often require streamflow
statistics and basin characteristics at various locations along
a stream. The USGS periodically calculates and publishes
streamflow statistics and basin characteristics for streamflowgaging
stations and partial-record stations, but these data
commonly are scattered among many reports that may or may
not be readily available to
the public. The USGS also
provides and periodically
updates regional analyses
of streamflow statistics that
include regression equations
and other prediction methods
for estimating statistics for
ungaged and unregulated
streams across the State. Use
of these regional predictions
for a stream can be complex
and often requires the user
to determine a number of
basin characteristics that may
require interpretation. Basin
characteristics may include
drainage area, classifiers for
physical properties, climatic
characteristics, and other
inputs. Obtaining these input
values for gaged and ungaged
locations traditionally has
been time consuming,
subjective, and can lead to
inconsistent results.
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First posted February 5, 2014
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