FY25 3DHP Data Collaboration Announcement (DCA) Selected Projects

By 3D National Topography Model

The USGS has selected 9 projects in 7 states for hydrography partnerships. These projects are expected to add over 52,000 square miles of public domain hydrography data to the 3D Hydrography Program.

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State	Project Name	Project Partner	Project Size (mi²)	Project Approach
CA	Feather River Headwaters	California Department of Water Resources	3,604	Financial Assistance
CA	North Bay Regional Hydrography Program	Solano County, CA	4,092	Geospatial Product and Services Contract
CA	Santa Cruz Mountain Stewardship Network Hydrography Program	San Mateo Resource Conservation District	2,369	Geospatial Product and Services Contract
MI	State of Michigan 3DHP Hydrography Project - Central and Western Upper Peninsula	Dept of Technology and Budget (DTMB), State of Michigan	16,566	Financial Assistance
NM	City of Farmington - Animas River	New Mexico Environment Department	275	Geospatial Product and Services Contract
PA	Western Pennsylvania 3DHP Project, Phase I	CivicMapper	67	Geospatial Product and Services Contract
TN	West TN FY25 3DHP	State of Tennessee, Dept of Finance and Administration	15,570	Geospatial Product and Services Contract
WA	Washington Modernized Surface Water Mapping	Washington Department of Ecology	8,700	Financial Assistance
WY	Wyoming 3DHP Pilot Project - Upper Snake River Watershed	University of Wyoming Wyoming Geographic Information Science Center (UW WyGISC)	1,711	Financial Assistance

Project Descriptions

CA - Feather River Headwaters

California Department of Water Resources in partnership with the geospatial science research centers at California State Universities at Chico and at Northridge will produce elevation derived hydrography data in accordance with 3DHP standards and specification for three HUC 8 watersheds of the Feather River, which serves as the headwaters for the State Water Project (SWP). The SWP carries water to service areas across two-thirds of the State serving 27 million people. Catastrophic wildfires in recent years have altered these watersheds. California Natural Resources Agency partnered with Federal agencies to fund the 2022 CA Sierra Nevada Lidar acquisition; creating hydrography from this lidar will aid research and restoration projects concerning water supply and flood modeling, forest health, fish populations, and more. This project was preceded by a DWR-funded pilot to develop the tools and workflows to produce USGS-compliant data for 3DHP.

Project Partner: California Department of Water Resources

Project Size (mi²): 3,604

Project Approach: Financial Assistance

CA - North Bay Regional Hydrography Program

The North Bay Regional Hydrography Program will extend the 3D Hydrography Program (3DHP) across approximately 3,981 square miles in Sacramento, Yolo, Solano, Napa, Sonoma, and Marin counties. Using high accuracy lidar data from the USGS 3D Elevation Program (3DEP), this project will produce detailed watershed maps to improve water resource management, environmental monitoring, and disaster preparedness, with a focus on wildfire risk mitigation. The data will enable local governments, planners, and emergency response agencies to make informed decisions, enhancing regional resilience. By integrating efforts across counties, the program fosters collaboration and supports national hydrography priorities, including the critical Russian River watersheds.

Project Partner: Solano County, CA

Project Size (mi²): 4,092

Project Approach: Geospatial Product and Services Contract (GPSC)

CA - Santa Cruz Mountain Stewardship Network Hydrography Program

Using QL1/QL2 3DEP lidar data, the San Mateo Resource Conservation District and Santa Cruz Mountain Stewardship Network (SCMSN) is working with NV5 to create a hydrographic data layer for Santa Cruz, San Mateo, and Santa Clara Counties in California's Central Coast/Bay Area region. In addition to contributing to USGS's national 3DHP data mapping effort, the completed data layer will be added to the Pacific Veg Map (pacificvegmap.org), a fine-scale map that currently contains publicly available data on vegetation, topography, wildland fuels, forest health, and more. The hydrographic data will allow SCMSN members to better identify stewardship and stream restoration opportunities at landscape scale; manage areas of high ecological sensitivity; and mitigate wildfire, flood, and landslide risk among many other uses.

Project Partner: San Mateo Resource Conservation District

Project Size (mi²): 2,369

Project Approach: Geospatial Product and Services Contract (GPSC)

MI - State of Michigan 3DHP Hydrography Project - Central and Western Upper Peninsula

Michigan is currently undertaking a statewide hydrography improvement project that will produce flowlines, water bodies and water area features following current USGS specifications for 3DHP data. NV5 is performing the work in collaboration with multiple state agency stakeholders to improve the GIS hydrography data using QL2 lidar in Michigan. This phase of our project completes the hydrography for the Upper Peninsula of Michigan and covers the border watersheds with Wisconsin. This phase also includes the border watersheds with Indiana. Once this phase is complete, Michigan will have 3DHP based hydrography for the entire state. With over 11,000 inland lakes and associated water systems flowing into four of the Great Lakes, this improved data statewide and across neighboring state boundaries will help water resource management for years to come.

