Downloads
Overview
The MassDEP Hydrography layer is an enhanced version of the older U.S. Geological survey 1:25,000 Hydrography datalayer. It represents hydrographic (water-related) features, including surface water (lakes, ponds, and reservoirs), wetlands, bogs, flats, rivers, streams, and others (see below).
The layer is a hybrid of data based on USGS Digital Line Graphs (DLGs), scanned mylar separates obtained from the USGS, digitized hydrographic features from paper USGS 1:25,000 Topographic Quadrangle maps and data extracted from the MassDEP Wetlands datalayer. Areas within many surface water supply watersheds have been enhanced by using higher resolution streams and lakes from the MassDEP Wetlands datalayer, many areas have also been field verified. This layer is intended as an interim product that will be incorporated into the USGS’s National Hydrography Dataset (NHD) when funding and resources become available. If you are interested in providing data, funding, field work, or becoming part of an NHD working group, please contact Tara Manno Richer of the MassDEP GIS Program by email at tara.manno@mass.gov.
Available statewide, the hydrography (arc and polygon feature classes) is stored in ArcSDE as HYDRO25K_POLY and HYDRO25K_ARC.
Production
The DLG quadrangles were converted into Arc/INFO coverages and projected into the Massachusetts State Plane Coordinate System. The long list of items (MAJOR1, MINOR1, MAJOR2, MINOR2...) was then concatenated to a more simplified coding system. For each feature MINORn was truncated to three characters and linked to the other minor codes to create MINOR_TOT. For example, a submerged (612) wetland (111) is now coded MINOR_TOT = 612111. The original MAJORn, MINORn pairs are no longer part of the attribute tables.
Quadrangles covering Nantucket and Martha’s Vineyard were completely digitized from the 1:25,000 USGS quadrangles. Though not as thoroughly coded as the 1:25,000 DLGs, the linework is all at 1:25,000
The scanned quadrangles were automated in-house by scanning USGS mylar separates at 500 dots per inch. The resulting images were vectorized in GRID and then edited in ARCEDIT. Features missing from the blue line separate (i.e. dams or man-made shore) were digitized from the paper quadrangles.
Four quads along the Massachusetts-Connecticut border were obtained from the Connecticut DEP and projected to the Massachusetts State Plane Coordinate System. See the table below for details on the source of each quad.
An ongoing project by the MassDEP GIS Program to redelineate surface water supply watersheds using digital terrain models is adding additional streams within the newly delineated watersheds. These streams are from the MassDEP Wetlands datalayer with some additional on screen digitizing from the 2005 Color OrthoPhotos. Streams added from this process are generally coded as intermittent unless field verification proves otherwise. In 2007 the outlines of all reservoirs were replaced with those from the MassDEP Wetlands datalayer so either dataset can be used with the SWP Zones datalayer. In 2008 field verified streams for the Wachusett Reservoir watershed were provided by DCR West Boylston GIS staff and added.
 Existing USGS 1:25000 Hydrography |
 Hydrologic Connections from DEP Wetlands |
 MassDEP Hydrography with Local Resolution Streams |
All of the digitized quadrangles were checkplotted at 1:25,000. The 1:25,000 DLG quadrangles were randomly checkplotted. Each of the quadrangles was edgematched to its neighboring quads. The scanned hydrography was compared both to the source mylar and to the paper quadrangles to ensure completeness.
For the December 2003 update, the layer was extracted from the Quad library and dissolved into a single coverage, which was dissolved on all items after the SOURCE field was dropped. Most slivers, gaps, and other artifacts left over from the quad tiling scheme were removed. Some codes were also refined. Edits were preformed by MassGIS and Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) GIS Group staff.
The high resolution streams from the DEP Wetlands datalayer were field verified and edited mostly in the upper reaches of the watersheds where they crossed roads or if the natural flow wasn’t apparent.
Attributes
The layer contains both a polygon and arc feature class. The modified DLG coding scheme is extensive and includes a wide variety of features, including ponds, cranberry bogs, impoundments, wetlands, tidal flats, dams, streams, and aqueducts. Only data from the DLGs have been coded this completely. Data from other sources have been coded to include ponds and streams and in the case of data from the scanned quads, wetlands.
