Science and Products
Water quality data for national-scale aquatic research: The Water Quality Portal
Harmonized continuous water quality data in support of modeling harmful algal blooms in the United States, 2005 - 2022
A national harmonized dataset of discrete chlorophyll from lakes and streams (2005-2022)
Harmonized discrete and continuous water quality data in support of modeling harmful algal blooms in the Illinois River Basin, 2005 - 2020
Predictions of lake water temperatures for eight reservoirs in Missouri US, 1980-2021
Concentration Data for 12 Elements of Concern Used in the Development of Surrogate Models for Estimating Elemental Concentrations in Surface Water of Three Hydrologic Basins (Delaware River, Illinois River and Upper Colorado River)
Data to support water quality modeling efforts in the Delaware River Basin
Data release: Walleye Thermal Optical Habitat Area (TOHA) of selected Minnesota lakes
Water use in the U.S., 2015
How do we use water in the U.S.?
We all depend on water every day, ranging from the water from our faucets, to the food we eat, to much of the electricity we use. The U.S. and its territories used nearly 322 billion gallons of water per day in 2015. This would cover the continental U.S. in about two inches of water over the course of a year. The national breakdown of water withdrawals looks like this:
U.S. Water Use from 1950-2015
How much water do we use?
In the map below, State size (area) is scaled proportionally to State freshwater use.
Hurricane Maria's Water Footprint
Hurricane Maria made landfall in Puerto Rico on September 20, 2017, bringing with it a mix of high winds and extreme rainfall. This data visualization animates Hurricane Maria's Water Footprint, the cumulative precipitation the storm dropped on the island, and the impact of rainfall on river gage height.
Hurricane Irma's Water Footprint
Hurricane Irma, the most intense hurricane observed in the Atlantic in the last decade, approached the west coast of Florida on September 10th, 2017. This Hurricane Irma Water Footprint data visualization animates the hurricane's path, cumulative precipitation, and its impact on river gage height.
Hurricane Harvey's Water Footprint
Hurricane Harvey approached the U.S. Gulf coast on August 25, 2017. The Hurricane Harvey Water Footprint data visualization shows the hurricane's impact on precipitation and streamflow.
Hurricane Matthew's Water Footprint
Hurricane Matthew approached the southeastern U.S. coast on October 7, 2016. This is a data visualization that shows the hurricane's impact on precipitation and streamflow.
Shifts in Fish Habitat Under Climate Change
Lakes in Wisconsin are getting warmer, and fish communities are changing as a result. This interactive visualization explores water temperature, fish populations, and potential changes based on several future water temperature scenarios.
Microplastics in our Nation's Waterways
Microplastics, plastic particles less than 5 millimeters in diameter, are a contaminant of emerging concern in aquatic environments. This interactive visualization explores classifications and potential sources of microplastics in the Great Lakes.
Science and Products
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Water quality data for national-scale aquatic research: The Water Quality Portal
Aquatic systems are critical to food, security, and society. But, water data are collected by hundreds of research groups and organizations, many of which use nonstandard or inconsistent data descriptions and dissemination, and disparities across different types of water observation systems represent a major challenge for freshwater research. To address this issue, the Water Quality Portal (WQP) wAuthorsEmily K. Read, Lindsay Carr, Laura A. DeCicco, Hilary Dugan, Paul C. Hanson, Julia A. Hart, James Kreft, Jordan S. Read, Luke Winslow - Data
Harmonized continuous water quality data in support of modeling harmful algal blooms in the United States, 2005 - 2022
Harmful algal blooms (HABs) are overgrowths of algae or cyanobacteria in water and can be harmful to humans and animals directly via toxin exposure or indirectly via changes in water quality and related impacts to ecosystems services, drinking water characteristics, and recreation. While HABs occur frequently throughout the United States, the driving conditions behind them are not well understood,A national harmonized dataset of discrete chlorophyll from lakes and streams (2005-2022)
This data release contains a 17-year record (2005-2022) of discrete chlorophyll data from inland waters, collected from across the nation and territories. These data are from discrete samples (collected in the field and analyzed in the laboratory) from plankton (suspended algae) and periphyton (benthic algae) from lakes, streams, rivers, reservoirs, canals, and other sites. These data are gatheredHarmonized discrete and continuous water quality data in support of modeling harmful algal blooms in the Illinois River Basin, 2005 - 2020
