Distance from the Reference Point to where the measurement was taken. Positive values represent depths below the reference point. Negative values represent distance above the reference point.

records with an indicated Field Collection Reference Point

There can only be one depth associated with each instrument deployment.

• 7.5 - if the instrument you were using was measuring 7.5 centimeters below Water Surface.
• -5 - if the instrument you were using was measuring 5 feet above Land Surface.

If depth varies over the deployment period, you can either enter the time-series data without an associated depth, or you will need to enter your results using the EIM Result Template as discrete data.

For temporal composites, including passive samples, this is the date the composite ended.

MM/DD/YYYY

• 06/23/1999
• 03/05/2023

Leave blank for discrete samples.

Only for data collection that took place over time, such as for temporal composites and other special cases.

Indicates how accurate the measurement date is.

Measurements

Most values should be “D.”

For some older water level measurements, the day wasn't logged.

Unit of measure associated with the Field Collection Depth.

records with an indicated Field Collection Depth

State or province where field location exists.

location is outside WA

If your location is outside WA, fill in the state code, otherwise EIM won’t recognize your coordinates.

Comments or descriptive information about the collection of data in the field.

Free text.

• No odor, no sheen

You can have only one Field Collection Comment per field collection event.

A field collection event is:

• All measurements collected at the same location, depth, date, time, matrix and source

If you enter more than one Field Collection Comment per field collection event, EIM only takes the first one loaded and any others get deleted.

If you want to comment about a particular result or group of results within a field collection event, enter it as a Water Level Comment.

Download help for How to Use EIM’s Comment fields.

A summary of the Quality Assurance Project Plan (QAPP) or Sampling and Analysis Plan (SAP) approved for the Study.

A QAPP or SAP is required for Study QA Planning Levels 3 and 4.

Free text.

• Monitoring for Total Dissolved Gas (TDG) in the Pend Oreille River, for development of TDG Total Maximum Daily Load (TMDL). TDG will be monitored continuously near Ruby. Data quality, analytical, and reporting procedures are described.

For QAPPs and SAPs developed outside of Ecology, include information on where they can be viewed or located.

For temporal composites, including passive samples, time that field data collection ended, in local time.

HH:MM:SS or HH:MM

• Enter 24-hour time
• Enter local time

• 19:40:36 (interpreted as 7:40 PM)
• 9:56 (interpreted as 9:56 AM)
• 00:00:00 (interpreted as 12 AM midnight)

Leave blank for unknown time - don’t enter zero.

Leave blank for discrete samples. Only for data collection that took place over time, like temporal composites and other special cases.

Distance from Reference Point to upper boundary where field data was collected.

Positive values represent depths below reference point.

Negative values represent distance above reference point.

If a discrete sample is collected at one depth, Upper and Lower Depth are the same value.

test and reference samples

Must be a number.

• Composite Sample: "5" if soil sample was taken between 5 and 7.5 feet below land surface.
• Discrete Sample: "5" if soil sample was taken 5 feet below land surface.

Download help for Entering Field Collection Depth or Height.

Things that DON'T go in this field:

• Elevation

ID for the point on the well from which water levels are measured. Often top of well casing (TOC).

Measurements

Valid Values:

TOC1 - when measured from top of casing

TOC2 -when measured from a secondary point at the top of casing (like when the casing gets cut off)

MP1 - when measured from access port or similar

MP2 - when measured from a secondary access port or similar

Use the value you submitted in the Location template or that is stored in EIM.

If the top of casing gets cut off or you have more than one measuring point, contact your EIM Data Coordinator. They will enter a new Measuring Point ID into EIM for you.

Describes the general environmental medium that was measured.

• Water

Zip Code or Canadian Postal Code of the field location’s physical address.

Format:

• XXXXX
• XXXXX-XXXX
• XXX-XXX

• 98123
• 98123-4567
• V0B-1H0

Comments or descriptive information about the collection of data in the field.

Free text

• Cows in stream upgradient of sampling site.

You can have only one Field Collection Comment per field collection event.

A field collection event is:

• All measurements collected at the same location, depth, date, time, matrix and source, or
• All samples collected at the same location, depth, date, matrix and source, and Sample ID.

For Samples, this means you can only have one Field Collection Comment per Sample ID.

If you enter more than one Field Collection Comment per field collection event, EIM only takes the first one loaded and any others get deleted.

