WaterData.US

The United States of America is blessed with an abundance of water resources, although distribution varies widely across and even within the 50 states and territories. Fortunately, it also has an abundance of data about these resources. One of the most important repositories for data is the National Water Information System, which is managed by the U.S. Geological Survey. Data are also available from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, and other Federal agencies, as well as from state and local natural resources and environmental agencies. Quick links to commonly requested data are provided in the panel to the left.

Most data from Federal agencies are available without charge, and typically are provided using web-page interfaces or data services, such as at http://waterdata.usgs.gov. NWIS alone includes data for 1.57 million sites, with more than 14,500 having real-time data, and more than 34,500 having long-term daily data. More than 850,000 sites have had groundwater level measurement, and more than 393,000 have some water-quality data (Hirsch and Fisher, 2014).

The mechanisms for providing government data, such as the NWIS web-page interface, are generally easy to use, but are usually best suited to serving data for single sites or small groups of sites. WaterDataUS does not replace these mechanisms, which meet the needs of most public users and professionals who have limited requirements, and encourages everyone to make full use of these excellent resources themselves. However, users with more extensive requirements for multiple sites or long time periods may require additional assistance. Furthermore, the complexity of collectiing, processing, and verifying data leads to not all data being equal in accuracy or precision, so it may be difficult to evaluate the reliabity or data for making decisions or to compare data with different characteristics.

WaterData.US does not replace or duplicate any public source of data, but supplements those sources with services that are not otherwise available. WaterDataUS provides compilations of published water data to meet specialized requirements of professionals involved with design, analysis, or management of water resources. Clients may include consultants, public agencies, institutions, environmental advocates, and others. WaterData.US will research availability of data from multiple sources, compile data, and evaluate the suitability of data to meet the needs of its clients based on requirements that they supply.

Example WaterData.US services may include:

• Compilation of current and historical data for major projects
• Search for available data from multiple sources, including local agencies
• Evaluate suitability of available data to meet client requirements
• Informal or formal reports