Water Quality Portal Modernization Quick Reference Guide

Modernizing the Water Quality Portal

Get ready for improvements to one of our most popular web applications! The EPA and USGS are partnering to modernize the vital Water Quality Portal (WQP) and advance a shared vision to deliver standardized, high-quality water data to the public. Bookmark this page to stay informed as we roll out updates. 

What is the Water Quality Portal (WQP)?

  • The WQP serves as the national hub for foundational water quality data that support Clean Water Act assessments, permitting, standards, compliance, restoration, research, and watershed protection.
  • It provides unified access to more than 440 million water quality results from over 2 million locations and 1,700+ providers, including states, Tribal Nations, local governments, federal partners (e.g., USGS, EPA, National Park Service, Chesapeake Bay Program, USACE, Bureau of Reclamation, USDA and NOAA), watershed groups, and additional organizations.
  • WQP follows Internet of Water and Open Government Data principals. It offers a single, metadata-driven framework that enables consistent, documented, and discoverable data for secondary analysis. It covers site conditions and habitat metrics, along with physical, chemical, and biological analyses of environmental samples (e.g., water, air, sediment, and fish tissue).

Why we’re modernizing WQP

  • Demand for WQP data has surged year over year. As of June 2026, the website welcomes about 1,150 visitors each day, and behind the scenes we process roughly 560,000 data requests daily – adding up to billions of rows of data delivered each month.
  • The system is approximately 15 years old and has exceeded its initial design capacity. It requires modernization to serve the user community more effectively. Our objective is to improve performance, ensure sustained reliability, and accommodate anticipated future expansion.
  • Modernization will protect millions of dollars in downstream investments that rely on WQP.

When we’re modernizing and expectations during the transition

  • By August 31, 2026, we plan to move the system to a new cloud setup and a new database and are updating how other software connects. You can keep using WQP legacy/production and WQP beta during the transition. Both versions (legacy/production and beta) can be accessed at www.waterqualitydata.us. We don’t expect you will notice any changes at this stage, but if anything seems off, please let us know. 
  • From now through 2028, we plan to: 1) complete the WQX 3.0 updates and transition WQP beta to production, 2) modernize the system to make it easier to use and faster, and 3) introduce helpful new features. We’ll roll out changes gradually and keep you informed to minimize disruption.

How you can engage

  • Is your organization considering investing in a water data management system? Talk to us about how your program(s) could instead leverage WQX and WQP and avoid redundant investments. 
  • Major data holders across the nation – who are not yet submitting to the WQP through the Water Quality Exchange (WQX) – are encouraged to begin or expand their data submissions.
  • We welcome your input to help ensure the modernized portal meets your program needs. Please share feedback and use cases.

Questions

  • Thank you for your support and collaboration as we modernize this critical national data asset. For questions or support, email the WQX Helpdesk: WQX@epa.gov.

Water Quality Portal Transition to the WQX 3.0 Schema

Both WQP legacy (WQX 2.0) and beta (WQX 3.0) are accessible at www.waterqualitydata.us. Users may use either version for now.

The resources below provide definitions of WQX 2.0 and 3.0 elements, plus a crosswalk for easy reference during transition:

Helpful Resources

Water Data and Tools

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Last updated on August 31, 2026