diff --git a/NAMESPACE b/NAMESPACE
index 09a0ba0258653f4ff26dbe939c7ed74b63c596da..8109f84198c681459fa01e11a48f1c73b23615a0 100644
--- a/NAMESPACE
+++ b/NAMESPACE
@@ -24,6 +24,7 @@ export(readNWISuv)
 export(readWQPdata)
 export(readWQPqw)
 export(renameNWISColumns)
+export(setAccess)
 export(stateCd)
 export(stateCdLookup)
 export(whatNWISdata)
diff --git a/R/AAA.R b/R/AAA.R
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000000000000000000000000000000000..9eea437bc7a18d597d7281fd48eb292f242cd6dd
--- /dev/null
+++ b/R/AAA.R
@@ -0,0 +1,4 @@
+pkg.env <- new.env()
+.onLoad = function(libname, pkgname){
+  setAccess('public')
+}
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/R/setAccess.R b/R/setAccess.R
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000000000000000000000000000000000..7b3762b2e1bc4734d285805d421a63c0891574d6
--- /dev/null
+++ b/R/setAccess.R
@@ -0,0 +1,38 @@
+#'Set data endpoint
+#'
+#'access Indicate which dataRetrieval access code
+#' you want to use options: \code{c('public','internal')}
+#'
+#' @param access code for data access. Either "public" or "internal"
+#'
+#'@author Luke Winslow, Jordan S Read
+#'
+#'@examples
+#'
+#'\dontrun{
+#'setAccess('internal')
+#'
+#'setAccess('public')
+#'
+#'}
+#'
+#' @export
+setAccess = function(access="public"){
+  
+  access = match.arg(access, c('public','internal'))
+  
+  if(access=="internal"){
+    access.param = '?Access=3'
+    message('setting access to internal')
+  }else {
+    access.param = '?Access=1'
+  }
+  
+  pkg.env$waterservices = paste0("http://waterservices.usgs.gov/nwis/site/", access.param)
+  
+  
+}
+
+drURL = function(base.name, params){
+  return(paste0(pkg.env[[base.name]], params))
+}
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/R/whatNWISsites.R b/R/whatNWISsites.R
index 49e34e845526c8eb59ed02fa619a9a1c0b159c6a..4ad9d93d2ca7b8759c40376dc15233595a1cf08e 100644
--- a/R/whatNWISsites.R
+++ b/R/whatNWISsites.R
@@ -40,7 +40,7 @@ whatNWISsites <- function(...){
   names(values)[names(values) == "siteNumber"] <- "sites"
   names(values)[names(values) == "siteNumbers"] <- "sites"
   
-  baseURL <- "http://waterservices.usgs.gov/nwis/site/?format=mapper&"
+  baseURL <- drURL('waterservices',"&format=mapper&")
   urlCall <- paste(baseURL,
                    urlCall,sep = "")
 
diff --git a/man/setAccess.Rd b/man/setAccess.Rd
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000000000000000000000000000000000..a8a7822cf7bb28c53ceb6f39624186b3b51a4bc7
--- /dev/null
+++ b/man/setAccess.Rd
@@ -0,0 +1,29 @@
+% Generated by roxygen2: do not edit by hand
+% Please edit documentation in R/setAccess.R
+\name{setAccess}
+\alias{setAccess}
+\title{Set data endpoint}
+\usage{
+setAccess(access = "public")
+}
+\arguments{
+\item{access}{code for data access. Either "public" or "internal"}
+}
+\description{
+access Indicate which dataRetrieval access code
+you want to use options: \code{c('public','internal')}
+}
+\examples{
+
+\dontrun{
+setAccess('internal')
+
+setAccess('public')
+
+}
+
+}
+\author{
+Luke Winslow, Jordan S Read
+}
+
diff --git a/man/whatNWISData.Rd b/man/whatNWISData.Rd
index d236dfb6bc272b328fd1dc40ba3d89ef96b9e4a1..05bb05be6946eb419b95f90f0b5449d56abef30c 100644
--- a/man/whatNWISData.Rd
+++ b/man/whatNWISData.Rd
@@ -1,5 +1,5 @@
 % Generated by roxygen2: do not edit by hand
-% Please edit documentation in R/whatNWISdata.r
+% Please edit documentation in R/whatNWISData.r
 \name{whatNWISdata}
 \alias{whatNWISdata}
 \title{USGS data availability}