EPA813-F-93-004
September 1993
United States
Environmental Protection
Agency
Office Oi Water(WH-SSOG)
The Minimum
Set Of Data
Elements For
Ground Water
Quality
Fact Sheet On
Implementation
For States, Local
Governments, Tribes,
Federal Agencies,
Grantees, Associations
And The Regulated
Community
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Why a Minimum Set or Data Elements for
Ground Water Quality?
As a part of the Environmental Protection
Agency's (EPA) continuing commitment to
protect the Nation's ground water resources,
the Agency has identified a critical need to
improve the management of ground water
information.
To meet this need, EPA's Office of
Ground Water and Drinking Water, with the
help of numerous State and Federal officials,
has established a Minimum Set of Data
Elements for Ground Water Quality
(MSDE).
What is the MSDE?
The MSDE is "the minimum number of
elements necessary to use ground water
quality data . . . across related programs."
It is a set of 21 ground water quality-related
data elements that contain geographic, well
and sample descriptors.
These data elements form a standard data
set that EPA and States can use to improve
their ability to store and manipulate ground
water data in order to support better
environmental decision-making and promote
the integration of related environmental
programs. The MSDE will also allow EPA,
other Federal agencies and States to share
data across programs to accurately identify
environmental risks associated with ground
water contamination and to measure progress
in efforts to protect ground water.
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Although EPA requires that only EPA and
EPA contractors use the MSDE, EPA
strongly encourages all organizations that
collect ground water quality data to adopt
and use the MSDE. Such organizations
include State and local governments, EPA
grantees, other Federal agencies, the
regulated community, associations and other
members of the ground water community.
What are the benefits of incorporating the
MSDE into ground water-related
activities?
Use of the MSDE will support better
environmental decision-making and promote
the integration of related environmental
programs. MSDE standardizes the collection
and storage of ground water data to allow
efficient sharing of these data.
Such sharing will facilitate effective and
efficient information exchange and program
coordination within and between Federal,
State and local programs, including Wellhead
Protection (WHP) Programs and
Comprehensive State Ground Water
Protection Programs (CSGWPP).
The MSDE will also help organizations
that need additional ground water data but
lack the funds to collect it themselves. The
MSDE can help State or local agencies
access other data bases to find information
before spending often scarce resources to
implement expensive ground water
monitoring programs.
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With widespread use of the MSDE, an
agency can turn to numerous sources for
data, such as:
• EPA's Federal Reporting Data System
(FRDS), which contains data on public
water supplies;
• EPA's Storage and Retrieval (STORET)
system, which contains information on
ambient, intensive survey, effluent and
biological water quality monitoring
information;
• The U.S. Geological Survey's National
Water Information System (NWIS II),
which contains hydrologic and other
information on the Nation's water
resources;
• Information gathered by RCRA and
CERCLA site managers; and
• Local or State health and environmental
departments.
As part of current modernization programs,
the MSDE is being incorporated into the
FRDS, STORET and NWIS systems.
The MSDE can also enhance use of
geographic information systems (GIS),
which rely on data from several sources.
The strength of a GIS lies in its ability to
overlay numerous layers of location-related
information. Because data capture is the
most time-consuming component of GIS
work, efforts to standardize data, by using
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the MSDE, can enhance the use of a CIS.
The MSDE
The Minimum Set of Data Elements are
subdivided into four categories:
1. General Descriptor ft I
2., Geographic Descriptors #2-10
3. Well Descriptors #11-15
4. Sample Descriptors #16-21
The Minimum Set of Data Elements
consists of the following elements:
1. Data Sources
2. Latitude
3. Longitude
4. Method Used to Determine Latitude
and Longitude
5. Description of Entity
6. Accuracy of Latitude and Longitude
Measurement
7. Altitude
8. Method Used to Determine Altitude
9. State FIPS Code
10. County FIPS Code
11. Well Identifier
12. Well Use
13. Type of Log
14. Depth of Well at Completion
15. Screened/Open Interval
16. Sample Identifier
17. Depth to Water
18. Constituent or Parameter Measured
19. Concentration/Value
20. Analytical Results Qualifier
21. '.Quality Assurance Indicator
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How can the MSDE help States with the
development and implementation of
CSGWPPs?
Incorporating the MSDE will assist States
in achieving formal endorsements of their
Core CSGWPPs from EPA. As stated
below, use of the MSDE is one of EPA's
adequacy criteria for Core CSGWPP
endorsement:
The State has defined a set of data
elements to facilitate efficient data sharing
and cross media analyses and to provide
users with consistent and comparable
data.
In addition to facilitating endorsement of a
State's Core CSGWPP, incorporating the
MSDE improves the efficiency and
effectiveness of a CSGWPP. By allowing
States to more easily evaluate hydrogeologic
features, contamination threats and ground
water quality data, the MSDE can help States
develop a CSGWPP that reflects the unique
ground water protection priorities of each
State. Once the CSGWPP is in effect, the
MSDE helps States efficiently measure
progress in and document the success of the
CSGWPP approach at the State level and
will help States reevaluate their CSGWPP
priorities and identify new ground water
protection needs.
MSDE use can also help States develop
WHP Programs. By making ground water
data procurement and 'evaluation less
difficult, the MSDE can help States to meet
two criteria for WHP Programs:
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• Determining appropriate WHP delineation
methods, thresholds and criteria; and
• Identifying and prioritizing sources of
ground water contaminants.
Are other States incorporating the MSDE
into their ground water protection
activities?
A number of States are working towards
incorporating the MSDE into their ground
water programs. For example, various
programs within the Minnesota Pollution
Control Agency (MPCA) stored ground
water data collected in a variety of data bases
and formats that made it difficult to compare
data. MPCA then developed a data base
called the Integrated Ground Water
Information System (IGWIS). As the MSDE
developed, MPCA added MSDE elements
not already included in IGWIS.
MPCA recognized the benefits of
including these minimum data elements in
any comprehensive data bases. Establishing
these data collection standards has helped
MPCA collect, access, share and utilize
ground water data among multiple program
areas.
In Idaho, the Department of Health and
Welfare is completing a modification of their
Drinking Water Information Management
System (DWLMS), which will include
drinking water, surface water and ground
water data. DWIMS is designed to
incorporate the MSDE. Including the MSDE
will help Idaho report public water supply
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data to EPA and enhance Idaho's ability to
interact with other State and Federal data
bases.
Where Can I Get More Information?
More information can be found in:
Definitions for The Minimum Set of
Dam Elements for Ground Water
Quality, EPA 813/B-92-002, July 1992
(guidance document).
Minimum Set of Data Elements for
Ground Water Quality - Brochure
Copies may be obtained by calling:
U.S. EPA
Safe Drinking Water Hotline
1-800-426-4791
or writing:
U.S. EPA
Office of Ground Water and Drinking
Water Resource Center
401 M Street, S.W., RC-4100
Washington, D.C. 20460
For more information on the State
projects contact:
• In Minnesota, Susan Schreifels at
(612) 296-8581 or Shelly Street at
(612) 296-7318; and
• In Idaho, Steve Derapsey at (208)
334-0414 or Derek Thomas at (208)
334-0484.
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