Making wise decisions about water resources requires access to good data, but until now, finding and accessing up-to-date water quality information required a fair amount of detective work. That’s no longer the case because the Minnesota Pollution Control Agency (MPCA) has made water quality data available through its Environmental Data Access (EDA) Web page at www.pca.state.mn.us/ data/eda/index.html. Examples of data that can be accessed include: water chemistry data, biological monitoring data and summaries of discharge monitoring reports from facilities that hold MPCA water quality permits. Data collected by organizations other than the MPCA is also available through this Web page. The EDA Web page is designed to be user-friendly so that water resource managers, local governments, environmental groups and lake associations can find, view and retrieve water quality data and information easily. Users can locate Minnesota monitoring stations, get basic information about them and download any data that has been collected. “Protecting and restoring Minnesota’s lakes and streams is a priority for the MPCA and the Pawlenty administration,” said MPCA Commissioner Sheryl Corrigan. “This tool will allow parties interested in water quality issues to get information about lakes and streams in their areas and make good decisions about how to protect them or clean them up.” The ability to make water quality data more accessible is the first phase of a larger project to make all MPCA environmental data available through the Web. In 2004, the MPCA intends to make air quality data available in a similar fashion, and in 2005, groundwater data should also be available. For additional information about the EDA Web page, contact John Seaberg at (651) 296-0550 or by e-mail at john.seaberg@pca.state.mn.us.