Pond and Lake Inventory System (PALIS) IDs are unique codes which were added to ponds and lakes by DEP GIS in conjunction with the DEP Division of Watershed Management using identification codes developed by the Pond and Lakes Inventory System. For historical reasons, some wetland polygons have PALIS IDs. PALIS IDs were also given to impoundment areas along rivers and when necessary closure lines were added.
Since the data now comes from different sources, the attribute SOURCE was added to differentiate which program/entity provided the feature. An attribute for the approximate NHD resolution was added to aid in future input into NHD.
The fields in the polygon attribute table are:
| MINOR_TOT | Text (15) | Concatenated feature code |
| POLY_CODE | Number (10) |
Generalized code based on MINOR_TOT simplified to these 9 codes: 0 - LAND/ISLAND/DAM/AQUEDUCT 1 - RESERVOIR (with PWSID) 2 - WETLAND, MARSH, SWAMP, BOG 3 - SUBMERGED WETLANDS 4 - CRANBERRY BOG 5 - SALT WETLANDS 6 - LAKE, POND, WIDE RIVER, IMPOUNDMENT 7 - TIDAL FLATS, SHOALS 8 - BAY, OCEAN 9 - INUNDATED AREA |
| PWSID | Text (11) | DEP public water supply identification number |
| PALIS_ID | Number (6) | A unique ID from the Ponds and Lakes Inventory System |
| SOURCE | Text (12) |
Program Source for the feature: USGS/MGIS – Original 1:25,000 Hydrography DEPGIS – Added from DEP Wetlands by DEP GIS staff DCRGIS – From DEP Wetlands and edits/verified by DCR staff |
| MINOR_NUM | Number (15) | Same as MINOR_TOT, as integer |
| RESOLUTION | Text (12) |
NHD corresponding resolution: HIGH - Nominally > 1:25,000 LOCAL - < 1:25,000, nominally 1:12,000, some at 1:5,000 |
| NAME | Text (50) | Feature name, from PALIS and USGS quads |
The fields in the arc attribute table are:
| MINOR_TOT | Text (12) | Concatenated feature code |
| ARC_CODE | Number (10) | Generalized code based on MINOR_TOT simplified to these codes: 1 - SHORELINE 2 - CLOSURE LINE 3 - APPARENT WETLAND LIMIT 4 - STREAM 5 - INTERMITTENT STREAM 6 - DITCH, CANAL 7 - AQUEDUCT 8 - DAM 9 - INTERMITTENT/INDEFINITE SHORELINE 10 - MAN-MADE SHORELINE 11 - CHANNEL IN WATER 99 - TRANSPORT ARC 0 - UNKNOWN |
| PWSID | Text (11) | DEP public water supply identification number |
| SOURCE | Text (12) |
Program Source for the feature: USGS/MGIS – Original 1:25,000 Hydrography DEPGIS – Added from DEP Wetlands by DEP GIS staff DCRGIS – From DEP Wetlands and edits/verified by DCR staff |
| MINOR_NUM | Double | Same as MINOR_TOT, as integer |
| RESOLUTION | Text (12) | NHD corresponding resolution: HIGH - Nominally > 1:25,000 LOCAL - < 1:25,000, nominally 1:12,000, some at 1:5,000 |
| NAME | Text (100) | Feature name, from SARIS (where SARISCODE is populated) and USGS quads |
| LEN | Double | Feature length in meters |
| SARISNAME | Text (30) | Feature name from SARIS, where SARISCODE is populated |
| SARISCODE | Text (10) | SARIS code from MassDEP's Stream and River Inventory System table |
The following table lists all the possible MINOR_TOT/MINOR_NUM codes for a POLYGON FEATURE.
