USING ARC HYDRO DATA MODEL TO ESTABLISH RIPARIAN EDGE LAND-USE FOR AN IMPAIRED WATER BODY

Riparian areas are defined as the land connected with or immediately adjacent to the banks of water bodies like streams, lakes and wetlands. These areas are complex ecosystems that connect water and human landuse. Delineating these areas is crucial to the protection of water quality, stream bank erosion, fish habitats etc. This study uses the Arc Hydro model for developing a methodology to establish the riparian edge landuse for an impaired water body in the Middle Wabash-Deer watershed, in central Indiana. The Arc Hydro data model is a combination of GIS objects functioning like a relational database to allow for relationships, topologies, and geometric networks. High resolution NHD data has been used to build a hydrological network of Middle Wabash-Deer watershed in Arc Catalog based on the concepts of a geodatabase and Arc Hydro model. The impaired stretches of the water bodies in this watershed were identified within the geodatabase and the riparian edge landuse pattern for these stretches was determined. Knowledge of the landuse pattern along the riparian edge helps in determining the areas which may be potential source for the impairment of the water body. This will enable land managers to restore and protect the quality of the water bodies.