Water Data from U.S. Government Sources

Data are provided from official U.S. Government sources and are subject to any conditions, disclaimers, or other restrictions specified by the sources. WaterDataUS does not directly supply any data. Links to data sites are provided by WaterDataUS as a service to users and do not imply any endorsement or warranty by WaterDataUS.

U.S. Department of the Interior

U.S. Geological Survey

Bureau of Reclamation

U.S. Department of Commerce

National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration

     National Weather Service

     National Climatic Data Center

     National Ocean Service

U.S. Department of Defense

U.S. Army Corps of Engineers

U.S Environmental Protection Agency

U.S. Department of Agriculture

Natural Reseouces Conservation Service

Agricultural Research Service

U.S. Forest Service

National Science Foundation

Recreation.GOV

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Water Data from the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS)

U.S. Department of the Interior

The National Water Information System (NWIS) is managed by USGS and is the Nation's principal repository of water resources data. It includes data from more than 1.5 million sites, some in operation for more than 100 years. Most NWIS data can be accessed directly at: waterdata.usgs.gov.

USGS also participates in the Water Quality Portal. The Water Quality Portal (WQP) is a cooperative service sponsored by the United States Geological Survey (USGS), the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), the Agricultural Research Service (ARS), and the National Water Quality Monitoring Council (NWQMC). It serves data collected by over 400 state, federal, tribal, and local agencies.

Science in Your Watershed provides a comprehensive index of links to available USGS water data, projects, and relevant scientific publications by local watershed.

Additional tools are provided below to help find data in NWIS and in other USGS products and services. If you do not find what you need try contacting a local USGS Water Science Center.

It is useful to view USGS data in three broad classs:

• What is happening today... Water Now
• What happened in the past... Water Then
• What might happen in the future... Water Tomorrow

Water Now WaterNow@usgs.gov How can I quickly get current water conditions that are important to me, such as water levels, streamflow, or temperatures? How do I find locations where these data are available? WaterAlert How can I be alerted to water conditions that exceed thresholds that are important to me, such as high water levels or temperatures? How do I find locations where these alerts may be available? Real-time streamflow Where is the USGS collecting and transmitting real-time streamflow data right now? How does flow today compare with historical streamflow? How can I see these sites on a map and get to the data? (Fact Sheet) Real-time flood data Where in the Nation are floods or very high flows occurring now? How can I see these sites on a map and get to the data? Real-time drought data Where in the Nation are droughts or very low flows occurring now? How can I see these sites on a map and get to the data? Real-time groundwater levels Where is the USGS collecting and transmitting real-time groundwater levels right now? How do levels today compare with historical levels? How can I see these sites on a map and get to the data? Recent groundwater levels Where in the Nation is the USGS currently collecting groundwater level data? How can I see these sites on a map and get to the data? Data shown on these maps may be as recent as a few minutes old or may be from as long as a year ago. Groundwater response to climate Where are the wells that are highly sensitive to climate variations where the USGS is currently collecting groundwater level data? What are the long-term and short-term trends in water levels? How can I see these sites on a map and get to the data? (Fact Sheet) Real-time surface water quality Where is the USGS collecting and transmitting real-time water quality data? How do levels today compare with historical levels? These data are limited to measurable characteristics such as temperature, turbidity, specific conductance (salinity), dissolved oxygen and pH (acidity). How can I see these sites on a map and get to the data?

Water Then Annual water data reports Can I see all of the locations where the USGS has published water resources data for a particular year? How can I see these sites on a map and get to the data? Instantaneous streamflow data (prior to 2007) I want to find long-term streamflow data reported in short time intervals (such as 15 minutes or 1 hour) rather than as daily averages. Where can I see a list of those sites and get to the data? National Water Quality Assessment The NAWQA program provides a search to physical, chemical, sediment, and biological data that have been collected as part of the national program, including some aquatic ecological data that can not be stored in NWIS. (Fact Sheet) Water use in the United States Use of water in the United States is tracked by USGS in cooperation with state, tribal, and local governments.   Some notable collections of USGS water data Sediment data collected by USGS is stored in NWIS and is also described in a dedicated web page and report. A Reservoir Sedimentation Database from federal agencies is also maintained by USGS. The Hydro-Climatic Data Network provides streamflow data between 1874 and 1988 and is useful in studying climate change. The National Stream Quality Accounting Network provides ongoing characterization of the concentrations and transport of sediment and chemicals in the Nation's largest rivers. USGS is the lead federal agency for monitoring of acid rain and related issues as part of the National Atmospheric Deposition Program. The groundwater Atlas and National Atlas provide many maps that summarize water resources data and related information.

