NWISweb Decommission Campaign 2

Details of NWISweb Decommission Campaign 2 from November 2026 to February 2026

This blog will share information on NWISweb Decommission Campaign 2, the first of a set of three campaigns to decommission legacy NWISweb pages currently hosted at https://waterdata.usgs.gov . Campaign 2 is expected to be ongoing from November 2025 through February 2026.

Legacy NWISweb Decommissions

A couple of key notes about this campaign:

• Some legacy pages included in this campaign include RDB or tabular output. These features will not be provided on WDFN. In some cases, WDFN APIs provide similar functionality with details provided in the Special Use Cases section of this blog.

Table 1: Legacy NWISweb Campaign 2 Decommission Scope

URL Cleanup

The full listing of URL cleanup categories included in Campaign 2 are in the following table. A couple of key notes about this campaign:

• A best practice in web design is to retire redirects after a year. There are a variety of benefits including keeping the search engines up to date on the best pages to send traffic to. Campaign 1 introduced redirects a year ago, so in Campaign 2 the team will do the final cleanup where the page no longer exists and there is no longer a redirect. If any bookmarks or external links have not been updated, users will receive 404: Page not Found errors for these pages. Reach out to wdfn@usgs.gov if you need support finding the new link.

Table 2: Campaign 2 URL Cleanup Scope

Special Use Cases

We know that the redirect will not handle all uses of existing pages. This section covers known special use cases of decommissioned pages that may want to explore other options in WDFN. Each section discusses the capability of legacy and what options are available that were not automatically handled by the redirect. This guide will be updated as questions come in through user support to help guide users working through common issues.

Capability: Using Filters to Make List of Sites

Applies to: Daily Values (/dv)

Within the pages being decommissioned, there are several instances of NWISweb pages where users can utilize filters to sort through monitoring locations. When these filters are used, the most commonly selected output is a list of sites that match the filters.

WDFN will handle looking for locations differently from legacy with either a map-based or web service option to filter sites.

If you are looking to find locations, try out Explore USGS water data which uses a combination of map and data filters to help users find locations that collect data of interest. Explore USGS Water Data currently includes locations that collect continuous (sensor) or water quality samples data, and we plan to add filters to provide insight into locations that collect daily values and other data collection types are the services to support that become available.

Alternatively, it may be easiest to pull the data using the services:

• Full catalog of data services, including daily values, field measurements: Water Data APIs
• Looking for reference lists describing our short codes? Reference lists available as metadata services
• To get multiple sites returned in a single call, create a complex query
• Import USGS data into GIS easily. Example of how to include into QGIS
• If you are working in R or Python, consider using dataRetrieval: Retrieval functions for USGS and EPA hydrology and water quality data with dataRetrieval

Capability: Tabular or RDB outputs

Applies to: Current Conditions (/current), Daily Values (/dv), Water Quality (/qwdata)

Some users may have been displaying the data in tabular or RDB output.

Currently we have not found a complete solution for our wide tables or RDB formats in WDFN, as modern federal website design guidelines require us to design with mobile devices in mind. WDFN has simple tables and leaves the detailed structured data to the web services.

Monitoring Location Pages now include both continuous sensor data as well as daily values. Under the “View data record” button, a table is available detailing all the records that are currently shown on the graph. The available data to graph is shown directly below the buttons; changing the data on the graph changes what is available in the table of data records.

Alternatively, it may be easiest to pull the data using the web services:

• Full catalog of data services, including daily values, field measurements: Water Data APIs
• Looking for reference lists describing our short codes? Reference lists available as metadata services
• To get multiple sites returned in a single call, create a complex query
• Import USGS data into GIS easily. Example of how to include into QGIS
• If you are working in R or Python, consider using dataRetrieval: Retrieval functions for USGS and EPA hydrology and water quality data with dataRetrieval

Capability: Series of Graphs

Applies to: Daily Values (/dv)

Current Conditions (/current) and Daily Values (/dv) can be configured to show a page with a series of graphs with selected data. The data shown could be for one or more locations at a time. Many users have bookmarked pages with this configuration that cannot be redirected correctly.

Similar capability has been included in My Favorites for graphs showing the latest conditions. Learn more about the My Favorites page to see if it works for you. To reset your bookmark, use the following steps:

1. Open an unconfigured My Favorites page. Keep your legacy url nearby for reference.
2. Follow the three steps under the “Customize favorites” button.
   1. For configured locations, you may have a list already available in your legacy URL. Locations are 8 to 15 digit numbers and are in the url after “site_no” or “multiple_site_no” generally. Pressing the “update locations” button updates the page with the names of those sites and the data available.
   2. Still can’t find your location identifier or want to look for other locations? Use the map on National Water Dashboard to find the correct location and copy the ID over to the My Favorites list.
   3. Select the data in which you are interested. Any data you do not select will not be shown on the graph view, so think about which are useful to see graphed!
   4. Below the configuration is a list of the latest value for all the data selected. You can use this list as a quick check that the right locations and data are showing up.
3. To see all the data graphs from your favorites list, start by selecting the “Graph favorites” button. In this case, we want to select the second option “Show selected locations and data types as graphs on a single page”. Follow the instructions to select the data you want graphed (select the “All” button to save yourself some clicks).
4. The links for “Grouped by location” and “Grouped by data type” bring you to a page that should feel familiar to you, with a series of graphs for the locations you selected. Remember to bookmark this new page!

What should users do as we decommission?

• Attend the webinar on Campaign 2. On Thursday, December 19th at 2 PM EST / 11 AM PST, join our Teams Live Event to learn about the NWISweb decommission. Missed the webinar? The recording will be posted shortly afterwards and linked here. Reach out with follow-up questions to wdfn@usgs.gov .
• Identify the pages you rely on; check out the associated WDFN page if you haven’t seen it before.
• Move your bookmarks early. If you use a bookmark to a decommissioned page, consider taking the following steps:
  • Explore the new page! Many of our new pages can be configured to your liking and the default state may not be the best match for what you want to see when the page loads. Press buttons and change your views of the data until you find the one that works best for you. If this page doesn’t seem like it fits what you were doing before, review the Special Use Cases section of this blog to see if we have any advice. Reach out to wdfn@usgs.gov with questions, we are here to help.
  • Reset your bookmark. Once you have the page configured as you like or have found a better page to use, make sure to reset your bookmarks. The redirects will be up for 1 year but after that you will lose direct access with your current bookmark.