These codes have been extracted and concatenated from the USGS DLG major/minor pairs.
| MINOR_TOT/NUM | DESCRIPTION | MINOR_TOT/NUM | DESCRIPTION | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 101 | RESERVOIR | 115422 | FLATS/CORAL REEF | |
| 102 | COVERED RESERVOIR | 115616 | FLATS-NAVIGABLE | |
| 105 | INUNDATION AREA | 406618 | DAM-EARTHEN | |
| 106 | FISH HATCHERY/FARM | 410115 | ROCKS/FLATS | |
| 107 | INDUST WATER IMPOUND | 412111 | STREAM/MARSH | |
| 109 | SEWAGE DISP POND | 412115 | STREAM FLATS | |
| 111 | MARSH/WETLAND | 412612 | STREAM-SUNKEN | |
| 114 | CRANBERRY BOG | 415604 | AQUEDUCT IN TUNNEL | |
| 115 | FLATS | 419616 | CHANNEL-NAVIGABLE | |
| 116 | BAY/ESTUARY/GULF | 421007 | LAKE OR POND | |
| 124 | FILTRATION POND | 421101 | POND/RESERVOIR | |
| 400 | RAPIDS | 421111 | POND WETLAND | |
| 401 | FALLS | 421609 | UNSURVEYED POND | |
| 402 | GRAVEL PIT W/WATER | 421610 | POND-INTERMITTENT | |
| 404 | PUMPING STATION | 421612 | POND-SUNKEN | |
| 406 | DAM/WEIR | 421618 | POND-EARTHEN | |
| 408 | SPILLWAY | 421619 | LAKE OR POND | |
| 410 | ROCK | 421625 | LAKE OR POND | |
| 412 | STREAM | 421628 | LAKE OR POND | |
| 414 | DITCH/CANAL | 422115 | CORAL REEFS/FLATS | |
| 415 | AQUEDUCT | 610402 | INTERMIT PIT W/WATER | |
| 416 | FLUME | 610421 | INTERMITENT POND | |
| 419 | CHANNEL IN WATER | 612111 | SUBMERGED MARSH | |
| 421 | LAKE OR POND | 618101 | RESERVOIR | |
| 422 | CORAL REEF | 619412 | STREAM | |
| 999 | LAND/ISLAND | 619421 | LAKE OR POND | |
| 7105 | INUNDATION AREA | 101111612 | SUBMERGED RES MARSH | |
| 7111 | MARSH/WETLAND | 101619625 | RESERVOIR | |
| 101619 | RESERVOIR | 10500711 | INUN AREA/MARSH | |
| 102111 | COV RESERVOIR/MARSH | 105111007 | INUN AREA/MARSH | |
| 105007 | INUNDATION AREA | 111007105 | MARSH/INUN AREA | |
| 105111 | INUN AREA/MARSH | 111007612 | MARSH-SUBMERGED | |
| 109421 | SEWAGE POND/POND | 111007625 | MARSH/WETLAND | |
| 109611 | SEWAGE POND-ABAND | 111105007 | MARSH/INUN AREA | |
| 109619 | SEWAGE POND | 111114007 | MARSH/CRANBERRY BOG | |
| 111007 | MARSH/WETLAND | 111612007 | MARSH-SUBMERGED | |
| 111105 | MARSH/INUN AREA | 111612421 | POND MARSH-SUBMERGED | |
| 111114 | MARSH/CRANBERRY BOG | 111612619 | MARSH-SUBMERGED | |
| 111608 | MARSH-SALT | 11461625 | MARSH-SUBMERGED | |
| 111612 | MARSH-SUBMERGED | 114007111 | CRANBERRY BOG/MARSH | |
| 114007 | CRANBERRY BOG | 114111007 | CRANBERRY BOG/MARSH | |
| 114111 | CRANBERRY BOG/MARSH | 421111007 | POND MARSH | |
| 115007 | FLATS | 421619625 | LAKE OR POND | |
| 115116 | FLATS | 421625619 | LAKE OR POND | |
| 115116 | FLATS/BAY | 619625415 | AQUEDUCT | |
| 115410 | FLATS/ROCK | 619625421 | LAKE OR POND | |
| 115412 | FLATS/STREAM | 101111612625 | RES MARSH-SUBMERGED | |
| 115421 | FLATS/POND |
The following table lists all the possible MINOR_NUM/MINOR_TOT codes for an ARC FEATURE. These codes have been extracted and concatenated from the USGS DLG major/minor pairs.
