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Environmental Modeling Community of Practice

Metadata Water Quality Observation

EPA's STORET Water Quality Observation Data for CONUS


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Identification_Information:
Citation:
Citation_Information:
Originator: U.S. Environmental Protection Agency/Office of Water/OST
Publication_Date: 20070611
Title: EPA's STORET Water Quality Observation Data for CONUS
Publication_Information:
Publication_Place: Washington, D.C.
Publisher: U.S. Environmental Protection Agency
Online_Linkage:
For BASINS model and data <https://19january2021snapshot.epa.gov/ceam/better-assessment-science-integrating-point-and-non-point-sources-basins>
For further documentation and information on STORET <https://19january2021snapshot.epa.gov/waterdata/water-quality-data-wqx>
Description:
Abstract:
This data set provides a limited set of raw water quality observation data for the conterminous United States. The data are extracted from the U.S. EPA Storage and Retrieval of US Waters Parametric Data (STORET) which is contributed by a number of organizations including federal, state, interstate agencies, universities, contractors, individuals and water laboratories. Data updates are performed weekly. Each provider of data is responsible for the data it submits to STORET. For distribution with BASINS v.2.0, raw water quality data was extracted from STORET for a maximum of 15 stations per cataloging unit. The WQOBS data were prepared in Arcview shape file format while selected relational attributes were prepared in Arcview DBF file format.
Purpose:
The STORET database serves as a repository of waterway parametric data, including information on ambient, intensive survey, effluent and biological water quality. This provides important information regarding the health of the nations surface waters.
Supplemental_Information:

Intended use of data: This data set was prepared to support the U.S. EPA BASINS (Better Assessment Science Integrating Point and Nonpoint Sources) System.

References_Cited: U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (1992). "Office of Water Environmental and Program Information Systems Compendium", Office of Water, U.S. EPA, Washington, D.C.

Limitations_of_Data: None

Time_Period_of_Content:
Time_Period_Information:
Range_of_Dates/Times:
Beginning_Date: 19800101
Ending_Date: 19951231
Currentness_Reference: Publication Date
Status:
Progress: Complete
Maintenance_and_Update_Frequency: As Needed
Spatial_Domain:
Bounding_Coordinates:
West_Bounding_Coordinate: -128.00
East_Bounding_Coordinate: -65.00
North_Bounding_Coordinate: 49.00
South_Bounding_Coordinate: 22.50
Keywords:
Theme:
Theme_Keyword_Thesaurus: None
Theme_Keyword: Water Quality Observations
Theme_Keyword: Storage and Retrieval of US Waters Parametric Data (STORET)
Place:
Place_Keyword_Thesaurus: Geographic Names Information System
Place_Keyword: Conterminous United States of America (CONUS)
Place_Keyword: Alabama AL
Place_Keyword: Arizona AZ
Place_Keyword: Arkansas AR
Place_Keyword: California CA
Place_Keyword: Colorado CO
Place_Keyword: Connecticut CT
Place_Keyword: Delaware DE
Place_Keyword: District of Columbia DC
Place_Keyword: Florida FL
Place_Keyword: Georgia GA
Place_Keyword: Idaho ID
Place_Keyword: Illinois IL
Place_Keyword: Indiana IN
Place_Keyword: Iowa IA
Place_Keyword: Kansas KS
Place_Keyword: Kentucky KY
Place_Keyword: Louisiana LA
Place_Keyword: Maine ME
Place_Keyword: Maryland MD
Place_Keyword: Massachusetts MA
Place_Keyword: Michigan MI
Place_Keyword: Minnesota MN
Place_Keyword: Mississippi MS
Place_Keyword: Missouri MO
Place_Keyword: Montana MT
Place_Keyword: Nebraska NE
Place_Keyword: Nevada NV
Place_Keyword: New Hampshire NH
Place_Keyword: New Jersey NJ
Place_Keyword: New Mexico NM
Place_Keyword: New York NY
Place_Keyword: North Carolina NC
Place_Keyword: North Dakota ND
Place_Keyword: Ohio OH
Place_Keyword: Oklahoma OK
Place_Keyword: Oregon OR
Place_Keyword: Pennsylvania PA
Place_Keyword: Rhode Island RI
Place_Keyword: South Carolina SC
Place_Keyword: South Dakota SD
Place_Keyword: Tennessee TN
Place_Keyword: Texas TX
Place_Keyword: Utah UT
Place_Keyword: Vermont VT
Place_Keyword: Virginia VA
Place_Keyword: Washington WA
Place_Keyword: West Virginia WV
Place_Keyword: Wisconsin WI
Place_Keyword: Wyoming WY
Access_Constraints: None
Use_Constraints: None
Native_Data_Set_Environment: ArcView 3.x shapefiles