Project Partner: Dept of Technology and Budget (DTMB), State of Michigan

Project Size (mi²): 16,566

Project Approach: Financial Assistance

NM - City of Farmington - Animas River

The New Mexico Environment Department (NMED) will complete 3DHP mapping for the 10-digit HUC 1408010410 (City of Farmington-Animas River). The project directly supports NMED's ongoing water quality monitoring and restoration efforts in the Animas River. High quality spatial data allows Department staff to engage in more accurate water quality monitoring survey planning, provides avenues for enhanced water quality data analysis, and accurate design and implementation of water quality improvement projects. NMED intends to utilize the successes of the project to promote future joint effort 3DHP mapping projects in New Mexico.

Project Partner: New Mexico Environment Department

Project Size (mi²): 275

Project Approach: Geospatial Product and Services Contract (GPSC)

PA - Western Pennsylvania 3DHP Project, Phase I

Southwestern Pennsylvania is frequently subject to flooding, landslides, and other challenges initiated by increasingly frequent and severe weather events. The creation of a 3DHP dataset for the Pine Creek HUC 10 watershed will be the first of its kind in southwestern Pennsylvania. This dataset will be of critical importance and immediate use to local project partners and will also set the stage for future and larger 3DHP projects in the region. The 3DHP dataset will be useful in a number of ways, including the development of GIS-based tools for peak flow estimation, inclusion to the statewide PA Hydrography Dataset (PAHD), and part of the growing nationwide 3DHP dataset.

Project Partner: CivicMapper

Project Size (mi²): 67

Project Approach: Geospatial Product and Services Contract (GPSC)

TN - West TN FY25 3DHP

The State of Tennessee is pursuing the goal of acquiring 3DHP datasets over the next 5 years (2024-2028) to replace the aged and inaccurate NHD data in Tennessee. Working with the Department of Environment and Conservation, along with the Department of Transportation, significant funding has been secured to support 3DHP projects over the next 5 years. Additional funding will come from local government and funding from other federal agencies. The data products from 3DHP will support a variety of use cases in TDEC and TDOT, including Dam safety, hydraulic design, environmental compliance and enforcement, long range planning, water resource protection, and many others. The West TN sub-basins were selected based on a variety of factors including, TDEC and TDOT priorities, and federal interests in this geography.

Project Partner: State of Tennessee, Dept of Finance and Administration

Project Size (mi²): 15,570

Project Approach: Geospatial Product and Services Contract (GPSC)

WA - Washington Modernized Surface Water Mapping

Surface waters and their connected riparian zones are critical in supporting water quality and the health and diversity of aquatic and terrestrial species throughout Washington. Understanding the location of the state’s surface water is needed for assessing, monitoring, and protecting these ecosystems, while improving climate resiliency at statewide, watershed, and local scales. In 2024, Ecology was funded by the State to conduct a five-year project to update the State’s hydrography to meet USGS 3DHP standards. The first year focused on updating watersheds in the Puget Sound region. This second year is focused on a large contiguous region in the Eastern part of the State. This USGS funding will help the State meets its goals of a statewide update of hydrography.

Project Partner: Washington Department of Ecology

Project Size (mi²): 8,700

Project Approach: Financial Assistance

WY - Wyoming 3DHP Pilot Project - Upper Snake River Watershed

The Wyoming 3DHP Pilot Project is a one-year initiative proposed by the University of Wyoming's Wyoming Geographic Information Science Center (WyGISC). The pilot is aimed at demonstrating the process and value for completing a statewide 3DHP product for Wyoming. Having better knowledge and obtaining necessary skills through working with our corporate partner will provide the necessary context and information to encourage future Wyoming collaborators to further invest in completing this work for the entire state. This pilot project, which focuses on the Snake River Headwaters HUC8 watershed (17040101), will cover 1,711 of the 97,813 total square miles of the state (or 83 HUC8 with at least a portion of the boundary within the state borders). 3DHP for the Snake River watershed has been identified as a priority for both the USGS and the USFS and also includes portions of Grand Teton National Park. The watershed presents a mix of terrain from the Teton Range to the Jackson Hole valley floor where there has been significant channel modification by levees along the main stem of the Snake, as well as a range of irrigation canal infrastructure in other portions of the catchment.

Project Partner: University of Wyoming Wyoming Geographic Information Science Center (UW WyGISC)

Project Size (mi²): 1,711

Project Approach: Financial Assistance