Full document / COSOC-W-86-002 - the National Sea Grant Library

Estuarineand Coastal Management- Tools of the
Trade. Proceedings of the TenthNationalConference
of The Coastal Society. October 12-15.1986. New
Orleans, LA. Copyright by TheCoastalSociety
1987.
Introduction
THE USE OFTHE NATIONALWATER DATA EXCHANGE
IN SUPPORT OF ESTUARINE ANDCOASTAL PROGRAMS
Owen O. Williams and Melvin D. Edwards
U.S. GeologicalSurvey
Reston.VA 22070
The National Water Oata Exchange (NAWDEX) was established by the U.S.
Geological Survey in 1976. Its program is directed toward Improving
the exchange of water and water-related data collected and made avail
able by hundreds of Federal and non-Federal agencies throughout the
United States.
The use of NAWDEX can provide valuable support to coastal and estuarine
programs by providing information on the availability of quantity
and quality data for surface-water and ground-water in coastal and
estuarine areas. The NAWDEX program maintains direct access to the
computerized water-data systems of the U.S. Geological Survey and the
U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and can provide data from these
systems either In response to data requests or by direct access by the
user organization. The program also maintains close working relation
ships with many other Federal and non-Federal organizations that
serve as sources for water or water-related data, thereby, facilitat
ing user access to data stored by these organizations. This paper
describes the NAWDEX program and the services which can be provided to
assist coastal and estuarine programs.
The Nawdex Program Structure
NAWDEX Is comprised of a membership of Federal and non-Federal organ
izations who work together to improve access to available water data
and to improve the data-exchange process. Membership In the HAWDEX
program 1s accomplished through a Memorandum of Understanding signed
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