The
US Geological Survey created the HUC system to classify the nation’s
watersheds and sub-watersheds. (For
more information, visit http://water.usgs.gov/GIS/huc.html)
The 14-digit HUC refers to the smallest watersheds.
For example, the Rock Run Creek-Horn Ditch watershed has HUC #
04050001210030. All the water in
this watershed flows into the
Elkhart
River
, which is part of the
St. Joseph River
watershed (HUC # 04050001). All of
Elkhart
County
except for a small portion in the southwest corner is part of the St. Joseph
River, which flows into
Lake Michigan
. A small area around Nappanee is
part of the Kankakee River watershed, which flows into the Mississippi River and
ends up in the
Gulf of Mexico
.
Rule 5 requires you to identify the 14-digit HUC as part of your plan.
There is a very helpful website that makes this easy (although it may be
slow with a dial-up connection). Here
are step by step instructions for getting the 14-digit HUC:
1)
Go to A GIS Atlas for
Indiana . You should see a map
of
Indiana
, and the “zoom in” tool should be selected (a magnifying glass with a
“+” sign to the right of the map).
2) Zoom into your area of interest.
3) Click on the Hydrology folder on the right, and
the Watersheds sub-folder.
4) Click on Watershed HUC14.
If you're zoomed in far enough, you should see the outline of the
watershed in pink, and the 14-digit code.
5) If you want more information, choose
"Watershed HUC14" from the "Active Layer" dropdown menu at
the top right (it will say "counties" by default).
Then click on the "Identify" tool to the right of the map (a
black circle with the letter "i" inside).
Finally, click on your project site location and a pop-up box will appear
with the code and name of the watershed. If
you have a pop-up blocker, you will have to temporarily disable it to complete
this step.
If your site is in more than one watershed,
include the HUC14 code for all watersheds that the site is in.
This GIS Atlas site has other information
that could be useful for your project, such as wetlands, floodplains,
topography, aerial photography, and latitude and longitude.
Take the time to explore the site and contact the SWCD if you have
questions.
