{"id":5006,"date":"2025-09-23T14:10:43","date_gmt":"2025-09-23T13:10:43","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.bgs.ac.uk\/groundwater\/?page_id=5006"},"modified":"2025-11-11T13:43:31","modified_gmt":"2025-11-11T13:43:31","slug":"about-bgs-groundwater-level-data","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/www.bgs.ac.uk\/groundwater\/data\/groundwater-levels\/groundwater-level-terminology\/about-bgs-groundwater-level-data\/","title":{"rendered":"About BGS&#8217;s groundwater level data"},"content":{"rendered":"\t\t\t<section class=\"hero-section hero-section-with-social\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"hero-info-wrap\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"container\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"row\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"col-12\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"hero-info\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<h1>About BGS&#039;s groundwater level data<\/h1>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t<div class=\"social-wrap social-wrap-inline-them\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"sea-background-f\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<span>Share this article<\/span><a target=\"_blank\"  href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/sharer\/sharer.php?u=https:\/\/www.bgs.ac.uk\/groundwater\/data\/groundwater-levels\/groundwater-level-terminology\/about-bgs-groundwater-level-data\/\"><span class=\"icon-facebook\"><span class=\"hidden\">Facebook<\/span><\/span><\/a><a target=\"_blank\"  href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/intent\/tweet?text=About%20BGS&#8217;s%20groundwater%20level%20data&#038;url=https:\/\/www.bgs.ac.uk\/groundwater\/data\/groundwater-levels\/groundwater-level-terminology\/about-bgs-groundwater-level-data\/\"><span class=\"icon-twitter\"><span class=\"hidden\">Twitter<\/span><\/span><\/a><a   onclick=\"javascript:void( (function() {var e=document.createElement('script' );e.setAttribute('type','text\/javascript' );e.setAttribute('charset','UTF-8' );e.setAttribute('src','\/\/assets.pinterest.com\/js\/pinmarklet.js?r='+Math.random()*99999999);document.body.appendChild(e)})());\"  href=\"javascript:void(0);\"><span class=\"icon-pinterest\"><span class=\"hidden\">Pinterest<\/span><\/span><\/a><a target=\"_blank\"  href=\"https:\/\/wa.me?text=https:\/\/www.bgs.ac.uk\/groundwater\/data\/groundwater-levels\/groundwater-level-terminology\/about-bgs-groundwater-level-data\/\"><span class=\"icon-whatsapp\"><span class=\"hidden\">WhatsApp<\/span><\/span><\/a><a   href=\"mailto:?subject=About%20BGS&#8217;s%20groundwater%20level%20data&#038;body=%20(https:\/\/www.bgs.ac.uk\/groundwater\/data\/groundwater-levels\/groundwater-level-terminology\/about-bgs-groundwater-level-data\/)\"><span class=\"icon-mail\"><span class=\"hidden\">Email<\/span><\/span><\/a><a href=\"#\" data-copy=\"https:\/\/www.bgs.ac.uk\/groundwater\/data\/groundwater-levels\/groundwater-level-terminology\/about-bgs-groundwater-level-data\/\" class=\"copy-url-on-click\"><span class=\"icon-link\"><span class=\"hidden\">Copy Link<\/span><\/span><\/a><\/div><\/div>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/section>\n\t\t\t\n\n\n<section class=\"wp-block-bgs-blocks-content-container content-section\"><div class=\"container\"><div class=\"row\"><div class=\"col-12\">\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Original records<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>Drillers and geologists normally record water levels at the completion of drilling;  further opportunistic measurements may be recorded during hydrogeological site visits. These measurements are normally recorded on the paper well records.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Some boreholes may be selected for intensive monitoring, to build a detailed picture of groundwater behaviour. BGS hold data from national monitoring carried out prior to the 1970s. Since then, the UK&#8217;s monitoring networks have been run by the&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/www.gov.uk\/government\/organisations\/environment-agency\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Environment Agency<\/a> and the&nbsp;<a href=\"http:\/\/www.sepa.org.uk\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Scottish Environment Protection Agency<\/a>, who hold their own data.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>BGS operates several small-scale monitoring networks both as part of individual research projects and at our long-term environmental monitoring sites.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Contours of water table elevations in major aquifers have been drawn up for various aquifers as part of the production of hydrogeological maps and for research.