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Water: Services

Mapping Services

Description

WATERS exposes several mapping services that provide access to numerous datasets. This web page describes the content and purpose of each mapping service.             

Each service is provided in ESRI proprietary formats Exit EPA Disclaimer and Open Geospatial Consortium Exit EPA Disclaimer open standards formats to enable the display and query of spatial WATERS data. Non-developers can utilize these services using a variety of mapping and GIS applications. Using such tools, the WATERS mapping services can be used as a data source, transparently integrated with other data sources such as shapefiles or geodatabase layers. For developers, custom html-based web applications can be created that use standard web and mapping service syntax to make requests for data in order to display maps or tabular information.

Environment

Diagram outlining WATERS Environment 

ArcGIS Server

ArcMap Based Map Document 

For convenience, WATERS provides a preconfigured ArcMAP based map document that contains pointers to the available ArcGIS based WATERS datasets. The MXD utilizes the Web Mercator MapServer services and requires the use of ESRI ArcMap 9.2 (or greater). WATERS also offers the WATERKMZ files that are KML (Google Earth) based documents.

Download
WATERSGEO_SERVICES.zip

Download the archive and extract the ArcMap MXD to your local filesystem.  Then open the MXD from within ArcMap.
OW

  Format            
Service Name Map Server OGC WFS OGC WMS KML Server REST Cache Description
NHD_Med_Basic_Reached_WMERC check   check check check check Provides access to the reachable features of the medium resolution National Hydrography Dataset (NHD). This service is specifically set up to support consumers that are indexing or viewing the results of indexing to the NHD. This service is pre-projected in the Web Mercator projection.
NHD_Med_Basic_WMERC check   check check check check Provides access to surface waters NHD features including Major Rivers and Major Waterbodies along with the medium resolution NHD.
NHD_Med_Detailed_NAD83 check check check   check   Provides access to surface waters NHD features including Major Rivers and Major Waterbodies, medium resolution NHD, and provides labeling.
NHD_Med_Detailed_WMERC check   check check check check Provides access to the medium resolution National Hydrography Dataset (NHD) stored in WATERS. This service is pre-projected in the Web Mercator projection.
NHDPlus_Catchments_Smoothed_NAD83  check  check  check    check   Provides access to the NHDPlus Exit EPA Disclaimer Smoothed Catchments data set stored in WATERS.
NHDPlus_Catchments_Smoothed_WMERC  check    check  check  check  check Provides access to the NHDPlus Exit EPA Disclaimer Smoothed Catchments data set stored in WATERS. This service is pre-projected in the Web Mercator projection.
WBD_NAD83 check check check   check   Provides access to NRCS HUC2, HUC4, HUC6, HUC8, HUC10 and HUC12 polygons for the Watershed Boundary Dataset (WBD).
WBD_WMERC check   check check check check Provides access to NRCS HUC2, HUC4, HUC6, HUC8, HUC10 and HUC12 polygons for the Watershed Boundary Dataset. This service is pre-projected in the Web Mercator projection.
LEGACYWBD_NAD83 check check check   check   Provides access to Legacy HUC2, HUC4, HUC6 and HUC8 polygons for the Watershed Boundary Dataset (WBD).
LEGACYWBD_WMERC check   check check check check Provides access to Generalized Legacy HUC2, HUC4, HUC6 and HUC8 polygons for the Watershed Boundary Dataset. This service is pre-projected in the Web Mercator projection.
OWPROGRAM
 
  Formats            
Service Name Map Server OGC WFS OGC WMS KML Server REST Cache Description
STORET_NAD83  check  check  check  check  check   Provides access to the STORET (short for STOrage and RETrieval) data warehouse water monitoring locations.

