The Water Resource Evaluation (WRE) Section of the City of Austin collects environmental quality data throughout the local area and stores this information in a database. More than 42,000 samples of water, sediment and biological data collected by City Staff at over 1,100 sites in the Austin area are currently stored in the Water Resource Information System (WRIS) database.

You may now directly query the WRIS database using the Database Query Tool. This query tool is the quickest way for you to obtain the water quality data collected by our staff. After selecting the watershed and type of data in which you are interested, you will be linked to the most current results available as a downloadable comma-delimited text file.

At any time, you may click on the Help Icons (question marks) associated with each of the selection criteria to learn more about the options. If you would like our assistance with selecting the data you are interested in, please visit our Data Request Form and a member of the WRE database team will contact you via phone or email; whichever you prefer.

From the Database Query Tool, you may also download a file that contains descriptive data about the locations from which these samples have been collected, including geographic coordinates to assist you in locating these sample sites.

Due to server resource restrictions, we have established a limit of 15,000 records for each query from the Database Query Tool. If your query returns more than the maximum number of records allowable, you will receive an informational warning outlining your options. You may return to the query form and further limit your criteria by reducing the number of items or range of dates selected and download your entire request piecemeal, or you may use the aforementioned Data Request Form.

Begin using the Database Query Tool now.

Please note that only data collected by City of Austin staff is available from the WRIS, although several other agencies including the USGS, TCEQ and LCRA are collecting data from the Austin area. Follow the links below to access data from these other agencies directly.

USGS Water Resources

Tx Commission on Environmental Quality

Lower Colorado River Authority