Data Access Tools

A principal aquifer is defined as a regionally extensive aquifer or aquifer system that has the potential to be used as a source of potable water. This site provides downloadable maps (Ground Water Atlas of the United States, 2003) and spatial data (National Atlas, 2014) for the principal aquifers and aquifers of alluvial and glacial origin of the U.S.

The National Water Information System (NWIS) Mapper provides access to over 1.5 million sites contained in the USGS National Water Information System (NWIS), including sites where current and historical surface-water, groundwater, springs, and atmospheric data has been collected. Users can search by site type, data type, site number, or place.

The Water Quality Portal integrates and provides access to publicly available water-quality data from databases such as USGS NWIS and BioData, EPA STORET, and USDA-ARS STEWARDS through a single search interface.

The NGWMN Data Portal provides access to groundwater data from multiple, dispersed databases in a web-based mapping application. The Portal contains current and historical data including water levels, water quality, lithology, and well construction.

StreamStats provides access to spatial analytical tools that are useful for water-resources planning and management, and for engineering and design purposes. The map-based user interface can be used to delineate drainage areas, get basin characteristics and estimates of flow statistics, and more. Available information varies from state to state.

The USGS WaterWatch Toolkit provides online tools that allow users to search USGS sites in various ways; create a variety of maps, graphs, charts, animations, and tables; perform a variety of streamflow analyses, and retrieve summary statistics.

Annual Water Data Reports were published annually for many decades as static archival products that supplemented direct access to current and historical water data provided by the National Water Information System (NWIS). This site helps users access historical Water Data Reports, electronic Site Data Sheets, or current on-demand, print-ready Water-Year Summaries.

This site serves USGS water data (streamflow, groundwater, water quality, site information, and statistics) via automated means using web services and extensible markup language (XML), as well as other popular media types. Services are invoked with the REST protocol. These services designed for high fault tolerance and very high availability.

Using the SPARROW (SPAtially-Referenced Regression on Watershed Attributes) model, long-term mean annual conditions for dissolved-solids sources, loads, and yields were predicted for nearly 66,000 stream reaches and their corresponding incremental catchments that drain the Nation.

USGS Flood Inundation Maps, along with Internet information regarding current stage from the USGS streamgage, provide emergency management personnel and residents with information that is critical for flood-response activities, such as evacuations and road closures, as well as for post-flood recovery efforts.

This mapper identifies USGS streamgages that are in danger of being discontinued or converted to a reduced level of service due to lack of funding, gages that already have been discontinued, and gages that have been ‘rescued’ by a new funding source.

The Science in Your Watershed website helps you find scientific information organized on a watershed basis. This information, coupled with observations and measurements made by the watershed groups, provides a powerful foundation for characterizing, assessing, analyzing, and maintaining the status and health of a watershed.