| MINOR TOT/NUM | DESCRIPTION | MINOR TOT/NUM | DESCRIPTION | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 109 | SEWAGE DISP/FILT BED | 406618 | DAM/WEIR-EARTHEN | |
| 200 | SHORELINE | 412007 | STREAM | |
| 201 | MANMADE SHORELINE | 412009 | STREAM | |
| 202 | CLOSURE LINE | 412202 | STREAM CLOSURE LINE | |
| 203 | INDEFINITE SHORELINE | 412601 | STREAM-UNDERGROUND | |
| 204 | APPARENT LIMIT | 412604 | STREAM-TUNNEL | |
| 210 | TRANSPORT ARC | 412609 | STREAM-UNSURVEYED | |
| 300 | SPRING | 412610 | STREAM-INTERMITTENT | |
| 401 | FALLS | 414009 | DITCH/CANAL | |
| 405 | WATER INTAKE | 414017 | DITCH/CANAL | |
| 406 | DAM/WEIR | 414610 | CANAL-INTERMITTENT | |
| 407 | CANAL LOCK | 414611 | CANAL-ABANDONED | |
| 408 | SPILLWAY | 415601 | AQUEDUCT-UNDERGROUND | |
| 409 | GATE | 415604 | AQUEDUCT-TUNNEL | |
| 412 | STREAM | 415605 | AQUEDUCT RIGHT BANK | |
| 414 | DITCH/CANAL | 415611 | AQUEDUCT-ABANDONED | |
| 415 | AQUEDUCT | 415612 | AQUECUDT-SUBMERGED | |
| 416 | FLUME | 601412 | UNDERGROUND STREAM | |
| 419 | CHANNEL IN WATER | 605009 | RIGHT BANK | |
| 422 | CORAL REEF | 605201 | RIGHT BANK-MANMADE | |
| 605 | RIGHT BANK | 606009 | LEFT BANK | |
| 606 | LEFT BANK | 606201 | LEFT BANK-MANMADE | |
| 999 | UNKNOWN OR NEAT LINE | 610200 | INTERMITTENT SHORE | |
| 7204 | APPARENT LIMIT | 610412 | INTERMITTENT STREAM | |
| 9606 | LEFT BANK | 610414 | INTERMITTENT CANAL | |
| 200009 | SHORELINE | 610421 | INTERMITTENT POND | |
| 200201 | MANMADE SHORELINE | 200618406 | SHORE/EARTHEN DAM | |
| 200606 | LEFT BANK/SHORE | 201009020 | MANMADE SHORE | |
| 200610 | INTERMITTENT SHORE | 201020002 | MANMADE SHORE | |
| 201002 | MANMADE SHORELINE | 201020605 | MANMADE RIGHT BANK | |
| 201009 | MANMADE SHORELINE | 201605020 | MANMADE RIGHT BANK | |
| 201020 | MANMADE SHORELINE | 201606009 | MANMADE LEFT BANK | |
| 201605 | MANMADE RIGHT BANK | 201606020 | MANMADE LEFT BANK | |
| 201606 | MANMADE LEFT BANK | 202412617 | CLOS LINE/STR UNDERP | |
| 202412 | CLOSURE LINE/STREAM | 406009017 | DAM/WEIR | |
| 203625 | INDEFINITE SHORE | 406618200 | DAM-EARTHEN/SHORE | |
| 204007 | APPARENT LIMIT | 412610009 | STREAM-INTERMITTENT | |
| 204009 | APPARENT LIMIT | 412610202 | INT STREAM CLOSURE | |
| 406009 | DAM/WEIR | 412610617 | INT STREAM UNDERPASS | |
| 406017 | DAM/WEIR | |||
| 406200 | DAM/SHORE |
Source of 1:25,000 Hydrography from USGS
Source is for features coded as "USGS/MGIS" in the SOURCE field. Some of these features may have been modified by on-screen digitizing and/or enhanced with data from the MassDEP Wetlands (1:12,000) layer. See the SOURCE fields in the polygon and arc layers for specific sources. Also see the status map for the pre-MassDEP-enhanced hydrography data.
