Policy for Management and Retention of Hydrologic Data of the U.S. Geological Survey In Reply Refer To: Mail-Stop 415 WATER RESOURCES DIVISION MEMORANDUM NO. 92.59 Subject: Policy for Management and Retention of Hydrologic Data of the U.S. Geological Survey The purpose of this memorandum is to announce the adoption of the recommendations contained in Open-File Report (OFR) 92-56 "Policy Recommendations for Management and Retention of Hydrologic Data of the U.S. Geological Survey" as Water Resources Division (WRD) policy. A copy of this report is attached. The report is organized into five sections with one section for each of the following issues: 1. What are original data? 2. What data should be placed in archives? 3. What data should be maintained on line in the National Water Information System II (NWIS-II)? 4. What data, besides that collected by WRD, should be stored in NWIS-II? 5. Who should have access to the data stored in NWIS-II? The recommendations in each section now describe WRD policy on the issue. Background The Strategic Planning Group (SPG), composed of WRD senior managers engaged in planning and directing the design and development of NWIS-II, established the Committee on Hydrologic Data Policy. Members of the committee were chosen to represent a wide range of career experience and technical expertise within WRD. The SPG charged the committee to consider the five issues above, which are critical to the planning and design of NWIS-II. As well as being important to NWIS-II, the first two issues are fundamental to the management and retention of hydrologic data in WRD. The resulting recommendations result from questions that are frequently posed by those in the field charged with the collection, management, and preservation of data. OFR 92-56 was widely circulated in WRD for comment prior to publication. Following the committee's response to the comments, the SPG recommended that the report be published as an OFR. OFR 92-56 is not a manual; it deals with policy matters. Provisions for implementing some of the policies will be built into NWIS-II. Instructions for implementation will either be contained within the documentation for NWIS-II, be issued by the Assistant Chief Hydrologist for Program Coordination and Technical Support (ACH/PC&TS) for aspects of data archiving, or be received from other sources. New Provisions The recommendations of the committee, now WRD policy, generally follow existing WRD policy or custom. There are, however, some areas where significant new policies are established. They are: Issue 1. What are original data? * The term "original data" is given a broader definition (than that usually accepted in the past) to include data received from laboratories and outside sources. * Guidance is provided as to what constitutes original data for legal purposes. * Issue 2. What data should be placed in archives? * An updated list of the kinds of data that should be placed in archives is included in the report. * The responsibility for coordinating the archiving of data is assigned to the ACH/PC&TS. Issue 3. What data should be maintained on line in NWIS-II? * Tables give a schedule of when data should move in NWIS-II from areas of high accessibility (on line) to areas of less accessibility (eventually off line) * Data, once approved and moved from working files, will be archived in NWIS-II and receive the protection necessary for that status. * Once NWIS-II is functional, paper copies will no longer have to be made for archiving hydrologic data that are in electronic form. Issue 4. What data, besides that collected by WRD, should be stored in NWIS-II? * The policy that all WRD data will be stored in NWIS is expanded to include data from outside sources that are used in support of WRD published conclusions and are not archived or published elsewhere. * Placing the results of hydrologic model simulations into NWIS- II is restricted to those models that are approved specifically for this purpose by the discipline offices of PC&TS. (The only model known to presently have this status is BRANCH.) Issue 5. Who should have access to the data stored in NWIS-II? * District offices are allowed to give access to the local approved data base to cooperators and others at their discretion. Access to unapproved data should be granted only to cooperators through a Memorandum of Agreement that spells out terms and conditions of access. Access by others or to national retrievals, however, should be arranged through the facilities of the National Water Data Exchange. Coordination OFR 92-56 was prepared with consideration of the provisions of OFR 91-525 "System Requirements Specification for the NWIS-II." The policies established by this memorandum are intended to be completely compatible with the provisions of OFR 91-525. The Survey Manual and the Handbook for Managing USGS Records (432-1-H) prescribe how records shall be managed. Disposition of hydrologic data is described in the document "Water Resources Division Mission-Specific Records Disposition Schedule, October 1990." The policies established by this memorandum are intended to be consistent with this schedule. Superseded Documents WRD Memorandum No. 77.83 is superseded. The provisions in WRD Memorandum No. 87.85 will be superseded when NWIS-II is operational. WRD Memorandum No. 86.28 is superseded. Office of Surface Water Technical Memorandum No. 78.05 is superseded but will be updated to conform with OFR 92-56. Extra Copies A limited number of extra copies of this report are available from the author at: U.S. Geological Survey 415 National Center Reston, Virginia 22092 (703) 648-5312 Philip Cohen Chief Hydrologist Attachment WRD Distribution: A, B, FO, P0, & SL SELECTED LIST: Chief, Branch of Regional Research, ER (5 copies) Chief, Branch of Regional Research, CR (10 copies) Chief, Branch of Regional Research, WR (5 copies) WATER RESOURCES DIVISION MEMORANDUM NO. 92.59