Water quality monitoring is essential to effective water resource management at all scales. The Indiana Department of Environmental Management (IDEM) Office of Water Quality (OWQ) recognizes that secondary water quality data (i.e., data not collected by OWQ) can be quite useful to its programs for decision-making and other water resource management purposes and invites all individuals and organizations collecting water quality data on Indiana waters to share their results with the OWQ.
OWQ provides a number of pathways to help individuals and organizations share the water quality data they collect with OWQ all of which are accessible through the Secondary Data Portal. The Secondary Data Portal provides access to a number of options available to facilitate greater data sharing with IDEM, including user-friendly online data entry forms and downloadable Microsoft Excel template.
Individuals and organizations interested in sharing their water quality data through the OWQ External Data Framework may enter their data online or use Microsoft (MS) Excel templates customized and provided by OWQ for to record their results and upload them to the data entry page. In addition to these options, OWQ also provides technical assistance to organizations with larger, more complex data sets to facilitate sharing their data through an Electronic Data Interchange (EDI) if needed.
Organizations that are conducting water quality monitoring under a Nonpoint Source Program grant agreement have two options for submitting their data to IDEM using either the online data entry forms or the MS Excel templates provided by OWQ that once completed, can be uploaded to the data entry page.
Hoosier Riverwatch volunteers should enter their data directly into the Hoosier Riverwatch Database using the online data entry forms. Likewise, volunteers conducting monitoring on Indiana lakes and Reservoirs as part of the Indiana Clean Lakes Program are encouraged to continue submitting their data directly to that program through its own online database.
- External Data Framework Data and IDEM Nonpoint Source Program Data Submittals
- Hoosier Riverwatch Volunteer Data Entry
- Indiana Clean Lakes Program Volunteer Data Entry
Contact the Secondary Data Coordinator via the Office of Water Quality if you have any questions regarding the EDF and how to begin sharing your water quality monitoring data with IDEM OWQ.