Track: Water Resources
The PFRA Watershed Project - Managing Watershed Boundaries with ArcInfo
Patrick CherneskiDavid ACKERMAN
In 1975 the Prairie Farm Rehabilitation Administration (PFRA) accepted responsibility for delineating gross and effective drainage areas on the basis of hydrometric gauging stations in the Canadian prairie provinces. These watershed boundaries and area calculations serve as a database for federal and provincial agencies. This original work was done manually, mainly from 1:50,000-scale topographic maps. Boundary changes required tedious area recalculations for the affected watershed, its adjacent watersheds, and any downstream watersheds. The time-intensive nature of the update process, the deteriorating condition of the maps, and fiscal constraints necessitated an automated digital solution. A digital coverage of boundaries and gauge locations was digitized from the original paper maps. ArcInfo software was used to calculate the watershed areas, to transfer the values to each gauge, and to link the approximately 1,750 gauges via a generated network. The network is the backbone that facilitates automatic updating of the areal database and accommodates user queries. This paper presents the GIS methodology and the data products resulting from this project.
Patrick Cherneski
Agriculture Canada, Prairie Farm Rehab Admin
CIBC Tower, 1800 Hamilton St
REGINA, S4P 4L2
SASKATCHEWAN, CANADA
Telephone: 306 780 6096
Fax: 306 780 8229
E-mail: pf10349@em.agr.ca