Description: <DIV STYLE="text-align:Left;"><P STYLE="font-size:16ptmargin:7 0 7 0;"><SPAN><SPAN>We summarized fundamental ecological characteristics for rivers using the USGS catalog of Hydrologic Unit Codes (HUCs) (USGS 2020), which provide an efficient means to analyze and link data from numerous sources. HUCs are associated with named rivers, and aggregate in a nested format, providing a flexible framework for reporting and prioritization at multiple spatial scales. We focused our reporting of results on HUC8 Subbasins (CONUS n = 2,115), a mid-sized unit which Pew agreed was best suited to meet most information needs. However, we also provide results at two other scales: the coarser HUC4 Subregions (CONUS n=206) and finer HUC10 Watersheds (CONUS n=15,588). These additional data can be used to provide overview statistics for broader river basins, in the case of HUC4s, or help narrow the targeting of efforts within selected priority areas, in the case of HUC10s.</SPAN></SPAN></P><P STYLE="font-size:16ptmargin:7 0 7 0;"><SPAN><SPAN>For each HUC, we used readily available data to calculate multiple attributes related to river ecology, including aspects of biodiversity value and ecological condition. We refer to each of the factors as “metrics” and combined these to generate integrated “indices” representing overall biodiversity value and ecological condition. The methods used to derive these indices were determined in consultation with Pew.</SPAN></SPAN></P></DIV>
Service Item Id: 82b1110242d54c2fa9269c7ff9a5dc3c
Copyright Text: Please see report "River Prioritization for the Lower-48 United States" for detailed information.