The water quality dataset is maintained by the Office of Water Regulations and Management. It contains chemical and physical information obtained during monitoring of waterways within and contiguous to the US. This includes information for estuaries, streams, lakes, rivers, ground water, canals and coastal waters. Additionally, it contains some information on sediments and fish tissue samples.
Data is collected, coded and submitted by state, EPA and other federal agencies, as well as contractors, universities and individuals. Providers and users of information are called Agencies. Information providers submit data to the EPA on their own timetable. There is little, if any, quality assurance run on the data. Occasionally, WATSTORE data is also posted to STORET. An agency may request that its data be "locked" (or unlocked) at any time. This might be for data verification or just to keep the data from the public. While locked, the data are not available to a retrieval.
Environmental Protection Agency
401 M Street SW
Washington, DC 20460
1-800-424-9067 (User Assistance)
http://www.epa.gov