Where to Find Data

As you are creating your watershed plan, you will need to find information about the current status of the watershed’s resources. There are many people, agencies and websites that may be valuable to you in this part of the process, as listed below.

If you are looking for a place online to get water-related maps, try the EPA My WATERS Mapper website.

The Wisconsin DNR has a tool designed to help with watershed restoration and protection efforts. The Erosion Vulnerability Assessment for Agricultural Lands (EVAAL) tool assists watershed managers in prioritizing areas within a watershed which may be vulnerable to water erosion (and thus increased nutrient export) and thus may contribute to downstream surface water quality problems. This tool enables watershed managers to prioritize and focus field-scale data collection efforts, thus saving time and money while increasing the probability of locating fields with high sediment and nutrient export for implementation of best management practices (BMPs).

Another tool, developed for EPA and promoted by DNR, is the Spreadsheet Tool for Estimating Pollutant Loads (STEPL), which calculates nutrient and sediment loads from different land uses and the load reductions that would result from the implementation of various best management practices (BMPs).  A training webinar was held in 2014 for DNR and county Land and Water Conservation Department staff.

Potential data to include in your Watershed Profile and where to find it.

Data Category

Components

Source

WATERSHED
General
NRCS Rapid Watershed Assessments
County Land and Water Resource Management Plans (scroll to bottom of page and then enter county name. Once on county page, you may have to explore to find the link to their plan)
Streams

USGS National Water Information System

DNR Surface Water Data Viewer

Lakes

USGS Water Data Discovery

DNR Lakes

Flooding

FEMA Floodplain Mapping

DNR Surface Water Data Viewer

Stormwater Management

EPA National Pollution Discharge Elimination System (NPDES) Permits

DNR Stormwater

Drainage

USGS Topographic Maps

DNR Surface Water Data Viewer, Watershed

Dams
DNR Surface Water Data Viewer
WATER QUALITY
Raw Data

USGS Groundwater Data

DNR SWIMS Data (you’ll need to apply for a login/password to access this site)

Impairments
DNR Impaired Waters
Groundwater

USGS Wisconsin Groundwater Level Data

UW Water Resources Institute

DNR Groundwater Retrieval Network

Mapping
DNR Surface Water Data Viewer
BIOLOGICAL
Fish and Biotic Indicators

EPA STORET

DNR Citizen Based Monitoring in SWIMS (you’ll need to apply for a login/password to access this site)

PHYSICAL TRAITS
Geology
WGNHS Geology
Soils

NRCS Web Soil Survey

UW Soil Testing Labs

Topography
DNR Surface Water Data Viewer
Groundwater

USGS Groundwater Level Data

USGS Groundwater Comprehensive Plan

UW Stevens Point Center for Watershed Science & Education Well Water Quality Viewer

UW Water Resources Institute

DNR Groundwater Retrieval Network

Weather Records

NOAA National Climatic Data Center

Wisconsin State Climatologist’s Office

Wetlands
DNR Surface Water Data Viewer
Wildlife
DNR Wildlife
Habitat
DNR Habitat
Shoreline Conditions
Google Maps Aerial Photos