If you want to comment about a particular result or group of results within a field collection event, enter it as a Result Comment or Result Additional Comment.

Download help for How to Use EIM’s Comment fields.

Level of quality assurance performed on the data.

Pick valid value from the drop-down list in the Study form:

If a third-party expert validated your Result data using USEPA guidance and functional guidelines, select “See Results” AND fill out “Result Validation Level” (BC) in your Results template.

Download Results Template Help.

If you have bioassay data validated using QA1 or QA2, select “See Results” AND fill out “Bioassay QA Level” (AQ) in your Bioassay template.

Download Bioassay Template Help.

Distance from Reference Point to lower boundary where field data was collected.

Positive values represent depths below reference point.

Negative values represent distance above reference point.

If a discrete sample is collected at one depth, Upper and Lower Depth are the same value.

test and reference samples

Must be a number.

• Composite Sample: "7.5" if soil sample was taken between 5 and 7.5 feet below land surface.
• Discrete Sample: "5" if soil sample was taken 5 feet below land surface.

  Download help for Entering Field Collection Depth or Height.

  Things that DON’T go in this field:

  • Elevation

Name of the water level parameter used.

Observations - use "Water level in well (unable to measure)" or "Depth to product (LNAPL) in well (unable to measure)"

The valid values include the text in parentheses.

Describes the environmental resource that was measured. More specific than Sample Matrix.

• Fresh/Surface Water

Summary of the results of the Study.

Free text.

• Water supply is of good quality and appears ample to meet current demands with a few exceptions. Slightly elevated chloride concentrations are found around Otso Point, Lyle Point peninsula, and Cole Point peninsula. See report for more details.

County where field location exists.

EIM no longer takes this info

EIM auto-populates county based on location coordinates.

Unit of measure associated with the Field Collection Upper Depth and Field Collection Lower Depth.

test and reference samples

Use the same units you used for discrete samples collected from the same location.

The area in which the collection of field data occurred.

For benthic macroinvertebrate (e.g. kick-net area) and periphyton (surface area of substrate scraped) count data.

Also, for spatial composite samples, if known.

freshwater benthic organism counts and periphyton counts.

Must be a number.

• 8.20
• 3

Download help for Periphyton Counts

Download help for Benthic Invertebrate Identification and Counts

Download help for Entering Composite Samples.

Date a measurement was taken or an observation was started in the field.

MM/DD/YYYY

• 06/23/1999
• 12/15/2022

Units of measure associated with Field Collection Area.

Field Collection Area is populated

Primary ID to identify a sample. May be selected by the sampler or assigned by the lab.

test and reference samples

Free text.

Must match the corresponding Sample ID used in reports or other documents.

• 1304017-04
• C1

The laboratory-assigned sample ID is often entered in this field, but not always. For example, upland cleanup sites commonly use IDs like MW1 to identify the location from which the sample was collected. Check with your data coordinator if you have questions about Sample IDs.

Split samples sent to different labs must be assigned the same Sample ID before entry into EIM. Do not enter the data with mismatching lab-assigned sample IDs. This includes bioassay and chemistry data from the same sample.

For information on Sample IDs and field replicates, download help for Entering Field Replicates.

Additional comments about the Study.

Free text.

• Water and biological samples were collected for this study. Only the fish tissue data from this report has been entered into this EIM project.

Water level depth.

Measurements

Must be a number.

• No commas

• 26.2 (water level 26.2 feet below the measuring point)

Check the accuracy of your instrument and report the appropriate significant digits.

Download help for Field Measurements

Don’t fill this out for Observations.

If you open your data in Excel, be cautious of auto-reformatting. Digits may be lost unless these cells are pre-formatted as Text. For more information about preserving the formatting in this field, download help for Preserving Values Corrupted by Excel.

Identifies the waterbody or watercourse on which the field location exists per the National Hydrography Dataset (NHD).

streams, rivers, lakes, canals, ditches or nearshore locations that are represented in the NHD hydrography layer.

Not required for sediment samples submitted for the Water Quality Assessment.

To find a Reach Code, use the NHD tool in the EIM Map (online).

For instructions, download help for Getting NHD info from the EIM Map.

• 17100103000305

It is important to associate your Location with the correct NHD because the information is used in Washington State’s biennial Water Quality Assessment.

