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Recovery Potential Screening

RPS Indicator Files

The following documents provide additional information on RPS indicators at different levels of detail. Indicators described as available means they have already been measured and compiled at the HUC12 scale throughout the lower 48 states and are publicly downloadable as embedded data already within State-specific RPS Tools or from the Watershed Index Online.

  • WSIO and RPS Indicators Master Table(2 pp, 81 K) . This table includes a large list of 500+ indicators that have been compiled nationally at HUC12 scale as part of the Watershed Index Online library. Also, this file identifies those indicators that appear in the standard set embedded in the 2020 RPS Statewide Tools for the conterminous states.
  •  Downloadable 2020 RPS Generic Tool(2 MB) . This table includes the name, brief description, and metadata for all 300+ indicators embedded in the latest release of lower 48 RPS Statewide Tools.
  • Developing New RPS Indicators (PDF) (2 pp, 134 K). Although hundreds of watershed indicators are publicly available through the sources above, nearly all RPS projects find needs or opportunities to supplement these with more from their own area’s datasets. This document addresses several crucial elements for developing new RPS indicators that will be fully compatible with the RPS Tool and its existing indicator data.
  • RPS Indicator Scoring Techniques (PDF) (2 pp. 106 K). There are usually multiple ways to measure a watershed attribute when a new indicator is being developed. This document describes several of the common ways in which different indicators can scored.
  • RPS Indicator Reference Sheets.  These reference sheet files present the most detailed level of information on many of the individual RPS indicators; many are several pages long. Each fact sheet repeats the indicator summaries information but also provides excerpts from technical literature, project reports and restoration practice that elaborate on how the indicator relates to watershed condition and may affect restorability prospects. Fact sheets are accessible by category from the following links: 

RPS Ecological Indicator Reference Sheets

RPS Stressor Indicator Reference Sheets

RPS Social Indicator Reference Sheets