May 31, 2002

The MRC’s Geographic Information System (GIS) received a great addition this year with the completion of the Tributary Project. In this project MRC GIS staff developed a computer based map database encompassing every named tributary of the Mattole River. This collection of GIS information includes an updated layer of watercourse locations, linked to attributes such as river mile, stream length, and whether the stream is perennial or annual. From this streams layer, in combination with a digital elevation model, we developed individual watershed boundary layers for each tributary. These GIS databases give us a versatile and easily accessed geographical “picture,” referencing each tributary to its context within the Mattole watershed. All of these tributary “pictures” have been compiled into a hardcopy Tributary Atlas, located in the MRC’s Resource Center in Petrolia. The Atlas includes a page for each tributary including a topographic map of its watershed, and statistics from the tributary database, providing an “at a glance” reference.





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Table of Contents for Mattole Restoration Newsletter, Issue 18 - Summer/Fall 2002