Streamflow And Surface-Water Presence Data Availability Across The Conterminous United States [CONUS]
A Review For Headwater Systems
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https://doi.org/10.1002/hyp.70572 <-- shared paper
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H/T @John Hammond | Research Hydrologist at U.S. Geological Survey (USGS)
“ [A] new paper [link above] examining the state of streamflow and surface water monitoring across the conterminous U.S., with a focus on headwater streams.
The team compiled and characterized 72 publicly available datasets spanning ~118,000 monitoring sites dating back to 1857. A key finding is that headwater streams make up more than 77% of U.S. stream length, yet account for only 32% of monitoring sites and a small fraction of streamflow observation days. While federal agencies manage most hydrologic data, only about one-third of their sites are located in headwaters.
The study also highlights major geographic gaps in monitoring, particularly across parts of the central and western U.S., and emphasizes opportunities to expand coverage through low-cost sensors, community science, remote sensing, and improved data harmonization.
This work grew out of the Headwater Modeling Research Working Group at the John Wesley Powell Center. The underlying dataset is publicly available and may be valuable for researchers working on headwater hydrology, stream permanence, and monitoring network design…”
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“Water is essential for life on Earth, supporting ecosystems, human health, and economic activities. Hydrology relies on observational data, and this paper discusses regional and national datasets for the conterminous United States (CONUS) publicly available as of 2023, focusing on headwaters, defined as first- and second-order streams at 1:24,000 scale. It identifies 72 primary and secondary datasets and 11 repositories and argues how better integration and accessibility of hydrological data can improve research. The paper distinguishes between datasets where streamflow was the primary data collection objective and those where it was secondary. This distinction highlights opportunities to consider data from efforts peripheral to hydrology but is still useful for understanding hydrologic conditions. The analysis reveals that out of about 118,000 active and inactive stream observation sites, about 6.6% and 25% are located on first- and second-order streams, respectively. This indicates a substantial data gap for headwater systems, which account for over 77% of stream length in CONUS. Federal agencies manage 72% of hydrologic monitoring sites across all stream orders, but only 34% of these are in headwater systems. Academic institutions operate about 2% of sites, with almost half (48%) in headwater systems, focusing on ecosystem research. State agencies also operate about 2% of sites, primarily on larger systems, with 19% on headwaters. Additionally, 23% of sites are managed by multiple agencies. Spatial patterns further reveal pronounced disparities among physiographic regions. Eastern and coastal provinces show relatively dense monitoring, while central and western regions show sparse coverage. These gaps reflect historical priorities, logistical constraints, funding limitations, and the high cost of continuous instrumentation. To address biases in monitoring networks, data collection could be enhanced with low-cost monitoring, community science, and remote sensing technologies. This study also notes the benefits of long-term monitoring and prioritizing retention of stream gages with longer records…”
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