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USGS Webinar: Water Data for the Nation – New Features and NWISWeb Decommissioning

Date: January 15, 2026

Time: 2 – 3 PM ET

Location: MS Teams

From the USGS Water Data for the Nation (WDFN) team:

You’re invited to a public USGS Webinar: Water Data for the Nation – New Features and NWISWeb Decommissioning

We want to make you aware of some important upcoming changes coming to how we deliver water data. These changes are part of a long-term effort to modernize our Water Data for the Nation (WDFN) systems, improve performance, and better serve both internal and public users.

We’re still serving up the same data, but how you access and look at it is going to be a little different. This effort started in 2021 with the new Monitoring Location Pages and continues today with modernized delivery tools such as Water Data APIs. Through time we’ve added in-demand features, like daily data, the Combined Location Hydrograph, and All Graphs.

We are also in the process of decommissioning legacy NWISWeb services. This means that pages that you may have relied on for years are going away.

Whether you access USGS water data through user interfaces (UI) or through APIs, the decommission and modernization will impact how you access the data. This webinar will walk you through WDFN data delivery from the new tools to the decommissioning of NWISWeb services.

This webinar will be recorded and will be made available on the public USGS YouTube channel following the event.

What you need to know

  • The majority of NWISWeb pages will be replaced or redirected by March 2026
  • USGS will continue to provide access to high quality water information you know and trust, but the way you access it is changing
  • Legacy NWISWeb pages have been experiencing data integrity issues with some data features related to groundwater already frozen.
  • Expect more pages to be redirected weekly through March; we are staggering the redirects to support issues as they arise.

What’s Changing 

The majority of NWISWeb pages are being retired by March 2026. Users need to begin transitioning to WDFN tools and services.

Access to water data is not going away — but the way you access it may change. The same core data will still be available, but through updated APIs and redesigned user interfaces. Read more about these changes in our blog.

New websites and services are already available. These tools offer improved usability, accessibility, and performance — and reflect our commitment to continual improvement.

Many types of data will be impacted by this decommission, including daily values, field measurements, groundwater, and water use. The legacy current conditions pages that serve cooperator access to continuous data are not impacted and will remain available after March 2026.

Banners will begin appearing in December 2025 on legacy pages affected by the decommission. In addition, a full list of the impacted pages is available in this blog post: NWISWeb Decommission Campaign 2 | Water Data For The Nation Blog.

Legacy NWISWeb is already beginning to experience data integrity issues, and some data features have been frozen as of December 2025. The timeline for this transition has been compressed due to the lapse in appropriations and technical necessity. Expect more pages to be redirected weekly through March 2026, as we group features and respond to user feedback on issues as they arise.

Resources to support you

Thank you for your continued flexibility and dedication. This modernization is a major milestone — and it’s only possible because of the work and insight of people like you.

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