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Data_Quality_Information:
Logical_Consistency_Report: unknown
Completeness_Report: unknown
Lineage:
Process_Step:
Process_Description:
The BASINS Water Quality Observations dataset was created by extracting data from STORET for a maximum of 15 water quality stations per cataloging unit. The selection of the stations was based upon data extent and completeness. The main criteria were period of measurement, number of parameters, and number of observations. If a cataloging unit contains less than 15 stations, all were extracted. A BASINS water quality station ID was assigned to each station in order to facilitate links and joins within BASINS between station data and the monitoring data summary.

For distribution with BASINS v2.0, ARCVIEW shapefiles which included the spatial extent of each of the ten U.S. EPA Regions, plus the 8-digit hydrologic units that crossed region boundaries were prepared to indicate the geographic locations of the monitoring stations within the region.

Process_Date: 19971200
Process_Contact:
Contact_Information:
Contact_Organization_Primary:
Contact_Organization: Tetra Tech, Inc.
Contact_Address:
Address_Type: Mailing Address
Address: 10306 Eaton Place, Suite 340
City: Fairfax
State_or_Province: Virginia
Postal_Code: 22030
Country: USA
Contact_Voice_Telephone: 703-385-6000
Contact_Instructions: See Distributor_Information

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Spatial_Data_Organization_Information:

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Spatial_Reference_Information:
Horizontal_Coordinate_System_Definition:
Geographic:
Latitude_Resolution: 0.0001
Longitude_Resolution: 0.0001
Geographic_Coordinate_Units: Decimal Degrees
Geodetic_Model:
Horizontal_Datum_Name: North American Datum of 1983
Ellipsoid_Name: Geodetic Reference System 80
Semi-major_Axis: 6378137
Denominator_of_Flattening_Ratio: 298.257

