Which watershed does this ZIP drain to?

Every drop of rain that falls in Ohio ends up in Lake Erie or the Ohio River, and the divide runs across the state's middle. This layer uses the USGS Watershed Boundary Dataset: each ZIP takes the 8-digit subbasin where most of its residents live (44 touch Ohio, from the Maumee to the Little Scioto), colored blue for the Lake Erie side and purple for the Ohio River side with shades separating neighbours, and the card names the small 12-digit subwatershed under the ZIP's population center and the creeks and rivers the water passes through on its way out. Watersheds, not city limits, are how Ohio EPA assesses streams and how a spill upstream reaches a water intake. The card ends with the county's water budget from the USGS 2015 water-use census: how much is pumped each day, how much of it goes to public supply, power plants, industry and irrigation, and how many residents draw their own wells. The card also lists nearby H2Ohio water-quality projects and, along Lake Erie, whether the ZIP falls in the Coastal Management Area. Approved nine-element nonpoint source plans (and the acid mine drainage and EPA Region 5 plans Ohio EPA lists with them) are noted for the subwatershed at the ZIP's center. H2Ohio road-salt grants near the ZIP are listed. Ohio EPA's surface water protection areas show which downstream intakes the ZIP drains to and whether it sits in an emergency zone. Section 319, GLRI and SWIF runoff projects near the ZIP are listed. NOAA's Lake Erie gauges give the current lake level against the 1991 to 2020 average for coastal ZIPs. An EnviroAtlas line gives the subwatershed's Conservation Reserve acres, grain cropland, stream miles, water use, precipitation and nitrogen deposition from EPA's national metrics. A stream-permits line reads Ohio EPA's 401 certification map: whether stream work in the ZIP can use the Army Corps' blanket nationwide permits or needs an individual review because the water drains to high-quality streams.

1,229 of 1,233 ZIPs have data.

Legend

Map of Ohio by Watershed

Source

USGS Watershed Boundary Dataset: HUC-8 subbasins by resident share (2020 census blocks) and the HUC-12 subwatershed at each ZIP's population-weighted center with its downstream chain; USGS county water use 2015 (Dieter and others 2018) for the county water budget; ODNR H2Ohio project points (Office of Coastal Management service, 246 projects) and the Lake Erie Coastal Management Area boundary; Ohio EPA nine-element nonpoint source implementation plans by HUC12; Ohio EPA chloride reduction grant projects (H2Ohio and OWDA); Ohio EPA surface water source protection areas, emergency and corridor management zones, Lake Erie and Ohio River intake zones; Ohio EPA Section 319, GLRI and SWIF nonpoint source project points (Section 319 and GLRI through fiscal 2023, SWIF through 2017); NOAA CO-OPS monthly mean Lake Erie water levels at Toledo, Marblehead, Cleveland and Fairport Harbor (IGLD 1985, 1990 to 2026); EPA EnviroAtlas HUC12 metrics (Conservation Reserve acres, precipitation, water use, stream length, grain hectares, nitrogen deposition) for the population center's subwatershed; Ohio EPA 401 water quality certification map of nationwide permit eligibility (SurfaceWater/WQ_Cert_NationwidePermits_401, clipped to the ZIP)

USGS watershed boundaries · EPA EnviroAtlas · Ohio EPA 401 map · USGS county water use 2015 · ODNR H2Ohio projects · ODNR Lake Erie Coastal Management Area · Ohio EPA source water protection (SWAP) · Ohio EPA nine-element plans · Ohio EPA 319, GLRI and SWIF project lists · Ohio EPA chloride reduction grants · NOAA Lake Erie water levels

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