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Using The Template For Data Submittals

For larger and/or more complex data sets or organizations with ongoing monitoring programs, Office of Water Quality’s (OWQ’s) Microsoft (MS) Excel data template customized for your organization and monitoring project is a good option for submitting your data to OWQ.

The template is designed to facilitate the entry of your data into OWQ’s Assessment Information Management System AIMS database. Entry into AIMS allows OWQ to more efficiently evaluate your data for potential use in OWQ programs and helps to make it readily available to OWQ programs and other organizations that request it.

Use the button below to request a template. If this is the first time you have used this system, your request will indicate to OWQ that you have elected to use the template instead of online data entry for submitting your water quality data. Note that if your monitoring project is funded with a NPS Program grant, in most cases, you will be required to use the template.

The following instructions will help you use OWQ’s templates for sharing water quality data through the Secondary Data Portal:

1. Request a template by clicking on the “Request a Template” button below. If you are using the template system for the first time, OWQ will send you a Project & Site Location template to fill out with your project information and sampling site location(s). If your project and site(s) are already registered with the system, you will receive a Data Submittal template instead. 
2. Return the completed Project and Site location template. Generally this template is used only once for a project. When you return the completed Project & Site Location template, OWQ will enter this information into the system to get your project set up to use the Data Submittal template for sharing your water quality data.
3. Once OWQ gets your project setup in the system, OWQ will generate a customized Data Submittal template for you to use in submitting your monitoring results and send it to you at the email address you registered with the system.
4. Use your custom template to submit your data. When you are ready to send your data to OWQ, just add your monitoring results to the template and upload it here by clicking the “Upload a Completed Template” button below.
5. Request a fresh template for your next data submittal. Requesting a new template for each data submittal is necessary to help avoid duplication of data entry. Just use the “Request a Template” button below and OWQ will be notified to generate and send you another copy of your custom template.

You may upload your data as often as you wish and at any time. Both the Project & Site Information template and the Data Submittal templates contain an informational sheet in the file to help you complete them.

Any questions on the use of these templates may be directed to the Secondary Data Quality Coordinator by phone at (317) 308-3081 or by email at: Email EDF Support.