Estuarine drainage area boundaries for the conterminous United States
Dates
Publication Date
2022-02-18
Start Date
1985
End Date
2020
Citation
Dale, L.L., Chivoiu, B., Osland, M.J., Enwright, N.M., Thorne, K.M., Guntenspergen, G.R., and Grace, J.B., 2022, Estuarine drainage area boundaries for the conterminous United States: U.S. Geological Survey data release, https://doi.org/10.5066/P9LPN3YY.
Summary
To quantify the potential for landward migration at the estuary level, we developed a geospatial dataset for the conterminous United States (CONUS) that identifies the boundaries for estuarine drainage areas. Nine estuarine drainage areas in south Florida were delineated using data developed by the South Florida Water Management District (SFWMD 2018). For the rest of CONUS, we used information contained within the National Fish Habitat Action Plan (NFHAP) - Coastal Spatial Framework (CSF) (National Centers for Coastal Ocean Science 2021). The original NFHAP-CSF data included 612 drainage areas, which were too many for our purposes. Therefore, we merged smaller drainage areas with larger, adjacent drainage areas to reduce the number [...]
Summary
To quantify the potential for landward migration at the estuary level, we developed a geospatial dataset for the conterminous United States (CONUS) that identifies the boundaries for estuarine drainage areas. Nine estuarine drainage areas in south Florida were delineated using data developed by the South Florida Water Management District (SFWMD 2018). For the rest of CONUS, we used information contained within the National Fish Habitat Action Plan (NFHAP) - Coastal Spatial Framework (CSF) (National Centers for Coastal Ocean Science 2021). The original NFHAP-CSF data included 612 drainage areas, which were too many for our purposes. Therefore, we merged smaller drainage areas with larger, adjacent drainage areas to reduce the number to 166, which includes 62, 39, and 65 estuarine drainage areas along the Pacific, Gulf of Mexico, and Atlantic coasts, respectively. To ensure that all coastal ecosystems were included, the near-coast estuarine drainage area boundaries were expanded oceanward with a 25-km buffer.
Coastal wetlands are highly vulnerable to accelerated sea-level rise rates expected under high greenhouse gas emission scenarios. While ecosystem collapse and conversion to open water is expected for many coastal wetlands under higher rates of sea-level rise, some coastal wetlands can adapt to rising seas via biogeomorphic feedbacks and landward migration. To quantify the potential for landward migration at the estuary level, we developed a CONUS-wide geospatial dataset that identifies the boundaries for estuarine drainage areas (EDA). We derived the EDA boundaries from existing datasets (NFHAP-CSF and South Florida Water Management District Arc Hydro Enhanced Database) by merging smaller drainage areas with larger, adjacent drainage areas to reduce their total number from 612 to 166.
