Providing Data for the Integrated Report

Section 303(d) of the Clean Water Act requires each state to identify waters of the United States that do not meet or are not expected to meet by the next listing cycle, applicable water quality standards and to prioritize those waters for total maximum daily load development, unless other corrective action is appropriate. Section 305(b) of the Clean Water Act requires each state to report on the overall condition of its surface waterbodies. California combines its 303(d) lists and 305(b) reports into a single “California Integrated Report.” Please refer to the California Integrated Report webpage for more information. The Water Quality Control Policy for Developing California’s Clean Water Act Section 303(d) List (Listing Policy) describes the water quality assessment process and specifies that data and information for this process must be submitted into CEDEN and evaluated for sufficient quality. There is an alternative process outlined in data solicitation notices for data and information not suitable for CEDEN, such as photographs, quality assurance project plans (QAPPs), or continuous monitoring data.

Data submitted for assessment must meet CEDEN the format, vocabulary, and business rule requirements defined in the data submittal templates, and guidance documents, and successfully pass the Template Checker. Data must also meet the submission requirements described in most current Integrated Report Data Solicitation Notice.

A QAPP, or equivalent is required to determine the quality of the data and information being used for assessment. QAPPs or QAPP equivalent documentation should be submitted using the Integrated Report Document Upload Portal. Be sure to reference the CEDEN project code(s) that applies to the QAPP or QAPP equivalent. This effectively associates the QAPP or QAPP equivalent documentation to the data. If QAPP or equivalent documentation is not received, or cannot be associated with submitted data, the data may not be further assessed for the Integrated Report. See the graphic and table below for details on submission type requirements.

What are CEDEN compatible data?

CEDEN compatible data sets include water chemistry, sediment chemistry, toxicity, tissue and bioassessment data, along with associated geospatial information (e.g., latitude, longitude of sampling locations). CEDEN compatible data must be submitted through CEDEN.
CEDEN accepts the following data types:

• Chemistry: laboratory results from water samples or sediment samples
• Field collection: measurements collected in the field, including data from field probes and habitat surveys
• Toxicity: laboratory results from water column or sediment toxicity tests
• Tissue: laboratory results from fish tissue or other tissue samples
• Bioassessment: habitat measures and observations, and measurements of biology such as benthic macroinvertebrate and algae taxonomy

For instructions on submitting data to CEDEN, see Data and Information Submittal Requirements.

For instructions on submitting a QAPP or QAPP equivalent documentation for CEDEN compatible data, see Data and Information Submittal Requirements.

What are Non-CEDEN compatible data and information?

Data and information that are not CEDEN compatible include continuous monitoring data (e.g., data collected by an in-situ sonde) and narrative or photographic evidence.

For instructions on submitting non-CEDEN compatible data, see the Data and Information Submittal Requirements.

For instructions on submitting a QAPP or QAPP equivalent documentation for non-CEDEN data, see the Data and Information Submittal Requirements.

If you would like to submit data for the Integrated Report, please see the “Submit Data” page to get started.

If you have any questions about submitting data to CEDEN, please email ceden@waterboards.ca.gov.

If you have questions about submission requirements for the Integrated Report, the Listing Policy, or uploading to the Integrated Report Document Upload Portal, please see the Surface Water Quality Assessment page or email WQAssessment@waterboards.ca.gov.

Preparing your data to meet CEDEN and Integrated Report requirements can be time consuming and the vocabulary request process can take several weeks of processing time, so please plan accordingly.

The 2026 Integrated Report Data Solicitation Period is now open. The data cut-off date is October 21, 2022. Please refer to the data solicitation guidance for more information about submitting data suitable for assessment for the 2026 Integrated Report.

State Water Resources Control Board 1001 I Street Sacramento, CA 95814 © California Environmental Data Exchange Network (CEDEN)