Data Stewardship

The NHD partnership is now turning its attention to a program of data stewardship to improve upon the existing NHD and keep it continuously updated. It is based on the input of organizations knowledgeable about the hydrography in their local area. This will assure that the NHD is accurate, current, and meets the objectives of the user community. The opportunity to contribute to the upkeep of the NHD is attracting many new members to the NHD partnership.

The NHD includes a number of change management characteristics that keep track of the NHD features from their original production through their entire maintenance history. As stewards maintain the NHD, a complete record of the actions taken are recorded in the NHD to allow future users to fully understand the processes the data have undergone.