# Presentation: 098131

## Managing Monitoring Data from Many Sources A New Hampshire Experience

**Deb Soule**
**Watershed Management Bureau**
**New Hampshire Department of Environmental Services**
**May 9, 2006**

## Items to be covered

**Background on NHDES monitoring data**
**Development of our own database based on EPA’s STOrage and RETrieval (STORET) database**
**Web access to database**
**Electronic data submittal process**
**Next steps - Using the Water Quality Exchange Schema**

## Prior to 2003, how would you obtain NHDES water monitoring data?

**  ****Be on the inside track - know someone who knew where the data was**
**  ****Sort through paper lab data in file cabinets**
**  ****Weed through disks and databases of various formats**

## We looked for a better solution.

**Reviewed commercial databases (we’re too cheap)**
**Asked other states if we could copy their database (cheap option but not fruitful)**
**Reviewed STORET (didn’t fit all our needs)**
**Formed a department wide committee to develop a database (couldn’t get consensus)**
**Began development of our own database in the bureau**

## Database development process

**Bureau met every 2 weeks for several months to determine needs/wants**
**STORET structure and requirements were used as guidance**
**Organizations/Programs/Projects/Stations/Activities**
**Program needs were incorporated**
**Business plan was developed**

## Core database is developed

**Called the Environmental Monitoring Database (EMD), it was built:**
**by one developer in-house in 4 months**
**by a total design/development team of 3 people: business analyst, developer, and database administrator**
**using Oracle forms 6i with Oracle 8i for the back end**
**while working on other databases/projects**
**Imported almost all old bureau data (in electronic format)  **
**Has automatic nightly imports of DES State Lab and bureau’s Limnology Lab data**

## EMD facts

**Went live March 2003**
**Accepts both field and lab data for air, water, soil, product etc.  **
**Accepts QA/QC samples and automated data logger files**
**Handles physical/chemical data – biological later**
**Has over 110 projects, 15,000 stations, 241,000 activities, and 1,870,000 results**
**Contains 64 screens and 48 tables (for main part of database only)**

## EMD features

**Contains modules to track complaints, beach inspections and shellfish sanitary surveys**
**Fulfills beach reporting requirements (both monitoring and advisory)**
**Can be linked to the Assessment Database (ADB) and is used as the basis for developing automated assessments**
**Can easily create STORET Import Module (SIM) compatible export files for upload to STORET**

## The EMD expands within NHDES

**Other bureaus/divisions contribute data**
**Superfund**
**Site Remediation**
**Geology Unit**
**Wastewater**
**Developed direct links between their databases and the EMD **
**Developed department wide committee to collectively create changes to the database**

## The EMD beyond NHDES

**Outside agencies/groups contribute data**
**University of NH**
**Several volunteer monitoring groups**
**Working with other agencies to bring in their data**
**We enhance/standardize their data to meet database requirements**
**Will upload to STORET for them free of charge**
**Why do we do this? We want/need data for assessments and the EMD is the basis for assessment data.**

## EMD data available on the web

**Went live June 2004**
**Only “final” data is available**
**Can query by:**
**Organization****	****Project Name****	****	****Station ID**
**Station Type****	****Town****	****	****	****County**
**State****	****	****Waterbody Name****	****River Name**
**Designated River****	****HUC 12 Name****	****	****Analyte**
**Medium**
**Data returned via email in Excel/pipe delimited file complete with your query parameters**
**Data available via: **_**http://www2.des.state.nh.us/OneStop/Environmental_Monitoring_Query.aspx**_**	****	**

## Electronic data submittal to the EMD via the web

**Needed a way to receive standardized monitoring data electronically from consultants, outside labs, volunteers, cooperating agencies etc.**
**Developed Excel spreadsheets to import station and activity data separately (with XML planned for the future).**
**Developed web registration and submittal forms with data validation tool.**
**Developed interim table to capture what was being submitted, by whom, when etc.**

## Next steps

**Update EMD to Environmental Sampling, Analysis and Results (ESAR) data standards**
**Report data to EPA via Water Quality Data Exchange (WQX)**
**Eliminate local copy of STORET**
**Add biological component to EMD**
**eventually eliminate local copy of Ecological Data Application System (EDAS) **
**Update web site to include:**
**graphing capabilities**
**geographic queries**

## Questions?

_**Contact Information:**_
**Deb Soule**
**Business Systems Analyst**
**Watershed Management Bureau**
**New Hampshire Department of Environmental Services**
_**[dsoule@des.state.nh.us](mailto:dsoule@des.state.nh.us)**_
**(603) 271-8863**