&EPA www.epa.gov/research science in ACTION INNOVATIVE RESEARCH FOR A SUSTAINABLE FUTURE LAKECAT - DATASET OF LAKE BASINS CHARACTERISTICS Capturing Lake Data Lakes provide many environmental, economic, and public health benefits and protecting the Nation's waters is a top priority of the EPA. Toward this goal, the EPA's Office of Research and Development (ORD) has developed the Lake-Catchment (LakeCat) Dataset, an extensive collection of landscape metrics for about 378 thousand lakes and associated catchments within the conterminous U.S. LakeCat includes both natural and human-related landscape features. The data are summarized both for individual lake catchments and for cumulative upslope watersheds. At the time of publication, over 170 metrics were available for both natural (e.g., soils) and human-related (e.g., urbanization) watershed features, with more metrics to be added as data become available. LakeCat is publicly available for download dittps:// www.epa.gov/national-aquatic-resource-survevs/lakecat) as simple, comma-delimited text files that can be read and accessed within numerous software packages. LakeCat data tables can be linked to waterbody features within the geospatial framework of the National Hydrography Dataset Plus Version 2 for mapping and analysis. nitrogens? Lake watershed inorganic wet deposition (kg/ha/year) 0-1 5-6 1-2 6-7 2-3 ¦ 7-8 3-4 ¦ 8-9 4-5 ^¦9-10 A map showing wet deposition of inorganic nitrogen within lake watersheds across the US The Value of LakeCat EPA researchers have developed LakeCat to help characterize, understand, and model the biological and water quality conditions of lakes across the contiguous US. LakeCat strengthens the EPA's ability to estimate and map the integrity and sustainability of our Nation's waters. It provides the landscape information necessary to model and map the aquatic condition and water quality of these important ecosystems in the entire conterminous US. 1 U.S. Environmental Protection Agency Office of Research and Development EPA/600/F-18/009 December 2020 ------- science in ACTION INNOVATIVE RESEARCH FOR A SUSTAINABLE FUTURE www.epa.gov/research Eutrophication Using LakeCat LakeCat is a valuable data set for land and water resource research and management applications that require landscape information on natural and human factors. It can help agencies and stakeholders by providing extensive information about the watersheds feeding into lakes. As an illustration of how LakeCat can be used to provide valuable information on lakes across the conterminous U.S., QRD scientists combined LakeCat information with EPA National Lakes Assessment field samples that were used to identi- fy eutrophic and non-eutrophic lakes (Map A). They then devel- oped a model to predict the probability of lake eutrophica- tion, given lake watershed conditions, at about 290 thousand unsampled lakes (Map B). Such models and maps can be used by managers to understand human-related factors that influ- ence lake water quality, identify lakes or regions of lakes that may need additional monitoring, and help focus management resources to where they can be best used to improve lake water quality. (Chlorophyll-a) # -7 |jg/L • >7Mg/L In addition to modeling, LakeCat data can be downloaded and que- ried in numerous ways, such as to identify lakes in reference condi- tion or lakes that are experienc- ing particular landscape stressors, such as urbanization. REFERENCE: Hill RA, Weber MH, Debbout RM, Leibowitz SG, Olsen AR. (2018). The Lake -Catchment (LakeCat) Dataset: Characterizing landscape features for lake basins within the conterminous US. Freshwater Science 37 (2): 208-221 h ttps://doi.org/10.1086/697966 Pr(Eutrophic) I 0-0.1 I 0.1-0.2 0.2-0.3 0.3 - 0.4 0.4-0.5 0.5- 0.6- 0.7- 0.8- 0.9- 0.6 0.7 0.8 0.9 1.0 Visit LakeCat: https://www.epa.gov/national-aquatic-resource-survevs/lakecat CONTACT: Scott Leibowitz Office of Research and Development Center for Public Health and Environmental Assessment, Pacific Ecological Systems Division 54i.754.45O8 leibowitz.scott@epa.gov 2 U.S. Environmental Protection Agency Office of Research and Development ------- |