Water is our most precious and essential natural resource.
The quality of that water, therefore, is of utmost importance to the Nation. Whether it is a water sample taken from a river or lake, from a reservoir, or drawn from a well drilled into a bedrock aquifer, chemical data on these water samples are essential building blocks in constructing a national story about our water quality. To be useful, the data must be accurate and they must be timely. This Laboratory is an essential link in a continuum of steps that ensures that the story of our Nation's water quality is told, and is told accurately. Picture if you will the many USGS hydrologists and technicians at work each day all across the Nation.