The Science and Data committee is charged with the development of the scientific framework around which prioritization and funding of projects by the Executive Committee will be made, and the performance of those projects monitored and evaluated. This requires development of a system of reservoir classification, assessment, and ranking.

Currently, the committee is expanding on a qualitative methodology developed by Steve Miranda (Mississippi State University) to assess reservoir health (described in an article by Steve Miranda and Kevin Hunt, "An index of reservoir habitat impairment"). That assessment work is now underway in California, Texas, Arkansas, Oklahoma, Iowa, and North Carolina for all reservoirs in excess of 500 acres. At the same time, each of the six states is conducting a parallel quantitative assessment of reservoir health based on metrics identified by the committee in consultation with the AFS Southern Division Reservoir Committee. The anticipated outcome of this work is an assessment template that can be used by the other states in the partnership.

In addition to this work, the committee is (a) coordinating with NFHAP Science and Data and Michigan State University to enhance the NFHAP fish habitat data base for lakes and reservoirs; (b) develop a classification scheme for reservoirs; and (c) create a methodology for scoring, ranking and prioritizing reservoirs for funding.

The work of the Science and Data committee is substantial. If you would like to participate in this committee, and to join the next conference call, please contact Jeff Boxrucker.

February 2010 meeting

The Science and Data committee met in Asheville, NC February 26, 2010. The focus of the meeting was to review the status of past reservoir assessment work, as well as to discusss ideas on how to obtain and use new data sources for inclusion into the reservoir national assessment. The following documents from the meeting are available for download:

• Meeting Notes
  
  
• Presentation by Steve Miranda, "Reservoir Classification System"
  
  
• Presentation by Reed Green, "Metrics / Classification-Moving Forward"
  
  
• Presentation by Gary Whelan, "The National Reservoir Fish Habitat Assessment: Classification Thoughts and Observations"
  
  
• Presentation by Peter Esselman, "An Initial Assessment of the status of habitat in the Nation’s rivers and streams"