Water-resources data for the 1988 water year for Massachusetts and Rhode Island consists of stage, discharge and water quality of streams; contents of lakes and reservoirs; and ground-water levels. This report contains discharge records for 94 gaging stations, month end contents for 20 lakes and reservoirs, water quality for 9 gaging stations and water levels for 108 observation wells. Also included are data for one crest-stage partial-record station. Additional water data were collected at various sites, not part of the systematic data-collection program and are published as miscellaneous measurements. A few pertinent stations in bordering states are also included in this report. These data represent that portion of the National Water Data System operated by the U.S. Geological Survey and cooperating State and Federal agencies in Massachusetts and Rhode Island.