Transforming access to U.S. water data at scale

Challenge

USGS is the nation’s leading authority on natural resource data, responsible for collecting, analyzing, & distributing water quality, groundwater, & streamflow data across thousands of monitoring locations. As environmental conditions change rapidly & data volumes increase, the USGS needed a scalable, standards-based solution to help researchers, policymakers, & partner agencies access & use water data more effectively.

Flexion took the challenge to transform how the USGS shares vital water data in a rapidly changing environmental landscape & put this critical data into the hands of those who need it—faster & easier.

Approach

To deliver this operational value, Flexion built a secure, cloud-native platform leveraging modern open-source & AWS technologies:

• Cloud infrastructure on AWS GovCloud: Deployed with AWS CDK for repeatable, compliant, & secure environments handling sensitive federal data.
• Automated, scalable pipelines with Airflow & Glue: Robust ETL pipelines using Apache Airflow & AWS Glue to ingest/process water data at scale, with Apache Iceberg for long-term storage & efficient access to massive datasets.
• Security-first DevOps: GitLab CI/CD pipelines for infrastructure & application changes, following AWS best practices for security, access control, & auditability.
• Reproducibility & auditability by design: Workflows track data lineage, ensure reproducible analysis, & maintain integrity across data updates.

Outcomes

Flexion helped USGS reimagine how its water data supports scientific research & environmental decision-making. Our work improved access, usability, & reliability for the people who depend on this data every day:

• Open, standards-compliant access to critical water data: New interfaces using OGC standards enable easier integration with research platforms & policy dashboards. Users can access real-time sensor readings, discrete sampling data, & site metadata via consistent, interoperable APIs.
• Faster insights for groundwater monitoring: Streamlined National Groundwater Monitoring Network data transformation workflows reduce latency between field collection & scientific availability—delivering up-to-date groundwater trends with less lag & greater accuracy.
• Empowering large-scale environmental analysis: Scalable platforms capable of handling petabytes of water sample data support climate modeling, water quality trend analysis, & ecosystem health assessments—enabling reproducible studies more efficiently.
• Accelerated research & data transparency: Automated pipelines reduce manual touchpoints, speeding validated data delivery to the public, state partners, & academia—supporting open science & cross-agency collaboration.

This work dramatically improved the efficiency & reach of USGS water data systems—empowering scientific discovery, supporting better groundwater policy, & delivering transparent, accessible environmental information to the public. Flexion’s deep collaboration with USGS staff bridged the gap between modern engineering & environmental mission impact.