OWRAD

  Formats            
Service Name Map Server OGC WFS OGC WMS KML Server REST Cache Description
ALL_OWRAD_NAD83  check  check  check    check   Provides a centralized service that exposes all the reach addressed layers in one service.
303D_WMERC  check    check  check  check  check Provides access to the reach addressed ATTAINS 303(d) impaired waters data stored in WATERS. This service is pre-projected in the Web Mercator projection.
305B_WMERC  check    check  check  check  check Provides access to the reach addressed ATTAINS 305(b) Assessed waters data stored in WATERS. This service is pre-projected in the Web Mercator projection.
BEACH_WMERC  check    check  check  check  check Provides access to the reach addressed Beaches data stored in WATERS. This service is pre-projected in the Web Mercator projection..
CBR_WMERC  check    check  check  check  check Provides access to the reach addressed Clean Water State Revolving Fund (CWSRF) Benefits Reporting data in WATERS. This service is pre-projected in the Web Mercator projection.
CSO_WMERC  check    check  check  check  check Provides access to the reach addressed Combined Sewer Overflow (CSO) data stored in WATERS. This service is pre-projected in the Web Mercator projection.
CWNS_WMERC  check    check  check  check  check Provides access to the reach addressed Clean Water Needs Survey (CWNS) data stored in WATERS. This service is pre-projected in the Web Mercator projection.
FISH_WMERC  check    check  check  check  check Provides access to the reach addressed Fish Consumption Advisories (FCA) data stored in WATERS. This service is pre-projected in the Web Mercator projection.
FSHTD_WMERC  check    check  check  check  check Provides access to the reach addressed Fish Tissue Samples (FTS) data stored in WATERS. This service is pre-projected in the Web Mercator projection.
GRTS_WMERC  check    check  check  check  check Provides access to the reach addressed nonpoint source project data stored in WATERS. This service is pre-projected in the Web Mercator projection.
NDZ_WMERC  check    check  check  check  check Provides access to the reach addressed sewage No-Discharge Zones (NDZ) data stored in WATERS. This service is pre-projected in the Web Mercator projection.
PCS_WMERC  check    check  check  check  check Provides access to the reach addressed Facilities that Discharge to Water data stored in WATERS. This service is pre-projected in the Web Mercator projection.
STORET_WMERC  check    check  check  check  check Provides access to the reach addressed STORET (short for STOrage and RETrieval) water monitoring locations  stored in WATERS. This service is pre-projected in the Web Mercator projection.
TMDL_WMERC  check    check  check  check  check Provides access to the reach addressed Total Maximum Daily Loads data stored in WATERS. This service is pre-projected in the Web Mercator projection.
ArcGIS Usage Notes 
  • WATERS data is served in both the NAD83 (_NAD83) and Web Mercator projections (_WMERC). Services are postfixed with either _WMERC or _NAD83 to indicate their purpose.  Caching - WATERS services utilize caching to optimize server performance.
  • Caching is a process whereby cartographies are prerendered at specific scales and stored as small images or tiles. These small images may be provided to web clients much faster than rendering the cartography on demand. Both on demand and pre-caching strategies are used for Web Mercator based services. WATERS will continue to enhance and build out the cache in strategic areas.
  • Symbology - WATERS is continually reevaluating WATERS dataset styles. The cartography of the services is still a work in progress. Efforts are underway to resemble the cartography of both the USGS NHD SLD and ESRI's upcoming NHDPlus base map.
  • Keyhole Markup Language - Some _WMERC services contain Layers with a (KML) postfix. These layers are specifically configured to serve KML clients by working around symbology limitations inherent in the format. See the KML specification Exit EPA Disclaimer for more information on the types of symbology available using KML services.

Service Formats

Format Description
OGC WMS (Web Mapping Service) Open standards service format defined by the Open Geospatial Consortium Exit EPA Disclaimer. Supported by a wide range of mapping clients, this is an ideal format for developers to consume WATERS mapping services.
OGC WFS (Web Feature Service) Open standards service format defined by the Open Geospatial Consortium Exit EPA Disclaimer. Supported by a wide range of mapping clients, this is an ideal format for developers to consume WATERS mapping services.
MapServer Service format provided by ESRI corporation through their ArcGIS Server product. Requests are formatted as SOAP Exit EPA Disclaimer commands with results returned as images.
KMLServer Open standards service format defined by the Open Geospatial Consortium Exit EPA Disclaimer. Supported by a wide range of mapping clients, this is an ideal format for developers to consume WATERS mapping services.
REST Representational State Transfer (REST), provides a simple, open Web interface to services hosted by ArcGIS Server. All resources and operations exposed by the REST API are accessible through a hierarchy of endpoints or Uniform Resource Locators (URLs) for each GIS service published with ArcGIS Server.

Metadata

EPA mapping services are described and their access endpoints detailed via their entries at the EPA Environmental Dataset Gateway (EDG). Search for the service name above to discover metadata and access information regarding each service. 

Changelog

Version: 3.0.0 - Released: May 3, 2012 

  • ArcIMS services decommissioned on 05/02/2012.
  • WQS mapping services decommissioned on 04/15/2012.  See WQS data download for data.

Version: 2.4.2 - Released: November 22, 2010  

  • Released updated version of the WATERSGEO_SERVICES.mxd file. The WATERS Service endpoints were updated to point to the WATERS dynamic services. The change was made to allow users to selectively turn on and off geometry types (Points, Lines, and Polygons).

Version: 2.4.1 - Released: September 13, 2010  

  • Released updated version of the WATERSGEO_SERVICES.mxd file. The endpoints for the WATERS services were updated to point to the WATERS Web Mercator services instead of the NAD83 ones. The update was based on ESRI's decision to migrate the ArcGIS Online maps to the Google/Bing Maps tiling scheme.

Version: 2.4 - Released: August 20, 2010  

  • Deployed a new ArcGIS service that exposes the water monitoring locations from the STORET Warehouse.
  • Deployed a new ArcGIS service that exposes the indexed water monitoring locations from the WATERS database.
  • Updated the ALL_OWRAD_NAD83 ArcGIS service to include indexed STORET water monitoring locations.
  • Released updated version of the WATERSGEO_SERVICES.mxd file. The file contains pointers to the newly deployed STORET services.

Version: 2.3 - Released: February 09, 2010  

  • Deployed new ArcGIS services that expose the legacy WATERS WBD dataset.
  • Released updated version of the WATERSGEO_SERVICES.mxd file. The file contains a pointer to the newly deployed legacy WBD service.

Version: 2.2 - Released: December 30, 2009  

  • Updated version of the WATERSGEO_SERVICES.mxd file released. Updates include
  1. Added State and Region based Bookmarks
  2. Added link to ESRI World Shaded Relief layer
  3. Other miscellaneous changes

Version: 2.1 - Released: November 10, 2009  

  • Reinstituted ArcIMS and ArcGIS TMDL mapping services.

Version: 2.0 - Released: August 31, 2009  

  • Initial version of ArcGIS 9.3.1 based mapping services released.

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