(USGS QUAD# - SOURCE)
Source Key:
DLG = USGS Digital Line Graph
SCN = Scanned USGS mylar
DIG = Digitized from 1:25,000 USGS topographic maps
CNR = Data from Connecticut modified by MassGIS
| 1 - DLG 2 - SCN 3 - SCN 4 - DLG 5 - DLG 6 - DLG 7 - DLG 8 - SCN 9 - SCN 10 - DLG 11 - SCN 12 - SCN 13 - SCN 14 - SCN 15 - SCN 16 - DLG 17 - SCN 18 - SCN 19 - SCN 20 - SCN 21 - SCN 22 - DLG 23 - SCN 24 - SCN 25 - SCN 26 - SCN |
27 - SCN 28 - DLG 29 - SCN 30 - SCN 31 - SCN 32 - SCN 33 - SCN 34 - DLG 35 - SCN 36 - SCN 37 - SCN 38 - SCN 39 - SCN 40 - CNR 41 - SCN 42 - SCN 43 - SCN 44 - SCN 45 - SCN 46 - CNR 47 - DLG 48 - SCN 49 - SCN 50 - SCN 51 - SCN 52 - CNR |
53 - DLG 54 - SCN 55 - SCN 56 - SCN 57 - SCN 58 - CNR 59 - DLG 60 - SCN 61 - SCN 62 - SCN 63 - SCN 64 - DLG 65 - DLG 66 - SCN 67 - SCN 68 - SCN 69 - SCN 70 - DLG 71 - DLG 72 - DLG 73 - DLG 74 - DLG 75 - DLG 76 - DLG 77 - DLG 78 - DLG |
79 - DLG 80 - DLG 81 - DLG 82 - DLG 83 - DLG 84 - DLG 85 - DLG 86 - DLG 87 - DLG 88 - SCN 89 - DLG 90 - DLG 91 - DLG 92 - DLG 93 - DLG 94 - SCN 95 - DLG 96 - DLG 97 - SCN 98 - SCN 99 - SCN 100 - SCN 101 - SCN 102 - DLG 103 - DLG 104 - SCN |
105 - SCN 106 - SCN 107 - SCN 108 - SCN 109 - DLG 110 - DLG 111 - DLG 112 - DLG 113 - DLG 114 - SCN 115 - SCN 116 - SCN 117 - SCN 118 - SCN 119 - DLG 120 - DLG 121 - DLG 121-S - DLG 122 - DLG 123 - DLG 124 - DLG 125 - SCN 126 - SCN 127 - SCN 128 - SCN 129 - SCN |
130 - DLG 131 - DLG 132 - DLG 132-S - DLG 133 - DLG 134 - DLG 135 - DLG 136 - DLG 137 - DLG 138 - DLG 139 - DLG 140 - DLG 141 - SCN 142 - SCN 143 - SCN 144 - DLG 145 - DIG 146 - DLG 147 - DLG 148 - DLG 149 - DLG 150 - DLG 151 - DLG 152 - DLG 153 - SCN 154 - SCN |
155 - SCN 156 - DLG 157 - DIG 158 - DIG 158-S - DIG 159-E - DLG 159-W - DLG 160 - DLG 161 - DLG 161-E - DLG 162 - DLG 163 - DLG 164 - DLG 165 - DLG 166 - DIG 167 - DIG 168-E - DLG 168-W - DLG 169 - DLG 170 - DLG 171 - DLG 172 - DLG 173 - DIG 173-E - DIG 173-S - DIG 173-SE - DIG |
174 - DLG 174-N - DLG 175 - DLG 176 - DLG 176-S - DLG 177 - DIG 178 - DLG 179 - DLG 179-N - DLG 180 - DIG 180-S - DIG 181 - DLG 182 - DLG 182-E - DLG 183 - DLG 184 - DLG 184-N - DLG 185 - DLG 186 - DLG 186-W - DLG 187 - DIG 187-E - DIG 188 - DIG 188-E - DIG 188-S - DIG 188-SE - DIG 189 - DLG |
Note that these hydrography layers do not have feature names (e.g., "Quabbin Reservoir" or "Connecticut River") as attributes. To label the features in these layers, use the annotation in the HYDRO subclass of the Geographic Place Names layer.