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Entity_and_Attribute_Information:
Detailed_Description:
Entity_Type:
Entity_Type_Label: WQOBS.DBF
Entity_Type_Definition:
Water Quality Monitoring Stations and Observations primary attribute table
Entity_Type_Definition_Source: STORET
Attribute:
Attribute_Label: ID
Attribute_Definition: BASINS assigned unique station number
Attribute_Definition_Source: Assigned
Attribute_Domain_Values:
Enumerated_Domain:
Enumerated_Domain_Value: 5
Enumerated_Domain_Value_Definition: Floating Value
Enumerated_Domain_Value_Definition_Source: Assigned
Attribute:
Attribute_Label: AGENCY
Attribute_Definition: agency code
Attribute_Definition_Source: STORET online documentation
Attribute_Domain_Values:
Enumerated_Domain:
Enumerated_Domain_Value: 8
Enumerated_Domain_Value_Definition: character ID values
Enumerated_Domain_Value_Definition_Source: STORET online documentation
Attribute:
Attribute_Label: AGENCY_COD
Attribute_Definition: agency code
Attribute_Definition_Source: STORET online documentation
Attribute_Domain_Values:
Enumerated_Domain:
Enumerated_Domain_Value: 16
Enumerated_Domain_Value_Definition: character ID values
Enumerated_Domain_Value_Definition_Source: STORET online documentation
Attribute:
Attribute_Label: STATION
Attribute_Definition: station id
Attribute_Definition_Source: STORET online documentation
Attribute_Domain_Values:
Enumerated_Domain:
Enumerated_Domain_Value: 15
Enumerated_Domain_Value_Definition: character ID values
Enumerated_Domain_Value_Definition_Source: STORET online documentation
Attribute:
Attribute_Label: ST_DEPTH
Attribute_Definition: Depth at which sample was taken
Attribute_Definition_Source: STORET online documentation
Attribute_Domain_Values:
Enumerated_Domain:
Enumerated_Domain_Value: 12
Enumerated_Domain_Value_Definition: Integer
Enumerated_Domain_Value_Definition_Source: STORET online documentation
Attribute:
Attribute_Label: STATE
Attribute_Definition: State Postal Abbreviation
Attribute_Definition_Source:
EPA Envirofacts Oracle Database
Attribute_Domain_Values:
Enumerated_Domain:
Enumerated_Domain_Value: 2
Enumerated_Domain_Value_Definition: character ID value
Enumerated_Domain_Value_Definition_Source: STORET
Attribute:
Attribute_Label: LAT
Attribute_Definition: Station latitude
Attribute_Definition_Source: STORET
Attribute_Domain_Values:
Enumerated_Domain:
Enumerated_Domain_Value: 12
Enumerated_Domain_Value_Definition: character ID value
Enumerated_Domain_Value_Definition_Source:
Storage and Retrieval of US Waters Parametric Data (STORET)
Attribute:
Attribute_Label: LONG
Attribute_Definition: Station longitude
Attribute_Definition_Source: STORET
Attribute_Domain_Values:
Enumerated_Domain:
Enumerated_Domain_Value: 12
Enumerated_Domain_Value_Definition: character ID value
Enumerated_Domain_Value_Definition_Source: STORET online documentation
Attribute:
Attribute_Label: TYPE
Attribute_Definition: station type
Attribute_Definition_Source: STORET online documentation
Attribute_Domain_Values:
Enumerated_Domain:
Enumerated_Domain_Value: 60
Enumerated_Domain_Value_Definition: character ID value
Enumerated_Domain_Value_Definition_Source: STORET online documentation
Attribute:
Attribute_Label: LOCATION
Attribute_Definition: description of station location
Attribute_Definition_Source: STORET online documentation
Attribute_Domain_Values:
Enumerated_Domain:
Enumerated_Domain_Value: 48
Enumerated_Domain_Value_Definition: character ID values
Enumerated_Domain_Value_Definition_Source: STORET online documentation
Attribute:
Attribute_Label: CU
Attribute_Definition: cataloging unit code
Attribute_Definition_Source: STORET online documentation
Attribute_Domain_Values:
Enumerated_Domain:
Enumerated_Domain_Value: 8
Enumerated_Domain_Value_Definition: Character ID values
Enumerated_Domain_Value_Definition_Source: STORET online documentation
Attribute:
Attribute_Label: SEG
Attribute_Definition: reach file v1 segment number
Attribute_Definition_Source: EPA Envirofacts Oracle Database
Attribute_Domain_Values:
Enumerated_Domain:
Enumerated_Domain_Value: 3
Enumerated_Domain_Value_Definition: character
Enumerated_Domain_Value_Definition_Source:
EPA Locational Reference Tables
Attribute:
Attribute_Label: MILE
Attribute_Definition: reach file v1 mile point
Attribute_Definition_Source: STORET
Attribute_Domain_Values:
Enumerated_Domain:
Enumerated_Domain_Value: 12
Enumerated_Domain_Value_Definition: character ID value
Enumerated_Domain_Value_Definition_Source: STORET
Attribute:
