Overview

The USGS National Water Information System (NWIS) is an online water resources monitoring database that compiles site-based information on surface water, groundwater, water quality, and water use metrics. Within these categories, users can explore current conditions, historical trends, daily summaries, and field measurements, as well as conduct statistical analyses and examine other category-specific features (e.g., peak daily flows for surface water). Data housed on this platform are gathered from over 1.5 million USGS monitoring stations located in U.S. states and territories, and include information from rivers, streams, springs, lakes, reservoirs, ponds, wells, test holes, drains, excavations, and water facilities. The NWIS provides real-times access to conditions at many sites, as well as hosting historical records. Users can select sites for analysis by selecting them from a map or by using the Site Inventory System retrieval function to query sites based on a variety of attributes (e.g., latitude/longitude, altitude, state/territory, data type, etc.). Tutorials are available to facilitate use and understanding of water data and analysis tools housed on this website, and data is intended for use and examination by all individuals working with water resources.

Phase of Adaptation: Awareness, Assessment, Monitoring

Audience

Water managers, local/state/regional authorities, local/state/regional planners and policymakers, engineers, researchers, public