Drainage Basin Set:

Connecticut Drainage Basins is 1:24,000-scale, polygon and line feature data that define natural drainage areas in Connecticut. These are small basin areas that average approximately 1 square mile in size and make up, in order of increasing size, the larger local, subregional, regional, and major drainage basin areas. Connecticut Drainage Basins includes drainage areas for all Connecticut rivers, streams, brooks, lakes, reservoirs and ponds published on 1:24,000-scale 7.5 minute topographic quadrangle maps prepared by the USGS between 1969 and 1984. Data is compiled at 1:24,000 scale (1 inch = 2,000 feet). This information is not updated. Polygon and line features represent drainage basin areas and boundaries, respectively. Each basin area (polygon) feature is outlined by one or more major, regional, subregional, local, impoundment, or river reach boundary (line) feature. These data include 7,076 basin area (polygon) features and 20,945 basin boundary (line) features. Basin area (polygon) attributes include major, regional, subregional, local, (full) basin number, and feature size in acres and square miles. The full basin number (BASIN_NO) uniquely identifies individual basins and is up to 13 characters in length. There are 7,031 unique basin numbers. Examples include 6000-00-1+*, 4300-00-1+L1, and 6002-00-2-R1. The first digit (column 1) designates the major basin, the first two digits (columns 1-2) designate the regional basin, the first 4 digits (columns 1-4) designate the subregional basin, and the first seven digits (columns 1-7) designate the local basin. Note, there are slightly more basin polygon features (7,076) than unique basin numbers (7,031) primarily because a few water supply watershed boundaries split a basin into two polygon features at the location of a small dam or point of diversion along a stream. Basin boundary (line) attributes include a drainage divide type attribute (DIVIDE) used to cartographically represent the hierarchical drainage basin system. This divide type attribute is used to assign different line symbology to major, regional, subregional, local, stream reach, and lake impoundment drainage basin divides. For example, major basin drainage divides are more pronounced and shown with a wider line symbol than regional basin drainage divides. Connecticut Drainage Basins is the data source for other digital spatial data including the Connecticut Major Drainage Basins, Connecticut Regional Drainage Basins, Connecticut Subregional Drainage Basins, and Connectcut Local Drainage Basins. Purpose: The polygon features define the contributing drainage area for individual reservoirs, lakes, ponds and river and stream reaches in Connecticut. These are hydrologic land units where precipitation is collected. Rain falling in a basin may take two courses. It may both run over the land and quickly enter surface watercourses, or it may soak into the ground moving through the earth until it surfaces at a wetland or stream. In an undisturbed natural drainage basin, the surface and ground water arrive as precipitation and leave either by evaporation or as surface runoff at the basin's outlet. A basin is a self-contained hydrologic system, with a clearly defined water budget and cycle. The amount of water that flows into the basins equals the amount that leaves. A drainage divide is the topographic barrier along a ridge or line of hilltops separating adjacent drainage basins. For example, rain or snow melt draining down one side of a hill generally will flow into a different basin and stream than water draining down the other side of the hill. These hillsides are separated by a drainage divided that follows nearby hilltops and ridge lines. Use these basin data to identify where rainfall flows over land and downstream to a particular watercourse. Use these data to cat