Brettschneider, KarenProceedings: The State of the Bay Symposium V. January 31 - February 2, 20012010-02-152010-02-152001http://hdl.handle.net/1969.3/26189pgs. 115-123The Houston-Galveston Area Council of Governments (H-GAC) has developed a water quality clearinghouse with data collected throughout the Gulf Coast Planning Region. The clearinghouse is distributed through H-GAC's website, where users of all levels can access data. H-GAC compiles data from five different local government agencies under a regional Quality Assurance Project Plan as well as from the Texas Natural Resource Conservation Commission (TNRCC) for the database. Data received from each local agency are formatted to TNRCC specifications and quality assured. A portion of this data is then sent to TNRCC for inclusion in the state Surface Water Quality Monitoring database. Collectively, there are over 40 parameters monitored at over 350 stations throughout the 13-county region. Through the Internet, users can interactively map stations based on their area of interest and view information associated with each station. The user can then go to the water quality database and retrieve data. The database contains field and conventional parameters, bacteriological, metals, and Quality Assurance data. Users may view the data by parameter, station, or TNRCC-designated segment, interactively graph data for a user-defined time period, or download a set of data directly. The website also contains general water quality information, state water quality standards, and explanations of what each parameter indicates about the health of the water body.water quality clearinghouseChapter