The Water Atlas presents information for four different types of water resources in Hillsborough County. The purpose of this is to help Atlas users view the available information for the water resources that most interests them. The Water Atlas now employs the the National Hydrography Dataset (NHD) as its primary water resource spatial reference.
"The NHD is a comprehensive set of digital spatial data that contains information about surface water features such as lakes, ponds, streams, rivers, springs and wells. Within the NHD, surface water features are combined to form 'reaches,' which provide the framework for linking water-related data to the NHD surface water drainage network. These linkages enable the analysis and display of these water-related data in upstream and downstream order."
(Source: USGS NHD homepage)
These data are augmented by hydrologic data provided by Hillsborough County to ensure all pertinent resources are listed on the Water Atlas. The following is a brief description of each level:
A watershed (also called a drainage basin) is an area on the land surface from which water flows or has the potential to flow into a stream or lake. Watersheds are naturally separated from adjacent basins by topographic divides. The watersheds presented on the Hillsborough County Watershed Atlas are boundaries defined by Hillsborough County.
Rivers and creeks are naturally flowing waters that receive ground or surface water.
Lakes are still bodies of water that are surrounded by land on all sides.
Ponds are also still bodies of water that are surrounded by land on all sides. However, they are smaller in size than lakes. The ponds presented on the Hillsborough County Watershed Atlas are part of the Hillsborough County Adopt-A-Pond program.
The concept of the Water Atlas is to present information for a specific water resource and then group that information into subjects. The subjects that are a part of the Water Atlas include:
If you are interested in finding out the water quality for a particular water resource, you can search for that resource and then click on the "Water Quality" subject to find data related to that subject.
If you are visiting the Water Atlas to find out about a specific subject related to water (regardless of a particular water resource), then you can click on the Education, Management or Research tabs and be able to search for documents and websites related to educational materials related to water...
The Hillsborough Watershed Atlas provides multiple methods for finding the information you would like to know about water resources in the county. The following are some basic steps to help you find the information in which you are interested:
If you are looking to find a specific water resource, you can use The Atlas page or the search box in the upper right-hand corner of every page.
From the home page, click on the link titled "The Atlas"
Video Tutorial: The Atlas homepage
On The Atlas page, you can choose to:
Video Tutorial: Choosing from a drop-down list of watersheds
Video Tutorial: Choosing from a drop-down list of rivers/creeks
Video Tutorial: Choosing from a drop-down list of lakes
Video Tutorial: Choosing from a drop-down list of ponds
Video Tutorial: Using the mapping application
Once you have found the water resource in which you are interested, you should be on the General Information page for that resource. Here are some key features of every water resource page:
This is the name of the water resource and its associated watershed.
When you click on this link, you will go to the interactive mapping application. You can view the location or explore the different information that is available as map themes.
This is the subject of information being presented for the identified location.
These are the other available subjects of information that you can look at. Click on any of these tabs to view the related information.
Video Tutorial: Additional subject tabs
If you are looking for documents, web links and curriculum related to water resources, visit the Education page. Here you can find links and resources for both teachers and students. Lesson plans have been developed for
To get to the Home Page, click on the Hillsborough County icon at the top of the page.
The information under the Education section has been grouped to help users find the information in which they are interested. The three groups include:
Teachers can find lesson plans developed specifically for the Watershed Atlas and links to other educational resources related to water. Students can find links to websites that assist them in understanding water issues. The general public can find links to information that explain water resource issues and organizations working with water resource concerns.
Video Tutorial: Opening a document or web link
If you are looking for a documents and web links related to water resource management or research, visit the Management or Research pages.
The Management page includes links to information about what agencies are doing to manage the built and natural environment within the geographic extent of the Watershed Atlas so that the area's lake and river systems remain healthy.
Video Tutorial: Finding Water Resource Management Documents
The Research page includes resources geared towards the scientific community, such as:
Video Tutorial: Meta Data and Data Download
Video Tutorial: Advanced Graphing and Research Documents
To get to the Home Page, click on the Hillsborough County icon at the top of any page.
Video Tutorial: Finding Management or Research Documents
The search box is located at the upper-right hand corner of every page on the Hillsborough County Watershed Atlas. You can use the search box to search for a water body.
The results of your search will indicate whether there are any:
Video Tutorial: Using the Search Box
The Atlas is still in development and may be inconsistent in its functionality. All data obtained from the Atlas are provisional, subject to change, and provided without warranty of any kind as detailed in our Full Disclaimer
The Atlas has been developed with wide accessibility in mind. We have made efforts to make the content of the Atlas available to as many visitors as possible, whatever technology they are using or constraints they may be operating under. For more information, please see our Accessibility Statement.
The privacy policy in effect for all Water Atlas sites can be viewed here.
© 2001-2008 Florida Center for Community Design + Research, School of Architecture and Community Design, University of South Florida
