Interim Policy Memorandum about Storing Data in the National Water Information System In Reply Refer To: January 25, 1993 Mail Stop 411 OFFICE OF GROUND WATER TECHNICAL MEMORANDUM NO. 93.03 Subject: Interim Policy Memorandum about Storing Data in the National Water Information System The purpose of this memorandum is to restate and clarify existing policy regarding the use of the National Water Information System (NWIS) to store ground-water data collected by the U.S. Geological Survey, Water Resources Division (WRD). Problems and Concerns Discipline reviews are finding that not all ground-water data collected by WRD are being stored in NWIS. It appears that some elements of policy detailed in WRD Memorandum Nos. 76.44, 77.136, 83.89, and 86.28 have been misunderstood and have not been vigorously enforced at the Regional and Headquarters levels. Clarification and Restatement of Policy WRD Memorandum 92.59 has recently been released and states that the recommendations made by the Data Policy Committee (Open-File Report 92-56) have been accepted as official policy. That policy includes the following: "The current policy in WRD is that all water data collected as part of the routine data collection of the WRD (both basic and project data) must be stored in the computer files of the National Water Information System. One purpose of this policy is to enable all WRD work to be verifiable and repeatable to the greatest extent possible at any time in the future." The Office of Ground Water (OGW) interprets Rroutine data collection of the WRDS to include all ground-water data collected by WRD basic data programs and District projects. Any request for exemption from this policy must be approved by OGW. The only exceptions to this requirement are proprietary data, and data that cannot be stored in NWIS because they do not functionally fit. When the new version II of NWIS software is completed, it is expected that many of the ground-water data that WRD collects will functionally fit in NWIS, including many types of geophysical, hydrogeological, and hydraulic test data. Implementation of Policy The OGW and the Regional Ground-Water Specialists will review compliance with this policy during District technical and selected project reviews and by actual interrogation of NWIS. Several recent District reviews by OGW have included an additional person on the review team for the purpose of examining data-related issues. The OGW has added a staff person to specifically address the issues of data and data bases. The OGW also has created the Ground-Water Data Committee to develop recommendations about issues of policy and management of ground-water data. Future memorandums will address other aspects of ground-water data policy. William M. Alley Acting Chief, Office of Ground Water WRD Distribution: A, B, S, FO, PO