From watershed condition
to management priorities

Choose your starting point

The teaching ZIP contains a complete shared EMDS workspace, starter GIS data, the two models, mappings, and reference outputs. Extract Chewaucan-QGIS-Example-202611.zip to a normal local folder before following this guide.

1. Prepare QGIS and EMDS

1. Install QGIS 4 and the supplied EMDS for QGIS 2026.11 (plugin 0.7.0) Windows package. The plugin declares QGIS 4.0–4.99 support. The Windows review environment uses QGIS 4.2.2; consult validation.json for the actual package checks completed. macOS signing/native testing and Linux QGIS-host acceptance remain separate release gates.
2. In QGIS, use Plugins → Manage and Install Plugins → Install from ZIP for the EMDS plugin ZIP, if it is not already installed. Finish the plugin’s dependency setup and restart QGIS if requested.
3. Open the EMDS panel using Plugins → EMDS → Toggle EMDS Display. Its window is named EMDS Analysis Tasks. Select English if you want the labels to match this guide.
4. Save any unrelated QGIS project before opening the teaching workspace.

The workspace contains vector data and uses the native NetWeaver and CDP engines supplied with EMDS. It does not require an ArcGIS license. AI explanations, a separate AI model download, and an online basemap are optional and are not required for this lesson.

The recordings were made with an earlier interface. This guide follows the existing EMDS task workflow; some video labels and button positions differ. Interactive acceptance and other platform checks are recorded separately from automated numerical validation.

2. Open the complete shared workspace

1. In the EMDS panel, click Open shared EMDS workspace….
2. Select Chewaucan-QGIS-Example.emdsworkspace from the extracted example folder. Select the inner workspace file, rather than the outer teaching ZIP.
3. At Choose parent folder for imported workspace, choose a local folder where you keep examples. EMDS creates an imported workspace folder there.
4. Wait for import to finish. EMDS opens the QGIS project and refreshes the Workbench tree. Read any Workspace compatibility message before continuing.
5. Select the Advanced tab. Expand the workspace, study area, and analysis until the two tasks are visible.

Chewaucan Teaching Example
  FullWatershed
    Watershed Condition
      Baseline — NetWeaver
        Priorities — CDP

Check: the map should show the Chewaucan basin and its nine subwatersheds. Expand Base Layers in the QGIS Layers panel to see streams, reaches, subwatersheds, and basin boundary. Source layers and result layers serve different purposes.

3. Inspect the prepared results

Understand the study area

FullWatershed evaluates the subwats polygons as decision units. The basinBndry polygon is an included overlay carrying model parameters. The study contains nine features. The line layers provide geographic context; they are not nine additional decision units.

NetWeaver: what does the evidence support?

1. Right-click Baseline in the Advanced tree and choose Open NetWeaver Viewer.
2. Select a subwatershed in the result table or use Select in the viewer’s map. Read its watershed condition, upland condition, road density, and stream condition topics.
3. Click Display NetWeaver Viewer to inspect the evaluated network. Select a node and follow its children. Read its model documentation before interpreting a score.

NetWeaver truth values run from −1 (evidence contradicts the proposition) to +1 (evidence supports it). A truth value is not a probability or a percent. Read each proposition: support for a desirable condition differs from support for a pressure or problem. Missing-data signals also need separate attention.

CDP: how does the strategy set priorities?

1. Close or move the NetWeaver viewer. Right-click Priorities and choose Open CDP Viewer.
2. Open Prioritization and inspect the named alternatives and PriorityScores. Compare the same subwatershed across the map and table.
3. Use Criteria / Levels and Contributions to inspect the criteria and their roles. Additional tabs can include Sensitivity and Tradeoffs; interpret them within the inputs available for this model.

This historical restoration model explicitly favors a “save the best and fix the rest” strategy. A poor condition score does not automatically mean the highest restoration priority. The priority reflects the model’s value functions, weights, and strategy. A CDP score is not a probability of restoration success.

4. Reproduce the analysis

Work in the imported teaching copy. Keep the downloaded archive and the files under expected/ as your reference; rerunning can replace the current result layers in the working copy.

1. Right-click the Baseline task and choose Run Task. Wait for completion and confirm nine processed features. If the engine reports a failure, read that error before continuing.
2. Open the NetWeaver viewer and compare a named feature against expected/netweaver.csv. Confirm feature identity as well as its values.
3. Right-click the Priorities child task and choose Run Task. It consumes the NetWeaver result. Wait for completion and confirm nine alternatives.
4. Open the CDP viewer and compare the named alternatives against expected/cdp.csv. Check the mapping table below if the rankings or scores differ.
5. Save the QGIS project and keep the original teaching ZIP. Use Export/share EMDS workspace… to create a portable archive, then import it into a fresh destination and check the same features and values. An ordinary QGIS project save does not rebuild a portable archive.

5. Build the example from the starter

This longer route explains workspace creation and field mapping. Use a new workspace name, such as Chewaucan Practice, to keep your exercise separate from the imported prepared example.

A. Create the workspace and study area

1. Save your current project. In QGIS, open starter/Chewaucan-Starter.qgz from the extracted example folder. Keep its adjacent data.gpkg in place.
2. In the EMDS Advanced tab, click Create Workspace. Enter your practice name, add a description, select all six source layers, and finish. The workspace receives copies of the source layers.
3. Select your workspace and click Create Study Area. Name it FullWatershed.
4. Set the layer ending in subwats to Include as Target, and the layer ending in basinBndry to Include in Study Area. Exclude the other layers from this study calculation.
5. On Feature Selection, click Select All Features. Confirm Selected: 9 features. Review the summary, then finish.