Attribute_Label: ONOFF
Attribute_Definition: on/off reach indicator
Attribute_Definition_Source: STORET online documentation
Attribute_Domain_Values:
Enumerated_Domain:
Enumerated_Domain_Value: 3
Enumerated_Domain_Value_Definition: character ID value
Enumerated_Domain_Value_Definition_Source: STORET
Attribute:
Attribute_Label: BCU
Attribute_Definition: BASINS assigned cataloging unit
Attribute_Definition_Source: Assigned
Attribute_Domain_Values:
Enumerated_Domain:
Enumerated_Domain_Value: 8
Enumerated_Domain_Value_Definition: character ID value
Enumerated_Domain_Value_Definition_Source: Assigned
Attribute:
Attribute_Label: BSTAT_ID
Attribute_Definition: BASINS assigned station id
Attribute_Definition_Source: Assigned
Attribute_Domain_Values:
Enumerated_Domain:
Enumerated_Domain_Value: 28
Enumerated_Domain_Value_Definition: character ID value
Enumerated_Domain_Value_Definition_Source: Assigned
Entity_Type:
Entity_Type_Label: XXXXXXXX.DBF (where XXXXXXXX is the 8-digit CU code)
Entity_Type_Definition:
Water Quality Observations Table for a Cataloging Unit.)
Entity_Type_Definition_Source: STORET
Attribute:
Attribute_Label: BSTAT_ID
Attribute_Definition: BASINS assigned station id
Attribute_Definition_Source: Assigned
Attribute_Domain_Values:
Enumerated_Domain:
Enumerated_Domain_Value: 28
Enumerated_Domain_Value_Definition: character ID value
Enumerated_Domain_Value_Definition_Source: Assigned
Attribute:
Attribute_Label: IDSAMP
Attribute_Definition: BASINS generated unique sample ID
Attribute_Definition_Source: Assigned
Attribute_Domain_Values:
Enumerated_Domain:
Enumerated_Domain_Value: 10
Enumerated_Domain_Value_Definition: character ID value
Enumerated_Domain_Value_Definition_Source: Assigned
Attribute:
Attribute_Label: ID
Attribute_Definition: BASINS generated unique ID
Attribute_Definition_Source: Assigned
Attribute_Domain_Values:
Enumerated_Domain:
Enumerated_Domain_Value: 5
Enumerated_Domain_Value_Definition: character ID value
Enumerated_Domain_Value_Definition_Source: Assigned
Attribute:
Attribute_Label: DATE
Attribute_Definition: Date sample was taken
Attribute_Definition_Source: STORET
Attribute_Domain_Values:
Enumerated_Domain:
Enumerated_Domain_Value: 6
Enumerated_Domain_Value_Definition: 6 digit integer (YYMMDD)
Enumerated_Domain_Value_Definition_Source: STORET
Attribute:
Attribute_Label: TIME
Attribute_Definition: Time sample was taken
Attribute_Definition_Source: STORET
Attribute_Domain_Values:
Enumerated_Domain:
Enumerated_Domain_Value: 4
Enumerated_Domain_Value_Definition: 4 digit integer (HHMM)
Enumerated_Domain_Value_Definition_Source: STORET
Attribute:
Attribute_Label: DEPTH
Attribute_Definition: sample depth
Attribute_Definition_Source: Assigned
Attribute_Domain_Values:
Enumerated_Domain:
Enumerated_Domain_Value: 20
Enumerated_Domain_Value_Definition: floating point value
Enumerated_Domain_Value_Definition_Source: STORET
Attribute:
Attribute_Label: PARM
Attribute_Definition: STORET parameter code
Attribute_Definition_Source: Assigned
Attribute_Domain_Values:
Enumerated_Domain:
Enumerated_Domain_Value: 5
Enumerated_Domain_Value_Definition: character ID value
Enumerated_Domain_Value_Definition_Source: STORET
Attribute:
Attribute_Label: REMARK
Attribute_Definition: STORET remark code
Attribute_Definition_Source: STORET online documentation
Attribute_Domain_Values:
Enumerated_Domain:
Enumerated_Domain_Value: 1
Enumerated_Domain_Value_Definition: character ID value
Enumerated_Domain_Value_Definition_Source: STORET online documentation
Attribute:
Attribute_Label: VALUE
Attribute_Definition: sample measurement value
Attribute_Definition_Source: STORET online documentation
Attribute_Domain_Values:
Enumerated_Domain:
Enumerated_Domain_Value: 20
Enumerated_Domain_Value_Definition: Floating Number
Enumerated_Domain_Value_Definition_Source: STORET online documentation
Attribute:
Attribute_Label: BCU
Attribute_Definition: BASINS assigned cataloging unit
Attribute_Definition_Source: assigned
Attribute_Domain_Values:
Enumerated_Domain:
Enumerated_Domain_Value: 10
Enumerated_Domain_Value_Definition: character ID value
Enumerated_Domain_Value_Definition_Source: Assigned
Overview_Description:
Entity_and_Attribute_Overview:
The WQOBS.DBF contains the primary attributes of the monitoring stations. The related tables, XXXXXXXX.DBF, contain raw data measurements for these stations. The wq_prm.dbf table contains the STORET parameter codes and definitions.
Entity_and_Attribute_Detail_Citation: See Entity_and_Attribute_Information

