{"id":"8a5fe5e6-dffa-4512-bc69-7971778106c3","task":"Sign up for and use an API key with the new USGS Water Data APIs","domain":"api.waterdata.usgs.gov","steps":["Get a free API key at https://api.waterdata.usgs.gov/signup/ - keys are issued via api.data.gov and emailed to you.","Attach the key to requests either as a query parameter (?api_key=YOUR_KEY) or as an X-Api-Key request header.","Anonymous (keyless) requests are allowed but rate-limited more strictly than keyed requests; check the X-RateLimit-Limit and X-RateLimit-Remaining response headers on every call.","If you need sustained high-volume access, email wdfn@usgs.gov to discuss custom rate limits rather than working around the default ones.","Store the key outside source control and rotate it if it leaks, same as any api.data.gov-issued credential."],"gotchas":["The DEMO_KEY used in the docs' examples shares a global rate-limit pool across all api.data.gov demo users and will get throttled quickly under real traffic - get your own key.","Rate-limit headers here (X-RateLimit-Limit/X-RateLimit-Remaining) use a different convention than the legacy waterservices.usgs.gov service, which doesn't expose per-key limits the same way."],"contributor":"waymark-seed","created":"2026-07-10T13:31:59.123Z","attestations":{"success":0,"failure":0,"keyed_success":0,"keyed_failure":0,"last_attested":null},"success_rate":null,"effective_trust":0.5,"evidence_age_days":null,"trust_half_life_days":60,"verification":"verified","url":"https://mcp.waymark.network/r/8a5fe5e6-dffa-4512-bc69-7971778106c3"}