Not all field locations where surface water samples or measurements are collected will be represented in the NHD hydrography. For example, some small streams are not currently mapped to the NHD and northern Puget Sound is not represented as an NHD waterbody.

If viewing your data in Excel, be cautious of auto-reformatting. Excel may convert what you enter to scientific notation. Digits may be lost unless these cells are formatted as Text. For more information about preserving the formatting in this field, download help for Preserving Values Corrupted by Excel

Point from which collection depth of field data was measured.

• Soil gas data
• Sediment data
• Sediment porewater data
• Soil data
• Chemistry data from Temporary Environmental Investigation Wells
• Water column profile data

Water Surface is defined as the water-air interface.

Download help for Entering Field Collection Depth or Height.

Time that measurement began or observation was made in the field, in local time.

HH:MM:SS (24 hour)

• 19:20 (interpreted as 7:20 PM)
• 07:00 (interpreted as 7:00 AM)
• 00:07:00 (interpreted as 12:07 AM)
• 00:00:00 (interpreted as 12 AM midnight)

See the section “Time zone and daylight saving time” in the How to Submit Time-Series Data to EIM help for more information on times.

The number assigned by Ecology to a grant, loan, forgivable loan, or contract. Tracked in EIM at the Study level.

Previously known as the Ecology Grant Number or Ecology Loan Number. In 2015, Ecology moved to a new numbering system.

Studies funded by an Ecology grant, loan, or contract

Free text / preferred format.

• WQC-2015-MSRF-00104 (current)
• G0200309 (pre-2015)

Current format:

Number generated by Ecology Administration of Grants & Loans (EAGL) database.

Pre-2015 format:

• G, plus 7 numbers (grant)
• L, plus 7 numbers (loan)
• C, plus 7 numbers (contract)

Identifies where on a watercourse the field location exists per the National Hydrography Dataset NHD).

Percent distance from reach start.

stream or river locations

0.000 to 100

To find a Reach Measure, use the NHD tool in the EIM Map (online).

For instructions, download help Get NHD info from the EIM Map.

• 57.135
• 22.344

Important: Associate your Location with the correct position on a watercourse.

Waterbodies (like lakes or marine locations) don’t have Reach Measures.

Secondary ID to identify a field replicate sample.

Field replicates are separate samples identically collected as close as possible to the same point in space and time as the original sample. They are stored in separate containers, each of which is identically processed and analyzed. Field replicates provide insight into field and laboratory procedure variability (and in some cases contaminant distribution).

sample is a replicate and shares a Sample ID with one or more samples

Free text / preferred format.

• 1, 2, 3
• FR1, FR2, FR3

Replicate samples often have separate Sample IDs; however, they may have the same Sample ID in some instances. The Sample Field Replicate ID is necessary to differentiate them in these cases.

Download help for "Entering Field Replicates."

Units of measure associated with the Water Level Value.

Measurements

For water levels measured in meters, contact your EIM Data Coordinator.

Standard annotations for documenting issues with Water Level Values.

Also used for Observations to explain why a water level measurement wasn't possible.

applicable

Must be a valid EIM Data Qualifier.

• WLR (Well site was pumped recently)
• WLS (Nearby well(s) being pumped during measurement)

For Observations, use a Water Level Qualifier if it applies, e.g., WLD (Well was dry during measurement attempt)

The date an observation ended.

Field Collection Type is Observation

MM/DD/YYYY

Leave this field blank if Field Collection Type is Measurement.

• 06/23/1999
• 03/05/2023

Enter an observation if you want to document a data gap (timespan of unsuccessful or rejected measurements). Enter one observation, with appropriate start and end date/time values, per timespan. Documenting data gaps in EIM is optional.

Download help for Entering Observations.

ID of facility or site where the study or field location exists, from Ecology's Facility/Site database.

WQ permit, landfill, and cleanup site studies (except II or SHA)

Must be a valid Facility/Site ID

Search for Facility/Site ID in one of these places:

• Facility/Site Database (online)
• EIM Map (online) (add the Facility/Site layer and use the Identify tool
• Cleanup and Tank Search Database (online)

• 1529149
• 4085

Distance from Reference Point to upper boundary where field data was collected.

Positive values represent depths below reference point.

Negative values represent distance above reference point.

If a discrete sample is collected at one depth, Upper and Lower Depth are the same value.

• Soil gas data
• Sediment data
• Sediment porewater data
• Soil data
• Chemistry data from Temporary Environmental Investigation Wells
• Water column profile data

Must be a number.

