GOT WATER? DISCOVER THE SURFACE WATER INVENTORY

GOT WATER? DISCOVER THE SURFACE WATER INVENTORY By Morgan William Graham, Teton Conservation District

Do you love pouring over maps? Do you like reading the names of tiny lakes and creeks and imagining what seldom seen plants, rocks, and animals might be out there? Do you use a map and your imagination as motivation for launching a new adventure into the unknown? Have you ever wondered where all the water around us is coming from? Do you have an interest in collaborating with your community to improve water quality and management?

There’s good news for you map lovers. For the first time ever, you can look at a map of all the water in Teton County, Wyoming. Known as the Surface Water Inventory (SWI), the new map leverages all existing hydrographic data to accurately describe the name, location, and water rights associated with surface water in Teton County. Lidar derived Digital Elevation Model

Prior to the release of the SWI, the names of some streams, ditches, and reservoirs and their associated water rights were a mystery. There was no singular avenue for efficiently identifying water right conveyances across Teton County and knowledge of some water features only existed within the minds of individuals or in dusty files. Now, users have a shared tool to accurately describe the natural and human-maintained surface water around them. The platform will better inform surface water permitting, agricultural production, irrigation maintenance, water quality monitoring, flood prevention, land valuation, natural resource planning, storm water mitigation, fisheries management, wetland assessment, habitat assessments, recreation planning, and more. It took Teton Conservation District’s Wildlife & GIS Specialist, Morgan Graham, and GIS Technician, Chauncey Smith four years of work to create the

Where does it go? The most comprehensive representation of Teton County’s water resources ever created is now available in digital, hard-copy, and web-based formats. WHERE DOES ALL THE WATER IN TETON COUNTY COME FROM?

SWI. Their process was extensive: they reviewed and digitized 3,319 maps, conducted an exhaustive inventory of all existing hydrographic spatial data, and maximized aerial lidar (using laser beams!) to peer into the unmapped understory. The team also identified and evaluated 30 existing water datasets originating from a federal, state, and local sources; obtained all available water right information from the Wyoming State Engineer’s Office e-Permit database; and generated hundreds of thousands of lines and polygons from scratch to achieve their desired accuracy. Phew! All of this work produced the most comprehensive representation of Teton County’s water resources available. But, as you might imagine, mapping every drop of water in the valley is challenging. The SWI will continue to be updated over time and Teton Conservation District staff will continue to work with landowners, agency personnel, and consultants to refine the existing information and add new features as new data become available. The SWI is available to the public in digital, hard-copy, and web-based formats.