title: How Misapplication of the Hydrologic Unit Framework Diminishes the Meaning of Watersheds.
abstract: Hydrologic units provide a convenient but problematic nationwide set of geographic polygons based on subjectively determined subdivisions of land surface areas at several hierarchical levels. The problem is that it is impossible to map watersheds, basins, or catchments of relatively equal size and cover the whole country. The hydrologic unit framework is in fact composed mostly of watersheds and pieces of watersheds. The pieces include units that drain to segments of streams, remnant areas, noncontributing areas, and coastal or frontal units that can include multiple watersheds draining to an ocean or large lake. Hence, half or more of the hydrologic units are not watersheds as the name of the framework "Watershed Boundary Dataset" implies. Nonetheless, hydrologic units and watersheds are commonly treated as synonymous, and this misapplication and misunderstanding can have some serious scientific and management consequences. We discuss some of the strengths and limitations of watersheds and hydrologic units as spatial frameworks. Using examples from the Northwest and Southeast United States, we explain how the misapplication of the hydrologic unit framework has altered the meaning of watersheds and can impair understanding associations between spatial geographic characteristics and surface water conditions.
authors.affiliation: U.S. Geological Survey (Emeritus), c/o U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, 200 SW 35th Street, Corvallis, OR, 97333, USA.
authors.forename: James M
authors.initials: JM
authors.lastname: Omernik
authors.affiliation: U.S. Geological Survey (Emeritus), Western Geographic Science Center, Corvallis, OR, 97333, USA. ggriffith@usgs.gov.
authors.forename: Glenn E
authors.identifier: 0000-0001-7966-4720
authors.initials: GE
authors.lastname: Griffith
authors.affiliation: Amnis Opes Institute, Corvallis, OR, 97333, USA.
authors.forename: Robert M
authors.initials: RM
authors.lastname: Hughes
authors.affiliation: Aquatic Biology Section, Bureau of Water, South Carolina Department of Health and Environmental Control, Columbia, SC, 29201, USA.
authors.forename: James B
authors.initials: JB
authors.lastname: Glover
authors.affiliation: National Health and Environmental Effects Research Laboratory, Western Ecology Division, U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, Corvallis, OR, 97333, USA.
authors.forename: Marc H
authors.initials: MH
authors.lastname: Weber
mesh_terms: D002980:Climate; D003247:Conservation of Natural Resources / Q000379:methods*; D005843:Geography; D062070:Hydrology; D045483:Rivers; D015144:Southeastern United States; D014872:Water Movements
keywords: Aquatic ecology; Hydrologic units; Rivers/streams; Watershed management; Watersheds