BetaBetaDataset
To provide publicly accessible hydrology and hydrography geospatial datasets for the State of Maine
The State of Maine GeoLibrary maintains this open data collection as part of its statewide geospatial data infrastructure. The collection focuses on hydrology and hydrography-related datasets, offering authoritative geographic information on lakes, watersheds, rivers, drainage divides, snow survey data, coastal water quality features, and nationally integrated hydrography services. It supports state agencies, researchers, environmental managers, and the public in accessing standardized water-related geospatial data.
This collection includes multiple hydrology and hydrography datasets and map services related to Maine’s inland and coastal water resources. The datasets cover snow survey measurements used for hydrological monitoring, drainage divide boundaries representing watershed delineations for ponds and rivers, coastal “head of tide” locations linked to salinity and water quality monitoring, designated Maine Heritage Fish Waters identifying protected aquatic ecosystems, and statewide lake polygon datasets representing lakes and ponds across Maine. The collection also integrates external hydrography services from the U.S. Geological Survey National Hydrography Dataset (NHD) and cached hydrographic map services, providing access to rivers, streams, watersheds, canals, reservoirs, wetlands, springs, and other inland water features.
The data is compiled and maintained by multiple state and federal agencies, including the Maine Geological Survey (MaineGS), Maine Department of Environmental Protection (Maine DEP), Maine Department of Marine Resources (Maine DMR), Maine Inland Fisheries & Wildlife, and USGS. Data collection methods include field surveys, watershed delineation using topographic mapping (primarily USGS 1:24,000 scale), screen digitization, salinity sampling, hydrological monitoring, ecological assessments, and integration of federal hydrography mapping frameworks