Nevada Indicators of Groundwater-Dependent Ecosystems (NV iGDE)
Note: The Nevada Indicators of Groundwater-Dependent Ecosystems (NV iGDE) data in Climate Engine are provided as 3 meter resolution categorical raster image representing the wetland type attribute in the dataset. To produce this dataset, the iGDE geodatabase provided by The Nature Conservancy is separated into wetland and phreatophyte layers and lookup tables are generated to assign each class in each layer to an integer value. We then use the rasterize function in the rasterio python library to convert the wetland and phreatophyte layers to images and produce tiled GeoTIFF images with the integer value corresponding to the wetland type burned into the images. These GeoTIFFs are converted to cloud-optimized geoTIFFs (COGs), written to Google Cloud Storage, and ingested into Google Earth Engine and, ultimately, Climate Engine.
Description¶
In cooperation with the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) and the Desert Research Institute (DRI), the Nevada Water Program at The Nature Conservancy (TNC) gathered data from multiple sources to assemble a state-wide database of indicators of GDEs in Nevada (NV iGDEs). Identifying where GDEs are located requires detailed, local data about the land use, hydrology, and geology of a location. Because detailed local data are not available in all Nevada basins the database incorporates existing datasets to identify and map ecosystems that potentially rely on groundwater, hereafter known as indicators of GDEs. This concept originated from the California iGDE database (Klausmeyer et al. 2018), which provides a starting point for identifying and analyzing GDEs under California’s Sustainable Groundwater Management Act.
The wetland layer was derived in 2019 by Dr. Ken McGwire at DRI using multiple sources, including the National Wetland Inventory (NWI). NWI maps developed after 2019 incorporate more recent data than the NV iGDE dataset. The phreatophyte layer includes data from TNC, LANDFIRE, MRLC, and DRI. “Unknown phreatophytes” in the dataset refers to phreatophytes in the DRI dataset in which the type of phreatophyte was not indicated.
The Nevada iGDE database includes phreatophytic communities, wetlands, springs, lakes and playas, rivers and streams, and groundwater-dependent species. In collaboration with the Nevada Division of Natural Heritage, the database is available to the public and land managers as a downloadable file and Esri Story Map. GDEs represented in the Nevada iGDE database have not been field verified or do not have local hydrologic data. Additionally, expressions of groundwater at any location may change over time. The database provides spatial representation of where GDEs are likely located in Nevada based on best available data. The database provides a snapshot of where iGDEs are in Nevada and makes this information accessible to land stewards and scientists for managing and studying GDEs.
Organization¶
The Nature Conservancy
Website¶
Story Map¶
Terms of Use¶
These data do not prove or make any claim about the nature and/or extent of ecosystem groundwater dependence for any mapped location. Positive identification of a groundwater dependent ecosystem requires detailed understanding of groundwater levels, hydrology, and geology of an area which is not within the scope or purpose of this dataset. The rasterized layers from the Nevada iGDE database are strictly limited to presenting indicators of wetlands and phreatophytes in Nevada. These data are non-regulatory and are not intended for legal uses.
References¶
Klausmeyer, K., Howard, J., Keeler-Wolf, T., Davis-Fadtke, K., Hull, R., & Lyons, A. (2018). Mapping indicators of groundwater dependent ecosystems in California: Methods report. San Francisco, California.
Saito, L., Byer, S. , Badik, K., McGwire, K., Provencher, L., & Minor, B. (2020). Mapping indicators of groundwater dependent ecosystems in Nevada: Important resources for a water-limited state. J. Nevada Water Resources Assoc, 1, 48-72.