This product consists of 29 datasets of tabular data and associated metadata for watershed characteristics of 1,530 study sites of the Surface Water Trends (SWT) project of the U.S. Geological Survey’s (USGS) National Water Quality Program (NWQP). The project is conducting national studies of trends in water quality of streams and rivers for periods ranging from 10 to 40 years, between 1972 and 2012. The data here include both static and time-series characteristics. Static data include primarily physical characteristics which have changed little over this period, such as geology, soils, and topography. Time-series data represent characteristics which may or may not have changed over time, such as land use, agricultural practices, precipitation, hydrologic modifications, atmospheric deposition, and population changes.