Spatial Patterns in Water Quality Portal Data

Abstract

The Water Quality Portal (WQP) is a collaborative service that integrates publicly available water quality data from three federal databases. It contains monitoring data from 2.6 million sites across all 50 US states, provided by over 400 agencies and organizations. Accordingly, the WQP offers a relatively comprehensive picture of the water quality monitoring activities in the United States. Data from the WQP were analyzed to determine spatial patterns in monitoring coverage at the subwatershed scale. Thesepatterns were integrated with population, race, ethnicity, and income data to determine what communities may be underserved by water quality monitoring. Trends in monitoring, coverage, and data providers were analyzed by state and by EPA region. Trends varied by state and region but were more strongly correlated with population density than with the anticipated factors of race, ethnicity, and income. Findings were compiled into a dashboard, and recommendations for policy and practice were developed for increasing the comprehensiveness and accessibility of water quality monitoring data.