You are here: Home / Tutorials / Water Use / How do I access historical NATIONAL water-use data?

How do I access historical NATIONAL water-use data?


 

USGSimage.jpg

National Water Information System: Help System

Start at http://waterdata.usgs.gov/nwis (this link opens a new window).


Step 1

Click on the blue Water Use button on the browser screen (on bottom left)

WUimage1.png


Step 2

Click on the blue National Data button (left)

WUimage2.png


Step 3

Choose the year(s) for water-use data retrieval by clicking on a selection – once a year(s) is chosen then water-use categories available for that year will appear under “—Category—“.

Note: Multiple years (or selections) can be chosen by using “Ctrl” and “Alt” keys with the (left) mouse click.


Step 4

Choose the water-use category for data retrieval by clicking on a selection – (multiple categories also can be chosen). Once selection(s) has been made – click the “Submit” button.


Step 5

Choose the output format for the water-use data retrieval. The options are to get a table of data or tab-separated data that is: (1) saved to a file; (2) displayed in the browser window; or (3) saved to a compressed file

For saving data to a file, choose “tab-separated data” and “save to a file” and then click “Submit”.  Once “Submit” has been clicked - the data file can be opened in the browser window or saved to a selected location.

The tab-separated data file will look something like this (also same for display in browser window option):

The tab-separated data file will look something like this (also same for display in browser window option):

Note: A table of data (instead of tab-separated data file) can be viewed in the browser window (or saved to a file) by first selecting the browser window option (or save to a file option) and then going back and clicking on “Table of Data” before clicking the “Submit” button (see below)

The browser window (or save file) will show a table of data like this:

Step 6

Congratulations you have retrieved national water-use data from the USGS NWIS system.

For additional water-use information: water.usgs.gov/watuse and water.usgs.gov/edu/wateruse.html

For help: Contact(s) are listed at the bottom of the USGS NWIS browser screen.

______________________________________________________________________________