From the US EPA:
The EPA Healthy Watersheds Team is pleased to announce the completion of Version 2.4 of the Watershed Index Online (WSIO) indicator library, a national library of attributes for evaluating watershed characteristics anywhere in the conterminous United States. The newly updated WSIO library contains 453 HUC12 indicators, including indicators for climate change and environmental justice. The WSIO indicator library can be accessed from the WSIO website by downloading Excel or geodatabase versions of the HUC12 indicator library, or as a web service.
WSIO indicators can also be accessed and readily applied to compare watersheds using the Recovery Potential Screening (RPS) Tools and WSIO Tool. Newly refreshed RPS Tools for all states and territories include many WSIO indicators at the HUC12 scale, including the 2.4 updates (custom tools may have more indicators and/or scales). The WSIO Tool, which allows users to choose their geography freely within the conterminous United States and allows access to all WSIO indicators, was also updated to align with the 2.4 WSIO library.
Since our first national release in 2014, The Healthy Watersheds Team has continued to work with states and many additional partners to help apply RPS and WSIO Tools in useful ways, such as prioritization under the 303(d) Vision, nutrient management plans, and nonpoint source control strategies and program plans. As resources permit, we will continue to offer assistance to states, territories, tribes and other partners in using or customizing RPS Tools upon request.
For more information, please visit the WSIO and RPS websites (accessed from the healthy watersheds hub). Additionally, feel free to reach out to the following Healthy Watersheds Team contacts with any questions:
- Emily Cira (EPA, Watershed Branch): oversees the WSIO and RPS Contractor support cira.emily@epa.gov
- Elizabeth Smith (EPA, R4): supports WSIO, RPS and data integration needs smith.elizabeth@epa.gov
- Steve Epting (EPA, Nonpoint Management Branch): oversees the Healthy Watersheds Protection programmatic integration epting.steve@epa.gov
- Andy Somor (Cadmus Group, Inc.): as the RPS Tool expert, provides contractor support for state-specific and general projects as tasked by EPA andrew.somor@cadmusgroup.com
