The USGS is responsible for fulfilling the Nation's needs for reliable, impartial scientific information to describe and understand the Earth. The USGS Caribbean Water Science Center (CWSC) was established in 1958 to monitor and enhance water resources in Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands.

The primary mission of the USGS CWSC is to collect, compile, analyze, and distribute hydrologic information to promote best use and management of water resources for the benefit of the people and the natural environment. This water-resource monitoring and investigation program is carried out in cooperation with many local and federal agencies. The program includes studies that focus on surface- and ground-water availability and water quality, stream-sediment concentration, and sedimentation rates in reservoirs.

The CWSC collects and compiles:

• water level and discharge data at 100 stream-gaging stations,
• suspended sediment-discharge records for 40 streamflow stations,
• water-level records for 18 reservoirs,
• water-quality records for 16 stream-gaging stations, 42 ungaged stream sites, 11 lake sites, 2 lagoons, and 1 bay,
• ground-water-level records for 107 observation wells. These data are collected at stations established and maintained by the CWSC at selected locations throughout Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands,
• rainfall records at 132 stations (104 of these rain gages are located at surface -water stations), and
• meteorological records (wind speed and direction, sun intensity, evaporation potential) at 5 stations.

This information is compiled and distributed annually by the CWSC in a USGS Hydrologic Data Report series which, starting with water year 1999, is available on the internet.

In addition to monitoring and assessment of water resources, the CWSC conducts a variety of other natural resource and natural hazard investigations, including landslide vulnerability studies, environmental assessments, and development of Geographic Information System products. The CWSC plays a key emergency management and assessment role during hurricanes and major tropical storms. The CWSC is a major contributor in efforts to rebuild infrastructure and enhance technical capacity for local government agencies charged with water resources and flood hazard monitoring in Central America, following the destruction caused by Hurricane Mitch in December 1997. The CWSC regularly provides educational material to teachers and students.

More than 175 hydrologic investigations have been conducted in Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands since 1958. These water-resources investigations have resulted in the publication of more than 500 reports, maps, articles, and abstracts. These investigations provide essential information to address questions and concerns about water-resource issues in the region. Additionally, some of the investigations provide information on national scale hydrologic problems.

The USGS CWSC office is located in Guaynabo, Puerto Rico. Eighty scientists, technicians, and support staff are employed at the CWSC office in the San Juan area.

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