Overview of ATTAINS

The Clean Water Act requires states, territories and authorized tribes (states for brevity) to monitor water pollution and report to EPA every two years on the waters they have evaluated. This process is called assessment. Part of this process is deciding which waters do not meet water quality standards because they are too polluted. These degraded waters are called impaired (polluted enough to require action) and are placed on a State list for future actions to reduce pollution.

This information reported to EPA by states is available in ATTAINS. The information is made available via the ATTAINS web reports, as well as through other EPA tools. The ATTAINS web reports provide users with easy access to view the information on the status of waters at the national, state and site-specific waterbody levels. To access this information, click the Get Data/Tool tab above.

For more information about ATTAINS and associated regulations and programs, click the Learn More tab above.

Access ATTAINS Data

Click here to access ATTAINS web reports - The ATTAINS data are presented online in two main report formats (integrated and separate), which reflect how States provide their data to EPA.

Other Tools that Incorporate ATTAINS Data

The following EPA resources also provide access to ATTAINS data:

• Ask WATERS: Ask WATERS answers multi-program questions that draw on information from the databases linked through WATERS.
  • The Simple Query answers frequently asked questions about WATERS data. Its easy-to-use interface returns summary, detailed and graphical results in an easy-to-read format.
  • The Expert Query is a powerful tool consisting of fully interactive database views for users requiring more specific data analyses.
• ATTAINS National Geospatial Downloads: Precut geospatial extracts containing selected ATTAINS database attributes; offered in various GIS formats.
• Environmental Dataset Gateway (EDG) Clip N Ship: An online tool that presents EPA data in a map viewer and allows users to view the data, select an area of interest, and choose an output format to save the content locally.
• How’s My Waterway: A mobile web app and website that helps people find information on the condition of their local waterways using a smart phone, tablet, or desktop computer. It makes science-based water quality information accessible and understandable for everyone.
• My WATERS Mapper: MyWATERS Mapper dynamically displays snapshots of EPA Office of Water program data.
• Reach Address Database (RAD): The RAD stores reach address information for each Water Program feature that has been linked to the underlying surface water features in the National Hydrology Database Plus (NHDPlus) dataset. For the ATTAINS program, if States provide geospatial data that are associated with their Intergrated Reporting data, EPA processes the State geospatial data for submission to the RAD.

ATTAINS Data Submission Tools

Notice: ATTAINS is undergoing a redesign as part of the Water Quality Framework. As such, the tools for states to use for tracking and reporting water quality assessment decisions are under development. During this transition, the following tools will continue to be supported:

• Assessment Database Version 2 (ADB v.2): The ADB v.2 is a distributed relational database application for managing and submitting Integrated Reporting (IR) data. The ADB v.2 web pages are provided as reference for existing ADB v.2 users only.
• ADB-compatible Spreadsheet (5 pp, 69 K) : The ADB-compatible spreadsheet template can be used to submit 305(b)-only or IR (Integrated Reporting) data.
• 303(d) spreadsheet template(7 pp, 134 K) : The 303(d) spreadsheet template can be used to submit 303(d) data only.

The following resources provide additional information related to ATTAINS:

• Information about the contents and structure of the ATTAINS web report formats is available at the following pages:
  • About the Online ATTAINS Integrated Reports
  • About the Online ATTAINS Separate Impaired and Assessed Waters Reports
• Assessing and Reporting Water Quality (Questions and Answers): This fact sheet answers basic questions about how states assess and report on water quality conditions.
• National Water Quality Inventory Report to Congress: This page provides access to historical Reports to Congress on general water quality conditions in the United States.