• Composite Sample: "5" if soil sample was taken between 5 and 7.5 feet below land surface.
• Discrete Sample: "5" if soil sample was taken 5 feet below land surface.

Download help for Entering Field Collection Depth or Height.

Things that DON'T go in this field:

• Elevation
• Well water level depth or elevation
• Well groundwater sample depth - except for Temporary Environmental Investigation Wells (download help)

Indicates that the sample is a field replicate.

Field replicates are separate samples identically collected as close as possible to the same point in space and time as the original sample. They are stored in separate containers, each of which is identically processed and analyzed. Field replicates provide insight into field and laboratory procedure variability (and in some cases contaminant distribution).

sample has field replicates or field splits

Download help for Entering Field Replicates.

Type of coordinates used to enter geographic position of field location into EIM.

Submit only one type of coordinate system per location.

For LAT/LONG, submit deg-min-sec OR decimal degrees, not both.

Degrees measure of the field location's latitude.

LAT/LONG in Deg-Min-Sec

45 to 49

Distance north of the equator.

The time an observation ended.

Field Collection Type is Observation

HH:MM:SS (24 hour)

Leave this field blank if Field Collection Type is Measurement.

• 19:40:36 (interpreted as 7:40 PM)
• 9:56 (interpreted as 9:56 AM)
• 00:00:00 (interpreted as 12 AM midnight)

Distance from Reference Point to lower boundary where field data was collected.

Positive values represent depths below reference point.

Negative values represent distance above reference point.

If a discrete sample is collected at one depth, Upper and Lower Depth are the same value.

• Soil gas data
• Sediment data
• Sediment porewater data
• Soil data
• Chemistry data from Temporary Environmental Investigation Wells
• Water column profile data

Must be a number.

• Composite Sample: "7.5" if soil sample was taken between 5 and 7.5 feet below land surface.
• Discrete Sample: "5" if soil sample was taken 5 feet below land surface.

Download help for Entering Field Collection Depth or Height.

Things that DON’T go in this field:

• Elevation
• Well water level depth or elevation
• Well groundwater sample depth - except for Temporary Environmental Investigation Wells (download help)

ID of the site where the field location exists, from Ecology's Integrated Site Information System (ISIS).

all cleanup site studies (except initial investigation or SHA)

Search for Facility/Site ID and Cleanup Site ID for cleanup sites in Cleanup and Tank Search Database (online).

Ex. "5771"

Secondary ID to identify a set of field split samples. Mostly used for sediment data.

For split samples with the same Sample ID or with different Sample IDs.

sample is a field split and shares a Sample ID with one or more sub-samples

Free text / preferred format.

First split is 1, second is 2, etc., no matter what the Sample ID is.

• 1, 2, 3
• SS1, SS2, SS3

To create a split sample, a single field sample (often created by compositing several samples from the same field location) is split in the field into two or more sub-samples. This is done so different types of analyses can be performed (e.g., toxicity, chemistry) or the same analyses can be performed by different laboratories. Each split or sub-sample is analyzed individually.

Estimated accuracy of the water level measurement.

Measurements

Unit of measure associated with the Field Collection Upper Depth and Field Collection Lower Depth.

results where Field Collection Upper and Lower Depth is populated.

Minutes measure of the field location's latitude.

LAT/LONG in Deg-Min-Sec

00 to 59

Indicates that the sample is a composite created by combining two or more discrete samples collected spatially and/or temporally.

test and reference samples

If Location “Horizontal Coordinates Represent” value is 25 (centroid of monitoring area), then composite flag should be Y.

Download help for Entering Composite Samples.

Only for certain Studies that contain low-level PCB congener data. Indicates which blank censor factor (e.g., 8x) gets used for results in the Discrete Results download file in Search.

Background: for certain low-level PCB congener data, EIM auto-calculates results using several blank censor factors, downloadable in a separate file - only one can be displayed in the Discrete Results file.

If you don't set this, the default results have the 5x blank censor factor.

For low-level PCB congener data by EPA1668C, B, or A,

Download help for Low-Level PCB Congener Data.

Name of the parameter reported for the result.

Must be a valid EIM Parameter Name

• Temperature, water

Observations - use "Unable to measure" or "Water level in well (unable to measure)"

Need a parameter added to EIM? Contact us online or ask your Data Coordinator.