The 1,003,356 Acre Upper Wapsipinicon River (UWR) Watershed can be subdivided into subwatersheds with each individual subwatershed representing either an area of land that flows to a stream that is a tributary of the UWR or an area of land directly adjacent to and draining directly into the UWR. The US Geological Survey (USGS) has officially delineated 41 subwatersheds, which they describe as being “nested” in the UWR Watershed. The UWR subwatersheds range in size, with the smallest encompassing 11,187 acres and the largest encompassing 39,106 acres. USGS provides maps for every hydrologic unit in the United States, including for the UWR Watershed and all its subwatersheds.

All About HUCs

Watersheds and subwatersheds are referenced by hydrologic unit codes, a series of identifying numbers commonly referred to as HUCs. The HUC number identifies the size of the watershed and all larger watersheds that it is nested within. The Upper Mississippi River Watershed HUC number is 07, the Upper Mississippi -Iowa-Skunk-Wapsipinicon HUC number is 0708, the Upper Mississippi – Skunk – Wapsipinicon is 070801. The smaller the watershed area, the longer the HUC number.

Sizes of watersheds commonly referred to in this section are:

HUC 8 – Watersheds with an average area of 448,000 acres. Example: The Upper Wapsi River Watershed HUC#07080102

HUC 10 – Watersheds with an average area between 40,000 and 250,000 acres. Example: Buffalo Creek Watershed (a subwatershed of the Upper Wapsi River Watershed) HUC # 0708010209

HUC 12 – Watershed with an average area between 10,000 and 40,000 acres. East Branch Buffalo Creek Watershed (a subwatershed of the Buffalo Creek Watershed) HUC# 070801020902

How to Explore Subwatershed Data

Past watershed planning, technical assistance and private lands conservation cost-share funding in the UWR Watershed and within specific subwatersheds are detailed on specific subwatershed pages. You may locate your farm, property or community to determine which HUC 12 subwatershed or subwatersheds it lies within by zooming in on the map below to better see road labels. Once you identify your subwatershed, and are interested in learning more about your subwatershed, or about what projects have been implemented in your subwatershed, you may select your subwatershed by clicking on the subwatershed pop-up within the map or by clicking on the subwatershed name from the written list provided below the map.

Once you have selected a specific subwatershed to explore you will still be able to explore other subwatersheds by clicking on a different area of the map. This is especially helpful if you are unsure of which subwatershed you want to explore or just want to move around and see what is happening in adjacent subwatersheds.

You will notice that some subwatersheds have one or several pictures that provide visual information about the subwatershed. The UWR WMA Board welcomes photo submissions that help UWR residents and visitors better understand the watershed or specific subwatersheds. To submit a photo for consideration for inclusion on this website or within a subwatershed page, contact Northeast Iowa RC&D at 563-864-7112.

Watershed Resilience Plan