National Hydrography Dataset Plus Version 2.1

Retirement Notice: This item is in [mature support] as of April 2026 and will be retired in December 2027. A [new version of this item] is available for your use. Esri recommends updating your maps and apps to use the new version. The National Hydrography Dataset Plus (NHDplus) maps the lakes, ponds, streams, rivers and other surface waters of the United States. Created by the [US EPA Office of Water] and the [US Geological Survey], the NHDPlus provides mean annual and monthly flow estimates for rivers and streams. Additional attributes provide connections between features facilitating complicated analyses. For more information on the NHDPlus dataset see the [NHDPlus v2 User Guide]. Dataset Summary Phenomenon Mapped: Surface waters and related features of the United States and associated territories not including Alaska. Geographic Extent: The United States not including Alaska, Puerto Rico, Guam, US Virgin Islands, Marshall Islands, Northern Marianas Islands, Palau, Federated States of Micronesia, and American Samoa Projection: Web Mercator Auxiliary Sphere Visible Scale: Visible at all scales but layer draws best at scales larger than 1:1,000,000 Source: [EPA] and [USGS] Update Frequency: There is new new data since this 2019 version, so no updates planned in the future Publication Date: March 13, 2019 Prior to publication, the NHDPlus network and non-network flowline feature classes were combined into a single flowline layer. Similarly, the NHDPlus Area and Waterbody feature classes were merged under a single schema. Attribute fields were added to the flowline and waterbody layers to simplify symbology and enhance the layer's pop-ups. Fields added include Pop-up Title, Pop-up Subtitle, On or Off Network (flowlines only), Esri Symbology (waterbodies only), and Feature Code Description. All other attributes are from the original NHDPlus dataset. No data values -9999 and -9998 were converted to Null values for many of the flowline fields. What can you do with this layer? Feature layers work throughout the ArcGIS system. Generally your work flow with feature layers will begin in ArcGIS Online or ArcGIS Pro. Below are just a few of the things you can do with a feature service in Online and Pro. ArcGIS Online * Add this layer to a map in the map viewer. The layer is limited to scales of approximately 1:1,000,000 or larger but a [vector tile layer] created from the same data can be used at smaller scales to produce a webmap that displays across the full range of scales. The layer or a map containing it can be used in an application. * Change the layer’s transparency and set its visibility range * Open the layer’s attribute table and make selections. Selections made in the map or table are reflected in the other. Center on selection allows you to zoom to features selected in the map or table and show selected records allows you to view the selected records in the table. * Apply filters. For example you can set a filter to show larger streams and rivers using the mean annual flow attribute or the stream order attribute. * Change the layer’s style and symbology * Add labels and set their properties * Customize the pop-up * Use as an input to the ArcGIS Online analysis tools. This layer works well as a reference layer with the trace downstream and watershed tools. The buffer tool can be used to draw protective boundaries around streams and the extract data tool can be used to create copies of portions of the data. ArcGIS Pro * Add this layer to a 2d or 3d map. * Use as an input to geoprocessing. For example, copy features allows you to select then export portions of the data to a new feature class. * Change the symbology and the attribute field used to symbolize the data * Open table and make interactive selections with the map * Modify the pop-ups * Apply Definition Queries to create sub-sets of the layer Questions? Please leave a comment below if you have a question about this layer, and we will get back to you as soon as possible.