BASINS: Better assessment science integrating point and nonpoint sources

Abstract

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency's (EPA's) Better Assessment Science Integrating point and Nonpoint Sources (BASINS) is a Decision Support System for multipurpose environmental analysis by regional, state, and local agencies performing watershed and water quality-based studies. It was developed by the EPA's Office of Water to meet the needs of the Total Maximum Daily Load (TMDL) process as specified under Section 303(d) of the Clean Water Act of 1977. BASINS integrates environmental data, analytical tools, and modeling programs to support development of cost-effective approaches to watershed management and environmental protection, making it possible to quickly assess large amounts of data in a format that is easy to use and understand. The BASINS system is configured to support environmental and ecological studies in a watershed context, with flexibility to support analysis at a variety of scales using tools that range from simple to sophisticated. BASINS' analytical utility has resulted in a framework for examining management alternatives far beyond the original objectives. All versions of BASINS contain a suite of Geographic Information System (GIS) based tools and operate in a GIS environment, using the graphical user interface as the front end. The current release of BASINS, version 4.0, is the first to be primarily based on a non-proprietary, open-source GIS foundation. As a result, the core of BASINS is now independent of any proprietary GIS platform. BASINS users are no longer limited by expensive proprietary GIS software, and BASINS has greater stability and transparency, as the source code for all components is available to developers and end users alike. BASINS is designed around an extensible architecture that allows the addition of new data types and new tools. This flexibility enables BASINS to continue evolving to meet the changing needs of the watershed management community. © 2009 Springer Science+Business Media, LLC.