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Water Data for the Nation

High-quality and discoverable water data for everyone
Over 135 years of water data from more than one million monitoring locations
The United States Geological Survey (USGS) collects water data at monitoring locations across the United States using automated sensors and manual data collection. Each monitoring location has location information that details the location name and identifier, the agency responsible for data collection, and geographic information about the location. Most monitoring locations have data available in one or more of the following categories of water data: continuous data, daily data, field measurements, and discrete sample data.

Learn more about the categories of water data available in Water Data for the Nation.

Find monitoring locations by monitoring location number or by political boundary.

Find the water information you need

  • Discover real-time data in your state

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    State pages provide a summary of the latest continuous data being collected in your state. Quickly filter the map and list to show a data type of interest to you, or customize the filters to further refine the map and list to your needs.

  • Create a list of your favorite monitoring locations

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    Make and share a list of USGS monitoring locations that you are interested in. Access the latest continuous water data at those locations all in one place. Create combined location graphs or a custom list of data graphs from your favorites list.

    Go to My Favorites

  • View latest conditions and weather events

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    USGS has over 13,500 real-time stream, lake, reservoir, precipitation, water quality, and groundwater monitoring locations. View the latest continuous data in your area together with weather-related data to understand rapidly changing water conditions.

    Go to the National Water Dashboard

  • Create a water alert

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    USGS monitors water conditions nationwide. Get notified with WaterAlert, a near-real time hydrologic alerting system that notifies you of stream, lake, and coastal conditions across the nation. Subscribe to text or email alerts when water conditions change.

    Go to WaterAlert

  • Explore historical water data

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    USGS has collected water data throughout US states and territories for more than 135 years. Find historical and currently operational monitoring locations collecting continuous and discrete sample data that interests you. Filter using locations of interest, type of water data, and recency of data that meet your needs.

    Go to Explore USGS Water Data

  • Access water data

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    USGS has several options to support access to all water data available in Water Data for the Nation. Water Data APIs provide USGS water data in machine-readable formats via REST APIs, a common framework applications use to search and download data. The dataRetrieval package simplifies the process of loading USGS water data into R or Python environments.

    Go to Water Data APIsGo to dataRetrieval