HydroLink 2.0

Team Members

• Kaden Davis
• Emily Thelander
• Waylon Walsh

Abstract

The Idaho Department of Environmental Quality (DEQ) collects extensive water quality data through its Beneficial Use Reconnaissance Program (BURP), storing it in the Environmental Data Analysis System (EDAS). However, sharing this valuable data with the broader scientific community has been challenging. HydroLink 2.0 addresses this issue by expanding on the original HydroLink application, which automated the transfer of physio-chemistry data from EDAS to the EPA's Water Quality Portal (WQP) via the Water Quality Exchange (WQX).

This project aims to enhance HydroLink's capabilities to include additional data types such as E. coli, benthic macroinvertebrate, fish, metrics, continuous temperature, and habitat data. By automating the transfer of these diverse datasets, HydroLink 2.0 will significantly improve the accessibility and interoperability of water quality information. This enhancement aligns with DEQ's Data Sharing Strategic Action Plan and supports the principles of FAIR (Findable, Accessible, Interoperable, and Reusable) data.

HydroLink 2.0 will streamline data sharing processes, save time and resources, reduce data entry errors, and facilitate more comprehensive water quality research and management. This project represents a collaboration between Boise State University students and DEQ, contributing to real-world environmental management solutions while providing valuable software development experience.

Project Description: HydroLink 2.0

What We Built

HydroLink 2.0 is software solution designed to streamline the transfer of environmental water quality data from the Idaho Department of Environmental Quality's (DEQ) Environmental Data Analysis System (EDAS) to the Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) Water Quality Portal (WQP) via the Water Quality Exchange (WQX). Building upon the original HydroLink, which focused on physio-chemistry data, we have added support for additional data types, including E. coli, benthic macroinvertebrate, fish, habitat.

Hydrolink 2.0 was built off of the original version from a previous team that served as a proof of concept and only supported physio-chemistry data. This updated version contains many enhancements to both available features and implementation.

Some notable changes:

• Added support for the retrieval and upload of additional data types:

• E. Coli
• Fish
• Benthic Macroinvertebrates
• Habitats
• Continuous temperature data

• Data sets can now be more easily filtered by locations and dates for selectively retrieving and/or uploading data.
• In addition to the required data formatting, Hydrolink 2.0 attempts to find a valid replacement for unrecognized data. This greatly increases the success rate of data validation, making those results available to the public.
• Several minor additions to the user interface that allow for better usability and error correction.
• Changes to implementation:

• Much of the backend has been rewritten to use the Microsoft entity framework for data retrieval and transfer. This provides a layer of abstraction to simplify production and maintenance.
• Data is now stored in strongly typed ‘entity’ objects rather than arrays of strings.
• Optimizations have been made to the database queries and the data structures used to store the results.
• Removed all uses of the WebClient class for which Microsoft no longer provides support.
• The test suite now uses test containers and a reduced database, removing the need to be connected to the EDAS database for testing and allowing testing to be completed from within the CI pipeline.

How It Works

HydroLink 2.0 automates and secures the data transfer process while ensuring compliance with WQX standards. The application:

• Retrieves specific datasets from EDAS using filtering options for date ranges, locations, and dataset types. These options are selected from the user interface.
• Formats the retrieved data to meet WQX specifications and conform to the appropriate templates.
• Uploads the formatted data to the WQP through the WQX API, providing real-time progress tracking and error logging to identify and resolve issues.
• Maintains a history of uploads and ensures adherence to DEQ's existing infrastructure policies.
• Users may also perform test uploads to correct any errors before an official submission.

Purpose

The primary goal of HydroLink 2.0 is to make water quality data more Findable, Accessible, Interoperable, and Reusable (FAIR), aligning with DEQ's strategic objectives. By automating complex data transfer workflows, the system reduces manual effort, minimizes errors, and enhances the availability of critical environmental information. This improves resource management, supports scientific research, and facilitates informed decision-making.

HydroLink 2.0 represents a collaborative effort between Boise State University students and the Idaho DEQ, delivering a scalable, user-friendly, and efficient tool for environmental data management.

With this project, Idaho is one of only two states that have implemented software to automate this otherwise time consuming process.

Examples and Screenshots

Data filtering

Raw data (EDAS)

Data in WQX format (Hydrolink)

Uploading to WQX (Hydrolink)

Successful upload (cdx.epa.gov)

Upload history (Hydrolink)