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Distribution_Information:
Distributor:
Contact_Information:
Contact_Organization_Primary:
Contact_Organization: USEPA Office of Water/OST Basins
Contact_Address:
Address_Type: mailing address
Address: 1200 Pennsylvania Ave., NW (4305T)
City: Washington
State_or_Province: District of Columbia
Postal_Code: 20460
Contact_Voice_Telephone: 202-566-0400
Contact_Facsimile_Telephone: 202-566-0409
Contact_Electronic_Mail_Address: basins@epa.gov
Hours_of_Service: 9-3 EST
Distribution_Liability:
Although these data have been processed successfully on a computer system under contract to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (USEPA), no warranty expressed or implied is made by the USEPA regarding the utility of the data on any other system, nor shall the act of distribution constitute any such warranty. The USEPA will warrant the delivery of this product in computer-readable format.
Standard_Order_Process:
Digital_Form:
Digital_Transfer_Information:
Format_Name:
Environmental Systems Research Institute (ESRI) ArcView Shapefile
Digital_Transfer_Option:
Online_Option:
Computer_Contact_Information:
Network_Address:
Network_Resource_Name: <https://19january2021snapshot.epa.gov/ceam/better-assessment-science-integrating-point-and-non-point-sources-basins>
Offline_Option:
Offline_Media: CD-ROM
Recording_Format: ISO 9660
Fees: None
Ordering_Instructions:
When requesting data by phone or mail, please inquire about spatial data sets that work with Better Assessment Science Integrating Point and Nonpoint Sources (BASINS). The BASINS web page has instructions for downloading datasets. It also has a link to The National Center for Environmental Publications and Information (NCEPI), from which BASINS CD-ROMs may be ordered. Each CD-ROM contains the BASINS v2.0 Application and this data set along with others covering the spatial extent of an EPA Region.

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Metadata_Reference_Information:
 
Metadata_Date: 20070611
Metadata_Contact:
Contact_Information:
Contact_Organization_Primary:
Contact_Organization: USEPA Office of Water / Water Science / SASD Basins
Contact_Address:
Address_Type: mailing address
Address: 1200 Pennsylvania Ave., NW (4305T)
City: Washington
State_or_Province: District of Columbia
Postal_Code: 20460
Contact_Voice_Telephone: 202-566-0400
Contact_Facsimile_Telephone: 202-566-0409
Contact_Electronic_Mail_Address: basins@epa.gov
Metadata_Standard_Name: FGDC Content Standards for Digital Geospatial Metadata
Metadata_Standard_Version: 19940608

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Water Quality Observation Text Version(1 pg, 21 K)