Monitoring Data, How to Find and Download

Steps:

  1. Log into SWIMS (http://dnr.wi.gov/lakes/swims)and go to the Reports, Maps and Documents tab. Click Search Monitoring Data at the very top. OR Go to the Find Data tab, click Fieldwork Events (under where it says Monitoring Data).
  2. Change the Search Type to Advanced Search.
  3. Put in either part of the Station Name, or the Station ID. Also enter a date range. The date range will speed up the search. Enter additional search criteria (such as County) if you want to narrow it down more.

    If you don't know the Station ID, go to The Surface Water Data Viewer (http://dnr.wi.gov/lakes/swdv). Use the Zoom To button to go to a place. Then click Layers, Monitoring and Assessment, and check Monitoring Stations. Click Identify, then click a Green Triangle. SWIMS Station ID will appear on the left. You can use this Station ID to search for monitoring data.
  4. When the data comes up, scroll to the very bottom. Click the "Download" link.
  5. Check the columns you want included in your spreadsheet. If in doubt, you can click Select All.
  6. In the Add Level of Detail dropdown box, choose All Results.
  7. Again, check the columns you want included. If you're downloading lake water quality data, be sure to check Result Depth and Header/Labslip Depth.
  8. Click Download the Data.
  9. A window will pop up. Click the Save Option. Leave the file extension (.csv) as is. Save to your hard drive.
  10. Find the file on your hard drive and double click to open. It should open in Excel. Now, you can Save it as an Excel file (rather than .csv) using Save As.

Tips:

  • For certain projects you may be involved with, like Clean Boats, Clean Waters, special reports are available for downloading data. Go to the Reports, Maps and Documents tab to find these options for your project (there should be a link on the right to a report called Watercraft Inspection Data Download).
  • Reports and special data downloads can be found at: Clean Boats, Clean Waters (http://dnr.wi.gov/lakes/cbcw), Lake Water Quality Data (http://dnr.wi.gov/lakes/data), Aquatic Invasives (http://dnr.wi.gov/lakes/ais)

Last Updated: 9/3/2008