Water Tomorrow USGS collects most of the water data in the Nation, but official forecasts are made by other agencies. Forecasts are subject to any limitations and disclaimers made by the issuing agencies. In all cases, professionals should always be consulted concerning decisions that may affect safety of people or property or economic risk. Statistics USGS water data and statistics are used by other agencies to estimate future conditions and to assess risks such as flooding and drought. Planners and engineers use USGS water data, statistics, and other data for design of systems for water supply, flood control, environmental protection, and recreation. Streamflow statistics at USGS gages Where can I find an analysis of long-term flow statistics for USGS streamgages? WaterWatch provides basic flow statistics computed from daily streamflow values, including the daily average, minimum, and maximum streamflow; and flow duration curve for the period of observed data. Additional statistics are computed from daily streamflow values, flood peak flows, and measured low flows, and include, for example, 100-year flood; 7-day, 10-year low flow; and mean annual flow. Statistics such as these are commonly used to help estimate reliability of water supplies and risks of floods or droughts, and may be available in published reports or from StreamStats. However, all flow statistics will vary over time due to extreme floods or droughts, so a local USGS Water Science Center should always be contacted for up-to-date information.   Estimate streamflow statistics anywhere Where can I obtain estimates of streamflow statistics for locations where USGS streamgages are not operated? National Streamflow Statistics is a downloadable computer program that requires user input of drainage area and other watershed characteristics. Statistics that are available vary among states. (Fact Sheet) StreamStats provides tools to estimate required inputs for the National Streamflow Statistics computer program, and is currently available for about half of states, with additional states being added regularly. (Fact Sheet)

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Water Data from the Bureau of Reclamation (BOR)

U.S. Department of the Interior

Established in 1902, the Bureau of Reclamation is best known for the dams, powerplants, and canals it constructed in the 17 western states. These water projects led to homesteading and promoted the economic development of the West. Reclamation has constructed more than 600 dams and reservoirs including Hoover Dam on the Colorado River and Grand Coulee on the Columbia River. Water data from these various projects are available from regional pages:

• Agrimet - Great Plains
• Agrimet - Pacific Northwest
• Hydromet - Great Plains
• Hydromet - Pacific Northwest

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Water Data from the National Weather Service (NWS)

National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration
U.S. Department of Commerce

The National Weather Service is the primary federal agency for non-tidal water resources forecasting, including:

• A National overview of river forecasts
• Forecasts from each of 13 River Forecast Centers

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Water Data from the National Centers for Environmental Information (NCEI)

National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration
U.S. Department of Commerce

NOAA's National Centers for Environmental Information (formerly National Climatic Data Center) is responsible for preserving, monitoring, assessing, and providing public access to the Nation's treasure of climate and historical weather data and information. It provides a Quick Links page that provides easy access to the most requested data.

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Water Data from the National Ocean Service (NOS)

National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration
U.S. Department of Commerce

NOAA's National Ocean Service, Center for Operational Oceanographic Products and Services (CO-OPS) provides the national infrastructure, science, and technical expertise to monitor, assess, and distribute tide, current, water level, and other coastal oceanographic products and services that support NOAA's mission of environmental stewardship and environmental assessment and prediction. CO-OPS provides operationally sound observations and monitoring capabilities coupled with operational Nowcast Forecast modeling. Its Tides and Currents Map provides easy access to real-time tidal data across the United States, and well as related historical data.

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Water Data from the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (USACE)

U.S. Department of Defense

The Corps of Engineers does not have a central national data depository but is organized in a number of Divisions and Districts across the United States based on major river basins. The approach for providing data varies across the Districts, so it is best to explore the home page for an individual District to determine the information that is available. Those links to data that have been identified are listed below:

