The dataRetrieval package was created to simplify the process of
loading hydrologic data into the R environment. It is designed to
retrieve the major data types of U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) hydrology
data that are available on the Web, as well as data from the Water
Quality Portal (WQP), which currently houses water quality data from the
Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), U.S. Department of Agriculture
(USDA), and USGS. Direct USGS data is obtained from a service called the
National Water Information System (NWIS).
If you have additional questions about these changes, email CompTools@usgs.gov.
-
Get instantaneous USGS discharge data. Start here:
?readNWISuv -
Get daily USGS discharge data. Start here:
?readNWISdv -
Get USGS groundwater data. Start here:
?readNWISgwl -
Get discrete water quality data. Start here:
?readWQPdata -
Discover USGS data (not including discrete water quality data). Start here:
?whatNWISdata -
Find Hydro Network-Linked Data Index (NLDI) data. Start here:
?findNLDI
For additional tutorials, see:
To install the dataRetrieval package, you must be using R 3.0 or
greater and run the following command:
install.packages("dataRetrieval")The USGS is planning to modernize all web services in the near future.
For each of these updates, dataRetrieval will create a new function to
access the new services.
New functions will use a “snake case”, such as “read_USGS_samples”. Older functions use camel case, such as “readNWISdv”. The difference is the underscore between words. This should be a handy way to tell the difference between newer modern data access, and the older traditional functions.
Historically, we allowed users to customize their queries via the ...
argument structure. With ..., users needed to know the exact names of
query parameters before using the function. Now, the new functions will
include ALL possible arguments that the web service APIs support.
This will allow users to use tab-autocompletes (available in RStudio and
other IDEs). Users will need to understand that it is not advisable to
specify all of these parameters. The systems can get bogged down with
redundant query parameters. We expect this will be easier for users,
but it might take some time to smooth out the documentation and test
usability. There may be additional consequences, such as users won’t be
able to build up argument lists to pass into the function.
As we develop functions for the modern USGS web services, we’ll continue to explore updating package dependencies.
CRAN-stable documentation will be available on the GitHub pages: https://doi-usgs.github.io/dataRetrieval/
In-development documentation will be available on the USGS GitLab pages: https://water.code-pages.usgs.gov/dataRetrieval
Development of dataRetrieval will happen on a git branch called
“develop”. The “develop” branch will only move to the “main” branch when
we submit to CRAN, unless there are bug fixes that pertain to the CRAN
release. The “develop” branch WILL change frequently, and there are no
promises of future behavior. Users must accept that they are using those
functions at their own risk. If you willing to accept this risk, the
installation instructions are:
library(remotes)
install_github("DOI-USGS/dataRetrieval",
ref = "develop")Please consider reporting bugs and asking questions on the Issues page: https://github.com/DOI-USGS/dataRetrieval/issues
citation(package = "dataRetrieval")
#> To cite dataRetrieval in publications, please use:
#>
#> De Cicco, L.A., Hirsch, R.M., Lorenz, D., Watkins, W.D., Johnson, M.,
#> 2025, dataRetrieval: R packages for discovering and retrieving water
#> data available from Federal hydrologic web services, v.2.7.18,
#> doi:10.5066/P9X4L3GE
#>
#> A BibTeX entry for LaTeX users is
#>
#> @Manual{,
#> author = {Laura DeCicco and Robert Hirsch and David Lorenz and Jordan Read and Jordan Walker and Lindsay Platt and David Watkins and David Blodgett and Mike Johnson and Aliesha Krall and Lee Stanish},
#> title = {dataRetrieval: R packages for discovering and retrieving water data available from U.S. federal hydrologic web services},
#> publisher = {U.S. Geological Survey},
#> address = {Reston, VA},
#> version = {2.7.18},
#> institution = {U.S. Geological Survey},
#> year = {2025},
#> doi = {10.5066/P9X4L3GE},
#> }U.S. Geological Survey, 2023, National Water Information System data available on the World Wide Web (USGS Water Data for the Nation), accessed [April 26, 2023], at http://waterdata.usgs.gov/nwis/. http://dx.doi.org/10.5066/F7P55KJN
This can be done using the create_NWIS_bib function:
dv <- readNWISdv("09010500", "00060")
NWIScitation <- create_NWIS_bib(dv)
NWIScitation
#> U.S. Geological Survey (2025). _National Water Information System data
#> available on the World Wide Web (USGS Water Data for the Nation)_.
#> doi:10.5066/F7P55KJN <https://doi.org/10.5066/F7P55KJN>, Accessed Mar
#> 25, 2025,
#> <https://waterservices.usgs.gov/nwis/dv/?site=09010500&format=waterml%2C1.1&ParameterCd=00060&StatCd=00003&startDT=1851-01-01>.
print(NWIScitation, style = "Bibtex")
#> @Manual{,
#> title = {National Water Information System data available on the World Wide Web (USGS Water Data for the Nation)},
#> author = {{U.S. Geological Survey}},
#> doi = {10.5066/F7P55KJN},
#> note = {Accessed Mar 25, 2025},
#> year = {2025},
#> url = {https://waterservices.usgs.gov/nwis/dv/?site=09010500&format=waterml%2C1.1&ParameterCd=00060&StatCd=00003&startDT=1851-01-01},
#> }Citations for specific datasets should use this format:
National Water Quality Monitoring Council, YYYY, Water Quality Portal, accessed mm, dd, yyyy, hyperlink_for_query, https://doi.org/10.5066/P9QRKUVJ.
This can be done using the create_WQP_bib function:
SC <- readWQPqw(siteNumbers = "USGS-05288705",
parameterCd = "00300")
WQPcitation <- create_WQP_bib(SC)
WQPcitation
#> National Water Quality Monitoring Council (2025). _Water Quality
#> Portal_. doi:10.5066/P9QRKUVJ <https://doi.org/10.5066/P9QRKUVJ>,
#> Accessed Mar 25, 2025,
#> <https://www.waterqualitydata.us/data/Result/search?siteid=USGS-05288705&count=no&pCode=00300&mimeType=csv>.
print(WQPcitation, style = "Bibtex")
#> @Manual{,
#> title = {Water Quality Portal},
#> author = {{National Water Quality Monitoring Council}},
#> doi = {10.5066/P9QRKUVJ},
#> note = {Accessed Mar 25, 2025},
#> year = {2025},
#> url = {https://www.waterqualitydata.us/data/Result/search?siteid=USGS-05288705&count=no&pCode=00300&mimeType=csv},
#> }General Water Quality Portal citations should use the following:
Water Quality Portal. Washington (DC): National Water Quality Monitoring Council, United States Geological Survey (USGS), Environmental Protection Agency (EPA); 2021. https://doi.org/10.5066/P9QRKUVJ.
The Water Mission Area of the USGS supports the development and
maintenance of dataRetrieval, and most likely further into the future.
Resources are available primarily for maintenance and responding to user
questions. Priorities on the development of new features are determined
by the dataRetrieval development team. This software was last released
with USGS record: IP-147158.
This software is preliminary or provisional and is subject to revision. It is being provided to meet the need for timely best science. The software has not received final approval by the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS). No warranty, expressed or implied, is made by the USGS or the U.S. Government as to the functionality of the software and related material nor shall the fact of release constitute any such warranty. The software is provided on the condition that neither the USGS nor the U.S. Government shall be held liable for any damages resulting from the authorized or unauthorized use of the software.