Digital drainage basin boundaries of named streams in Pennsylvania

In 1989, the Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Resources (PaDER), in cooperation with the U.S. Geological Survey, Water Resources Division (USGS published the Pennsylvania (PA) Gazetteer of Streams. This publication contains information related to named streams in Pennsylvania. Drainage basin boundaries are delineated on the 7.5-minute series topographic paper quadrangle maps for PA and parts of the bordering states of New York, Maryland, Ohio, West Virginia, and Delaware. These boundaries enclose catchment areas for named streams officially recognized by the Board on Geographic Names and other unofficially named streams that flow through named hollows, using the hollow name, e.g. "Smith Hollow". This was done in an effort to name as many of the 64,000 streams as possible.

In 1991, work began by USGS to put these drainage basin boundaries into digital form for use in a geographic information system (GIS). Digitizing started with USGS in Lemoyne, PA., but expanded with assistance by PaDER and the Natural Resource Conservation Service (NRCS), formerly the U.S Department of Agriculture, Soil Conservation Service (SCS). USGS performed all editing, attributing, and edgematching.

There are 878, 7.5-minute quadrangle maps in PA. This documentation applies to only those maps in the Delaware River basin (164). Parts of the Delaware River drainage originate outside the PA border. At this time, no effort is being made by USGS to include those named stream basins.

[Summary provided by the USGS.]