Stream Drainage Areas in u S West Virginia G S U.S. Department of the Interior U.S. Geological Survey Cooperative programs among the lies; and the drainage area at the point of the Guyandotte River Basin," was pub­ U.S. Geological Survey (USGS), West drainage-area determination, in square lished in September 1977. Virginia State agencies, and other Federal miles. agencies have accomplished a long-term Cooperative programs among the goal of determining and publishing drain­ USGS; U.S. Army Corp of Engineers, age areas for the entire State. The data Cooperative Programs Huntington District; West Virginia Geo­ are compiled in a series of U.S. Geologi­ logic and Economic Survey; West Vir­ cal Survey Open-File Reports. Several State and Federal agencies ginia Department of Natural Resources, have cooperated to tabulate drainage Water Resources Division (reorganized to The State was divided into seven areas for streams in West Virginia over Division of Environmental Protection, regions following River Basin boundaries the past 20 years. Office of Water Resources); and the West (fig. 1). Separate drainage-area reports Virginia Department of Highways (reor­ were prepared for each region. Report The first region report and a vision ganized to Department of Transportation, data include stream name; the geographi­ for nature programs were established by a Division of Highways) completed the cal limits, in river miles; the latitude and cooperative effort between the USGS and vision by publishing reports for the longitude at the point of drainage-area the West Virginia Office of Federal-State remaining regions. "Drainage Areas of determination; the county name; the Relations (reorganized to the Office of West Virginia Streams Tributary to the USGS 7 l/2- minute quadrangle in which Economic and Community Development) Ohio River," the last region, was pub­ the point of drainage-area determination inthemid-1970's. "Drainage Areas of lished in 1997. Region Region name and number Open-File Report number 1 Guyandotte River Basin, USGS Open-File Report 77-801 2 Twelvepole, Tug, and Big Sandy River Basins, USGS Open-File Report 79-746 3 Kanawha River Basin, USGS Open-File Report 82-351 4 Little Kanawha River Basin, USGS Open-File Report 84-861 5 Monongahela River Basin, USGS Open-File Report 95-170 6 Potomac River Basin, USGS Open-File Report 95-292 7 Streams Tributary to the Ohio River, USGS Open-File Report 97-231 Figure 1. Drainage-area report regions. Calculation Methods Drainage-Area Reports These reports are available at many public libraries and are available for The River Basin boundaries were Seven USGS Open-File Reports viewing at the USGS West Virginia Dis­ outlined on USGS 7'^-minute topo­ describe the areas of the seven regions trict office (address given below). Paper graphic quadrangles along divides indi­ shown in figure 1. These reports, in the or microfiche copies of the reports can be cated by elevation contours. Drainage order of publication date, are listed below, ordered from: boundaries were then traced for tributar­ ies within the River Basin boundaries Region U.S. Geological Survey having drainage areas of approximately 2 number USGS Open-File Report Branch of Information Services to 5 square miles or larger. The drainage Box 25286 areas, stream miles, latitudes, and longi­ 1 Mathes, M.V, Jr., 1977, Drainage Denver, Colorado 80225-0286 tudes of the divisions were determined areas of the Guyandotte River (303)202-4210 with an electronic digitizer or calculated Basin, West Virginia: U.S. by application of a geographic informa­ Geological Survey Open-File tion system. The area in each quadrangle Report 77-801,56 p. Jeffrey B. Wiley was measured and compared with the 2 Wilson, M.W, 1979, Drainage areas of quadrilaterals of the Earth's sur­ areas of the Twelvepole Creek face of 7 /2-minutes in latitude and lon­ Basin, West Virginia; Big References Cited gitude, found in the "Inter-Agency Sandy River Basin, West Vir­ Coordination of Drainage Area Data" ginia; Tug Fork Basin, Vir­ U.S. Geological Survey, 1951, Inter- (1951). The total calculated areas were ginia, Kentucky, West Virginia: agency Coordination of Drainage Area then adjusted to agree with the total area Data: Notes on Hydrologic Activities, U.S. Geological Survey Open- of the 7'/2-minute topographic quadran­ File Report 79-746, 49 p. Bulletin 4, 48 p. gles. Drainage areas are accumulated and are accurate to three significant figures, 3 Mathes, M.V, Kirby, J.R., Payne, Friel, E.A., Embree, W.N., Jack, A.R., although some areas are reported to D.D.. and Shultz, R.A., 1982, and Atkins, J.T., Jr., 1989, Low-flow greater than three significant figures for Drainage areas of the Kanawha characteristics of streams in West Vir­ accounting purposes. River miles were River Basin, West Virginia: ginia: U.S. Geological Survey Water- measured from the stream mouth to the U.S. Geological Survey Open- Resources Investigations Report 88-4072, point of drainage-area determination and File Report 82-351, 222 p. 34 p. reported to the nearest one-tenth of a mile for the tributary streams. Previously 4 Preston, J.S., and Mathes, M.V, Runner, G.S., 1980, Runoff studies on established river miles presented on the 1984, Stream drainage areas small drainage areas: U.S. Geological USGS 7'/2~ minute topographic quadran­ for the Little Kanawha River Survey Open-File Report 80-1218, 44 p. gles were reported for the Ohio River Basin, West Virginia: U.S. main stem. The latitude and longitude at Geological Survey Open-File Wiley, J.B., 1987, Techniques for estimat­ the point of drainage-area determination Report 84-861, 171 p. ing flood-depth frequency relations for were reported to the nearest second. streams in West Virginia: U.S. Geological 5 Stewart, O.K., and Mathes, M.V, Survey Water-Resources Investigations 1995, Drainage areas of the Report 87-4111, 17 p. Uses of Drainage Areas Monongahela River Basin, West Virginia: U.S. Geological In many regression equations devel­ Survey Open-File Report 95- oped for hydraulic assessments, drainage 170, 79 p. area is used as an independent variable. Additional information on drainage 6 Wiley, J.B., and Hunt, M.L., 1995, areas in West Virginia can be Drainage area was determined to be the Drainage areas of the Potomac obtained from: most significant independent variable in River Basin, West Virginia: USGS studies that developed equations U.S. Geological Survey Open- District Chief for estimating low flows (Friel and others, File Report 95-292, 60 p. U.S. Geological Survey 1989), peak discharges (Runner, 1980), 11 Dunbar Street and peak stages (Wiley, 1987). These 7 Wiley, J.B., 1997, Drainage areas Charleston, WV 25301 equations are used by resource managers of West Virginia streams tribu­ (304)347-5130 and governmental agencies to assist in tary to the Ohio River: U.S. regulating effluents, designing bridges Geological Survey Open-File and culverts, and determining the magni­ Report 97-231,70 p. tude and extent of flooding. U.S. Geological Survey May 1997 Fact Sheet FS-066-97.