• Water levels of rivers and lakes (national index)
• Pacific Ocean Division
  • Alaska District
  • Hawaii District
• Northwestern Division | Data
  • Kansas City District | Data
  • Omaha District | Data
  • Portland District | Data
  • Seattle District | Data
  • Walla Walla District | Data
• South Pacific Division
  • Albuquerque District | Data
  • Los Angeles District | Data
  • Sacramento District | Data
  • San Francisco District
• Southwestern Division
  • Ft. Worth District
  • Galveston District
  • Little Rock District | Data
  • Tulsa District | Data
• Mississippi Valley Division
  • Memphis District | Data
  • New Orleans District
  • Rock Island District
  • St. Louis District | Data
  • St. Paul District | Data
  • Vicksburg District | Data
• Great Lakes and Ohio River Division
  • Buffalo District | Data
  • Chicago District
  • Detroit District | Data
  • Huntington District | Data
  • Louisville District | Data
  • Nashville District | Data
  • Pittsburgh District | Data
• North Atlantic Division
  • Baltimore District | Data
  • New England District | Data
  • New York District
  • Norfolk District
  • Philadelphia District | Data
• South Atlantic Division
  • Charelston District
  • Jacksonville District | Data
  • Mobile District | Data
  • Savannah District | Data
  • Wilmington District | Data

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Water Data from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (USEPA)

USEPA provides a repository for much of the Nation's and State's water data, particulary data that are relevant to environmental protection programs or regulatory requirements. Its data are provided through:

• Geospatial Data Downloads – Precut geospatial extracts containing program database attributes offered in various GIS formats.
• EPA's Environmental Dataset Gateway (EDG) Clip N Ship Site – online tool that presents EPA data in a map viewer and allows you to view the data, select your area of interest, and choose an output format to save the content locally.
• Office of Water Program Databases – targeted databases, systems, and tools that expose various water related data.

USEPA participates in the Water Quality Portal. The Water Quality Portal (WQP) is a cooperative service sponsored by the United States Geological Survey (USGS), the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), the Agricultural Research Service (ARS), and the National Water Quality Monitoring Council (NWQMC). It serves data collected by over 400 state, federal, tribal, and local agencies.

Surf Your Watershed includes some data links, links to organizations working in a watershed, and related environmental information. It is searchable by several locator indicators including zip code.

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Water Data from the Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS)

U.S. Department of Agriculture

Forecasts of western water supply include data provided by the Natural Resources Conservation Service, which also provides state-by-state data and monthly reports for 12 western states, including Alaska.

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Water Data from the Agricultural Research Service (ARS)

U.S. Department of Agriculture

The ARS Water Database is a collection of precipitation and streamflow data from small agricultural watersheds in the United States. This national archive of variable time-series readings for precipitation and runoff contains sufficient detail to reconstruct storm hydrographs and hyetographs. There are currently about 16,600 station years of data stored in the data base. Watersheds used as study areas range from .2 hectare (0.5 acres) to 12,400 square kilometers (4,786 square miles).

ARS also participates in the Water Quality Portal. The Water Quality Portal (WQP) is a cooperative service sponsored by the United States Geological Survey (USGS), the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), the Agricultural Research Service (ARS), and the National Water Quality Monitoring Council (NWQMC). It serves data collected by over 400 state, federal, tribal, and local agencies.

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Water Data from the U.S. Forest Service (USFS)

U.S. Department of Agriculture

The USDA Forest Service is responsible for protecting watersheds on the national forests from the adverse effects caused by atmospheric deposition. Thus, the Forest Service Air Program has been actively inventorying and monitoring hundreds of lakes and streams since the early 1980’s.

Chemistry of Lakes, Streams, and Bulk Deposition on and near the National Forests

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Water Data from the Agricultural Research Service (ARS)

U.S. Department of Agriculture

The ARS Water Database is a collection of precipitation and streamflow data from small agricultural watersheds in the United States. This national archive of variable time-series readings for precipitation and runoff contains sufficient detail to reconstruct storm hydrographs and hyetographs. There are currently about 16,600 station years of data stored in the data base. Watersheds used as study areas range from .2 hectare (0.5 acres) to 12,400 square kilometers (4,786 square miles).

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Water Data from the National Science Foundation (NSF)

The National Science Foundation sponsors Long-Term Ecological Research (LTER) projects across the United States. Although most data relate to relatively limited areas, they do cover major ecosystem types across the country. Some projects are operated in collaboration with Federal agencies such as USFS or USGS and may overlap with other data resources on this page. Available data include:

Climate and Hydrology Database Projects (CLIMDB/HYDRODB)

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Water Data for Recreation (Recreation.GOV)

I want to find streamflow or water-level data that will tell me if a particular river will be suitable for rafting, kayaking, or fishing today.

General recreation information can be found at www.recreation.gov

Private organizations such as American Whitewater provide alternative resources that use USGS and other information for planning water-based activities.

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