Maintenance
The MassDEP GIS Program maintains the MassDEP Hydrography layers.
The 2007 update includes new streams within the watersheds of active sources in Lynn, Peabody, Danvers, Middleton, Beverly, Manchester, and Ipswich.
The 2008 update includes new streams within the watersheds of active sources in Gloucester, Rockport, Ipswich, Newburyport, Amesbury, Haverhill, Andover, North Andover, Wakefield, Winchester, Woburn, Burlington, Lincoln, Concord, Leominster, Fitchburg, Worcester, Greenfield and the entire Wachusett Reservoir watershed. Please refer to the SWP Watersheds and SWP Zones datalayers for additional information on this project.
The 2009 update (released in March 2010) includes new streams within the watersheds of active and inactive sources in Ashburnham, Winchendon, Gardner, Fitchburg (North), Hudson, Marlborough, Westboro, Milford, Braintree, Hingham, Weymouth, Abington, Rockland, Brockton, Attleboro, Somerset, Fall River, Falmouth, Plymouth, Wareham, New Bedford, Taunton, and Cambridge. The code for closure lines was split into 2 different codes, where arc_code = 2 was assigned to features between tidal flats and bay/ocean, and arc_code = 12 was assigned to closure lines between different types of wetlands features. A minor_tot of 7204 was given to the tidal flat features. Some changes were made to the Quabbin Reservoir and tributaries, along with some covered reservoirs in Weston, Milton and Medford, at the request of the MWRA GIS Program. A general cleanup was also performed to address logical errors in the original dataset, like a stream inside an open water feature or a pond surrounded by a wetland line feature.
The March 2017 update added the NAME fields to both feature classes. MassGIS added these fields based on PALIS and SARIS codes. If features did not have these codes, annotation and USGS topographic quad imagery were used as sources. The LEN, SARISNAME and SARISCODE fields were also added at this time.
The April 2017 update includes MassDEP revisions to Surface Water Supply Protection (SWP) Watersheds in the MassDEP Western Region (except for the Cobble Mountain Complex and the Quabbin Reservoir) as well as the watersheds for Mill Pond (Burlington Water Dept.), Old Oaken Bucket Pond (Scituate Water Division) and Silver Lake (Brockton Water Commission). Other MassDEP updates include linework for eleven missing stream segments, as provided by the Division of Fish and Game. These segments and related edits nearby may be found in the Chicopee, Merrimack, Millers, Nashua, SuAsCo and South Coastal basins.
The following edits were incorporated in December 2019:
- Lake Rico (PALIS 62148), Taunton: Added to HYDRO25K_POLY and ARC, replacing old polygons and linework in that area.
- Lake Ellis (PALIS 35023), Athol: Renamed from "Ellis Pond".
- Petersons Saw Mill Pond (PALIS 94111), Duxbury: Renamed from "North West Duxbury Pond".
- Nipmuc Pond (PALIS 51111), Mendon: Renamed from "Nipmuck Pond".
- Assabet River, Northborough: The word "Reservoir" was removed from the name.
- Betty Pond (PALIS 35010), Templeton: Renamed from "Brazell Pond".
- Cochituate Brook (SARIS 8248010), Framingham: Renamed from "Unnamed Trib".
These changes were based on GNIS names and other input and made in conjunction with MassDEP.
For other hydrographic features, also see the MassDEP Wetlands (1:12,000), Hydrography (1:100,000) and Major Ponds and Major Streams layers.