Harmful algal blooms (HABs) are overgrowths of algae or cyanobacteria in water and can be harmful to humans and animals directly via toxin exposure or indirectly via changes in water quality and related impacts to ecosystems services, drinking water characteristics, and recreation. While HABs occur frequently throughout the United States, the driving conditions behind them are not well understood,Predictions of lake water temperatures for eight reservoirs in Missouri US, 1980-2021
Lake temperature is an important environmental metric for understanding habitat suitability for many freshwater species and is especially useful when temperatures are predicted throughout the water column (known as temperature profiles). This dataset provides estimates of water temperature at half meter depths for eight reservoirs in Missouri, USA using version 3 of the General Lake Model (HipseyConcentration Data for 12 Elements of Concern Used in the Development of Surrogate Models for Estimating Elemental Concentrations in Surface Water of Three Hydrologic Basins (Delaware River, Illinois River and Upper Colorado River)
The release of metals (or metalloids) to surface water can involve both natural and anthropogenic sources. Elevated metals concentrations can pose a risk to human health, wildlife, and ecosystem health, with the modes of toxicity and extent of risk varying as a function of the specific metal, its chemical form and the matrix with which it is associated (for example, dissolved versus particulate).Data to support water quality modeling efforts in the Delaware River Basin
This data release contains information to support water quality modeling in the Delaware River Basin (DRB). These data support both process-based and machine learning approaches to water quality modeling, including the prediction of stream temperature. Reservoirs in the DRB serve an important role as a source of drinking water, but also affect downstream water quality. Therefore, this data releaseData release: Walleye Thermal Optical Habitat Area (TOHA) of selected Minnesota lakes
Climate change and land use change have been shown to influence lake temperatures and water clarity in different ways. To better understand the diversity of lake responses to climate change and give managers tools to manage individual lakes, we focused on improving prediction accuracy for daily water temperature profiles and optical habitat in 881 lakes in Minnesota during 1980-2018. The data areWater use in the U.S., 2015
How do we use water in the U.S.?
We all depend on water every day, ranging from the water from our faucets, to the food we eat, to much of the electricity we use. The U.S. and its territories used nearly 322 billion gallons of water per day in 2015. This would cover the continental U.S. in about two inches of water over the course of a year. The national breakdown of water withdrawals looks like this:
U.S. Water Use from 1950-2015
How much water do we use?
In the map below, State size (area) is scaled proportionally to State freshwater use. - Multimedia
- Web Tools
Hurricane Maria's Water Footprint
Hurricane Maria made landfall in Puerto Rico on September 20, 2017, bringing with it a mix of high winds and extreme rainfall. This data visualization animates Hurricane Maria's Water Footprint, the cumulative precipitation the storm dropped on the island, and the impact of rainfall on river gage height.
Hurricane Irma's Water Footprint
Hurricane Irma, the most intense hurricane observed in the Atlantic in the last decade, approached the west coast of Florida on September 10th, 2017. This Hurricane Irma Water Footprint data visualization animates the hurricane's path, cumulative precipitation, and its impact on river gage height.
Hurricane Harvey's Water Footprint
Hurricane Harvey approached the U.S. Gulf coast on August 25, 2017. The Hurricane Harvey Water Footprint data visualization shows the hurricane's impact on precipitation and streamflow.
Hurricane Matthew's Water Footprint
Hurricane Matthew approached the southeastern U.S. coast on October 7, 2016. This is a data visualization that shows the hurricane's impact on precipitation and streamflow.
Shifts in Fish Habitat Under Climate Change
Lakes in Wisconsin are getting warmer, and fish communities are changing as a result. This interactive visualization explores water temperature, fish populations, and potential changes based on several future water temperature scenarios.
Microplastics in our Nation's Waterways
Microplastics, plastic particles less than 5 millimeters in diameter, are a contaminant of emerging concern in aquatic environments. This interactive visualization explores classifications and potential sources of microplastics in the Great Lakes.