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Digital information<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>BGS hold four distinct collections of digital water level data:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>digitised groundwater contours and model interpolations at regional and national scale<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>measurements from borehole completion reports in the&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/www.bgs.ac.uk\/datasets\/wellmaster-hydrogeological-database\/\">WellMaster<\/a>&nbsp;database<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.bgs.ac.uk\/groundwater\/data\/groundwater-levels\/national-groundwater-level-archive\/\">National Groundwater Level Archive<\/a>, which holds a subset of actively updated national groundwater level monitoring data<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>groundwater level data from research sites and observatories<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n<div  class=\"accordions\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"acc-wrap\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<button class=\"acc-top secondary-background icon-arrow button no-btn\"><span class=\"button-content\" tabindex=\"-1\">Data access<\/span><\/button>\n\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"acc-body sea-background-e\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"col-12 responsive-table\"><table>\n<thead>\n<tr>\n<th data-name=\"Access type\">Access type<\/th>\n<th data-name=\"Dataset\">Dataset<\/th>\n<th data-name=\"Information\">Information<\/th>\n<\/tr>\n<\/thead>\n<tbody><tr>\n<td data-before=\"Access type\">Online access<\/td><td data-before=\"Dataset\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.bgs.ac.uk\/groundwater\/data\/groundwater-levels\/\">Groundwater level information<\/a><\/td><td data-before=\"Information\">Monthly updates of surface water flows and groundwater levels, with a hydrological report<\/tr><tr>\n<td data-before=\"Access type\"><\/td><td data-before=\"Dataset\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.bgs.ac.uk\/map-viewers\/geoindex-onshore\/\">Geoindex onshore<\/a><\/td><td data-before=\"Information\">Map-based browser allowing access to indices of sites where water level data is held by BGS (water wells with water level measurements in the boreholes theme)<\/tr><tr>\n<td data-before=\"Access type\">Licenced datasets<\/td><td data-before=\"Dataset\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.bgs.ac.uk\/datasets\/wellmaster-hydrogeological-database\/\">WellMaster<\/a><\/td><td data-before=\"Information\">Some groundwater level data is held within the WellMaster database<\/tr><tr>\n<td data-before=\"Access type\"><\/td><td data-before=\"Dataset\">Special request<\/td><td data-before=\"Information\">Groundwater level data is not normally sold separately as a licensed product, but BGS does have digital versions of groundwater contours from archive sources and model data that may serve particular client needs;<br \/>\ncontact <a href=\"mailto:enquiries@bgs.ac.uk\">BGS Enquiries<\/a>\u00a0for further information<\/tr><tr>\n<td data-before=\"Access type\">Metadata<\/td><td data-before=\"Dataset\"><a href=\"https:\/\/data.bgs.ac.uk\/id\/dataHolding\/13480430.html\">BGS Data Catalogue entry<\/a><\/td><td data-before=\"Information\">Groundwater level archive BGS Data Catalogue entry is available<\/tbody>\n<\/table><\/div>\n\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t<\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/section>\n\n\n<section class=\"cta-section  sea-background-e \">\n\t<div class=\"container\">\n\t\t<div class=\"row md-row\">\n\t\t\t<div class=\"col-12\">\n\t\t\t\t<h2>Need more information?<\/h2>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"btn-wrap\"><a href=\"mailto:enquiries@bgs.ac.uk\"  class=\"button primary-background   \">Contact BGS Enquiries<\/a><\/div>\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t<\/div>\n<\/section>\n\t","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"","protected":false},"author":7,"featured_media":0,"parent":3469,"menu_order":1,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_relevanssi_hide_post":"","_relevanssi_hide_content":"","_relevanssi_pin_for_all":"","_relevanssi_pin_keywords":"","_relevanssi_unpin_keywords":"","_relevanssi_related_keywords":"","_relevanssi_related_include_ids":"","_relevanssi_related_exclude_ids":"","_relevanssi_related_no_append":"","_relevanssi_related_not_related":"","_relevanssi_related_posts":"1","_relevanssi_noindex_reason":"","footnotes":""},"tags":[],"class_list":["post-5006","page","type-page","status-publish","hentry"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v27.2 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>About BGS&#039;s groundwater level data - BGS 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