Watershed Pulse — well, I'm just somebody who's tinkering. I'm interested in some mussels. They filter all the junk that we as humans keep dumping into our rivers. If we're gonna keep doing that, let's at least try to figure out a way to help the things that are gonna be filtering all that mess.
That's what this tool is for.
Watershed Pulse pulls live federal data — USGS streamflow gages, EPA water quality monitoring, USFWS critical habitat for federally-listed mussels and other species, TVA reservoir context, TDEC 303(d) impaired-waters reports — and puts it all in one map. The data has always been public; the consolidation is the work.
Watershed Mode is the default view — click any pin to dive into that reach. Mussel Mode dims the main pins and surfaces critical-habitat locations where federally-listed mussels live. Click any mussel pin to see the species there and light up the USFWS critical-habitat polygon.
Keep the Tennessee River Beautiful · Duck River Conservancy · Dr. Gerald Dinkins (UT Knoxville) and the freshwater mussel research community.
info@hydraulictoybox.com — no mailing list, no tracking, just a person who built this on weekends.
Watershed Pulse v0.6.1 · independent civic-tech · federal data sources only · preliminary screening tool, not a regulatory or engineering reference. 🐧🦫
Visual identification + ecological role + ESA status for every species in this tool's database. Compiled from USFWS designations, UT Knoxville mussel research (Dr. Gerald Dinkins), Duck River Conservancy materials, and the Reed/Dinkins/Ahlstedt Buffalo River study.
Tap any river / location pin in Mussel Mode to see which of these species live there. Mussels are sensitive to siltation, dam impoundment, and water-quality decline — most of these species have lost more than 50% of their historic TN range.