B. Create the NetWeaver task

1. Select FullWatershed and click Create Analysis. Name the analysis Watershed Condition and choose the NetWeaver engine.
2. In Create NetWeaver Task, name the task Baseline. Select Run NetWeaver when the wizard finishes.
3. On Model and Topics, browse to models/chewWS.nw2. Select the watershed evaluation branch and use Add ->.
4. On Field Mapping, review every required mapping against the table below. Verify proposed matches; similar names alone do not establish a correct connection. A model-ignored variable is distinct from an accidentally missing required input.
5. On Topics To Add To Map, select watershed condition, upland condition, road density, and stream condition. Finish and inspect the result.

A rebuilt overlay may use a different prefix derived from its layer names. Match each field to the same source attribute; do not choose a different measurement merely to fill a row. The baseline package’s JSON mappings document the exact prepared configuration.

C. Add the CDP child task

1. Select Baseline in the tree, then choose Add Subtask. In the task dialog, choose Simple Task using CDP Prioritization.
2. Name the prioritization Priorities. Browse to models/ChewWS2.cdpx. Use this model, not a differently named export or an edited copy.
3. Confirm that the input is the Baseline NetWeaver result. Apply the eight mappings in the next table. Set Display Field to input_SUB_NAME and Primary Key to fid.
4. On Validation, retain Use scale average (default) for unrated and unknown values, and Clamp to scale limits (default) for off-scale values. These correspond to stored values 2, 2, 2. Review any model rules and the summary before finishing.
5. Run Priorities if it did not run on finishing. Confirm nine named alternatives and inspect the results.

The prepared workspace uses the nw0__ prefix for its NetWeaver result fields. A rebuilt task or another EMDS version may use a different prefix. Select the same topic from your own Baseline result; use the accompanying mappings/cdp.json to check the prepared example’s exact configuration.

6. Check the result, not just the map

1. Count: there should be nine decision units and nine result rows for each engine.
2. Identity: compare by subwatershed name and the source feature key, not table row position. Within the supplied workspace, check fid, RowID where present, input_OBJECTID, and input_SUB_NAME. A newly built overlay can assign different local fid values, so retain the source identity and name for that comparison.
3. NetWeaver values: compare each named feature’s topic values with expected/netweaver.csv. Review the model and mappings if the associated values differ.
4. CDP spatial values: compare the saved map/table with expected/cdp-spatial.csv. It preserves every carried NetWeaver input attribute. Compare engine/history results with expected/cdp.csv, which records the engine’s working copy. Names, criteria and priority outputs must agree by feature identity.
5. Evidence: expected/results.json records reference details. validation.json lists the engine and package checks actually performed. A successful engine run and import check do not establish a complete interactive QGIS walkthrough.

CDP CSV note: ogc_fid is an internal row ordinal, not the subwatershed identity. It can be regenerated when the task reloads rows in source-feature order. Compare the stable keys, names, topic values, criteria values, and priority scores instead of ogc_fid or row position.

The reference outputs come from the new engine runs identified in the validation record; older saved Chewaucan result tables are not included. Independent checks compare stable feature associations and all reference fields within 1 × 10⁻¹². The report records the actual outcome and remaining limits. Interactive acceptance and other platform checks are recorded separately.

If something differs

• Empty Workbench tree: use Open shared EMDS workspace… on the inner workspace file; opening only a QGIS project omits the metadata import.
• Broken layer or model path: keep the extracted folder together and reimport into a fresh destination. The example should not require the author’s drive letters.
• A map in the wrong location: inspect the reconstructed CRS described below. Do not assign EPSG:4326 to projected source coordinates.
• Unexpected priority scores: confirm the original eight-criterion CDP model, all eight mappings, validation settings, and a refreshed Baseline run. Preserve the error/report if the cause remains unresolved.

The first three video lessons

These links require an internet connection. The local data, model files, and this written guide remain available offline.

1. What EMDS Is — 3:18.
2. Creating Your First EMDS Workspace — 4:06.
3. Prioritizing Decisions — 3:17.

Scope, coordinate-system limits, and attribution

A historical teaching example. These regional data and models explain a decision process. They are not a current assessment of Chewaucan conditions, a present restoration recommendation, a survey, or a calibrated model for another region. Review assumptions, data age, measurements, and local ecological knowledge before applying this approach elsewhere.

A reconstructed coordinate system. The source spatial reference was lost. A local recovery assigned a custom Lambert Conformal Conic CRS with an assumed NAD83 datum and a fitted false origin. Source coordinates were retained. The recovery documentation reports agreement with watershed boundaries at roughly 50 metres; that positional estimate was not independently re-established for this teaching release. Use it for this watershed-scale example, not precise boundary or survey work.

What this release covers. NetWeaver condition assessment followed by CDP prioritization on QGIS. Portfolio funding choices, ArcGIS Pro numerical equivalence, Online execution, and AI interpretation accuracy are separate topics. The presence of a feature in another EMDS product is not an acceptance result for this package.

Attribution and permission. The Chewaucan subwatershed decision model retains its attribution to Keith Reynolds; the CDP model notes its original creation on July 1, 2002. The data and model owner authorized redistribution of this example on October 30, 2026. EMDS example packaging and guide: Mountain View Business Group. Product names identify the tools involved and do not imply agency endorsement.

Read PROVENANCE.md for the source identities, reconstruction details, and the distinction between historical results and this package’s new runs.