Integrated Water Science (IWS) basin finalists
Detailed Description
The USGS has identified 36 major river basins—2 in each of 18 regions of the conterminous U.S.—as finalists to be selected as one of 10 Integrated Water Science (IWS) Basins for intensive study by new USGS Water Resources Mission Area programs. The ranking process is described in a new article in the journal Environmental Monitoring and Assessment.
The 36 basins selected as finalists (the red #1 and orange #2 basins) were the highest ranked among 163 basins considered, based on a numerical ranking approach that considered three major criteria: natural hydrologic setting, anthropogenic stresses, and water-resource “importance.” The 36 basins represent the range in natural hydrologic settings for the conterminous U.S. and, within each region, are basins with high levels of water-resource stresses.
Learn more about the basin selection process: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10661-020-08403-1
Sources/Usage
Public Domain.