AWQMS and STORET Data

Phillip Cravatt, Mark LeBaron

A Case Study – Iowa Tribe of Oklahoma

Iowa Tribe of OK: Some Data Issues We Discovered While Using AWQMS

Iowa Tribe of OK: Some Data Issues We Discovered Using AWQMS

Some Data Issues We Discovered Using AWQMS

Challenges for Tribal Water Quality Programs

• Staff turnover• Limited IT budget / support• Wide range of water quality

program maturity levels• Geographically isolated areas

Exchange Network Challenges for Tribal WQ Programs (Cont.)

• No time for “messing” with data• No time for becoming Exchange

Network gurus• Lack of ongoing sustainability• Limited training opportunities/lack

of computer skills training

Consortium of Oklahoma AWQMS Tribes (COATs)

COATs Participants(in no particular order)

• Kickapoo of OK• Tonkawa• Osage• Seminole

• Iowa of OK• Absentee

Shawnee• Otoe-Missouria• Sac and Fox

• Peer Training Network (Shared Costs) – A great idea, but difficult to put into practice

• Initial on-site training sessions for participating tribes

• On-going Monthly Consortium Calls / Webinars to provide refresher and advanced training

• Implemented a consortium web page with links to process definitions and mechanisms to assist group members (FAQs, Webinar Recordings, Etc)

• Implemented a consortium email “listserv” (r6tribesok@awqms.com)

• 7 of 8 tribes in the consortium are submitting data to WQX via AWQMS

Consortium of Oklahoma AWQMS Tribes (COATs)

• Iowa Tribe of Oklahoma Exchange Network Grants• Initially Partnered with Kickapoo and Sac & Fox• Have added 5 additional Tribal Partners in

Oklahoma for a total of 8 tribes• 1 EPA water quality lead at EPA Region 6 has

access to AWQMS for QA/QC assistance• Some funding available for improved capability and

support/training

Consortium of Oklahoma AWQMS Tribes (COATs)

• Implemented sophisticated project level security features in AWQMS

• Implemented a Google map that plots that latest location information from the AWQMS database– Allows you to plot locations where exceedances have

occurred.– Funded initial steps to integrate the map directly into

AWQMS• Implemented new data analysis tools such as:

– Ability to compare variability / sources of variability between/across locations using Analysis of Variance of result values or metric scores.

– Ability to view a plot of a metric scores vs result values for a location over time.

• Powerful statistical library underneath the hood

Consortium of Oklahoma AWQMS Tribes (COATs)

What is AWQMS?• Web-based “Drop-In” System• Focus: Local water quality data management and analysis• Platform for sharing and collaborating regarding water quality

data• Place to secure and back up your water quality data• Utility for transforming and submitting water quality data to

WQX in the format required by the EPA

Major AWQMS Capabilities• Data Consolidation• Data Quality & Consistency Checking• Data Management / Editing Tools• Data Analysis (Reporting and Graphing)Tools• View locations on an integrated Google Map

• (And retrieve data for the locations)• Export and submit data in WQX

Compatible XML Format (insulates you from .

Major AWQMS Capabilities (Cont.)

• Identify Exceedances Based on User-Supplied Criteria / Thresholds

• Export to other crosstab and flat file formats• Can serve as a public water quality portal• Can assist with trip planning• Can be hosted in “the cloud” by Gold Systems or

can be deployed locally

Typical Tribal WQX Flow

ImportText Files

WQX Web

Submit WQX

STORET Data Warehouse

Note: STORET was replaced by WQX. There is no STORET anymore!

WQX Flow for COATs Participants

ImportText Files

AWQMS Submit WQX

STORET Data WarehouseData E

ntry

Rev

iew

/ A

naly

ze

Update / C

orrect

Sha

re

WQX Flow for COATs Participants

ImportText Files

AWQMS

Submit

Data Entry

Rev

iew

/ A

naly

ze

Update / C

orrect

Sha

re

Staging & Validation Area

Management & Analysis AreaMigrate

AWQMS CommunityLocal Installations

• Alaska• Illinois • Kansas• Maryland• Utah• EPA Region 10 Superfund• EPA Region 1• Nez Perce Tribe (Region 10)

Hosted by Gold Systems• 21 Region 8 Tribes• 16 Region 6 Tribes• 17 Region 5 Tribes• 4 Region 9 Tribes• 1 Region 10 Tribe• 50+ Volunteer & “agency”

organizations in CO

Some AWQMS Tribal Statistics

• 59 Tribes Using the Hosted AWQMS• 1 Tribal Deployment• 29 AWQMS Hosted tribes have submitted data to

WQX from AWQMS and we are confident that several more will do so shortly– 2,564,127 Tribal result records in hosted AWQMS

Which Works Better?More SustainableLess Sustainable

The community-based “I’ll Scratch Your Back If You’ll Scratch Mine” approach is more sustainable.

• Added “post-hoc” tests to the new ANOVA feature– Which locations are the source of the variation

and why?• Improving statistical reports and graphs to

better support macroinvertebrates.• Improving reports and graphs to better

support 106 reporting.... And 319??

On-going Improvements to AWQMS

• Added GIS Web Services for COATs– CUAHSI WaterOneFlow HydroServer /

HydroDesktop.• Improved continuous monitoring data

support with auto-creation of summary statistics for WQX submission

• Improved control of the look and “feel” of the graphs

• Automatic synchronization of certain WQX lookup tables (Characteristics, Analytical Methods, etc.)

On-going Improvements to AWQMS

Questions? Please Contact UsPhillip Cravatt(405)547-4362pcravatt@iowanation.org

Sage Deon(505)884-0846sdeon@enipc.org

Mark LeBaron(801) 456-6145 ormark.lebaron@goldsystems.com