diff --git a/src/hf_hydrodata/gridded.py b/src/hf_hydrodata/gridded.py
index e841438..109e42d 100644
--- a/src/hf_hydrodata/gridded.py
+++ b/src/hf_hydrodata/gridded.py
@@ -42,9 +42,10 @@
 
 
 HYDRODATA = "/hydrodata"
-URL = "https://hydro-dev.princeton.edu/api/data-file?"
+HYDRODATA_URL = os.getenv("HYDRODATA_URL", "https://hydro-dev.princeton.edu")
 
-def register_api_pin(email:str, pin:str):
+
+def register_api_pin(email: str, pin: str):
     """
     Register the email and pin that was created with the website in the users home directory.
 
@@ -63,7 +64,8 @@ def register_api_pin(email:str, pin:str):
         stream.write("}")
     os.chmod(pin_path, 0o700)
 
-def get_registered_api_pin()->Tuple[str, str]:
+
+def get_registered_api_pin() -> Tuple[str, str]:
     """
     Get the email and pin registered by the current user.
 
@@ -76,7 +78,9 @@ def get_registered_api_pin()->Tuple[str, str]:
     pin_dir = os.path.expanduser("~/.hydrodata")
     pin_path = f"{pin_dir}/pin.json"
     if not os.path.exists(pin_path):
-        raise ValueError("No email/pin was registered. Use the register_api() method to register the pin you created at the website.")
+        raise ValueError(
+            "No email/pin was registered. Use the register_api() method to register the pin you created at the website."
+        )
     try:
         with open(pin_path, "r") as stream:
             contents = stream.read()
@@ -85,7 +89,10 @@ def get_registered_api_pin()->Tuple[str, str]:
             pin = parsed_contents.get("pin")
             return (email, pin)
     except Exception as e:
-        raise ValueError("No email/pin was registered. Use the register_api() method to register the pin you created at the website.") from e
+        raise ValueError(
+            "No email/pin was registered. Use the register_api() method to register the pin you created at the website."
+        ) from e
+
 
 def get_catalog_entries(*args, **kwargs) -> List[ModelTableRow]:
     """
@@ -516,17 +523,18 @@ def _write_file_from_api(filepath, options):
     """
 
     q_params = _construct_string_from_options(options)
-    url = f"{URL}{q_params}"
+    datafile_url = f"{HYDRODATA_URL}/api/data-file?{q_params}"
 
     try:
-        response = requests.get(url, timeout=180)
+        headers = _validate_user()
+        response = requests.get(datafile_url, headers=headers, timeout=180)
         if response.status_code != 200:
             raise ValueError(
-                f"The url {url} returned error code {response.status_code}."
+                f"The datafile_url {datafile_url} returned error code {response.status_code}."
             )
 
     except requests.exceptions.Timeout as e:
-        raise ValueError(f"The url {url} has timed out.") from e
+        raise ValueError(f"The datafile_url {datafile_url} has timed out.") from e
 
     file_obj = io.BytesIO(response.content)
     with open(filepath, "wb") as output_file:
@@ -749,17 +757,20 @@ def _get_ndarray_from_api(entry, options, time_values):
     if run_remote:
         options = _convert_json_to_strings(options)
         q_params = _construct_string_from_qparams(entry, options)
-        url = f"https://hydro-dev.princeton.edu/api/gridded-data?{q_params}"
+        gridded_data_url = f"{HYDRODATA_URL}/api/gridded-data?{q_params}"
 
         try:
-            response = requests.get(url, timeout=180)
+            headers = _validate_user()
+            response = requests.get(gridded_data_url, headers=headers, timeout=180)
             if response.status_code != 200:
                 raise ValueError(
-                    f"The url {url} returned error code {response.status_code}."
+                    f"The  {gridded_data_url} returned error code {response.status_code}."
                 )
 
         except requests.exceptions.Timeout as e:
-            raise ValueError(f"The url {url} has timed out.") from e
+            raise ValueError(
+                f"The gridded_data_url {gridded_data_url} has timed out."
+            ) from e
 
         file_obj = io.BytesIO(response.content)
         netcdf_dataset = xr.open_dataset(file_obj)
@@ -781,6 +792,20 @@ def _get_ndarray_from_api(entry, options, time_values):
     return None
 
 
+def _validate_user():
+    email, pin = get_registered_api_pin()
+    url_security = f"{HYDRODATA_URL}/api/api_pins?pin={pin}&email={email}"
+    response = requests.get(url_security, timeout=15)
+    if not response.status_code == 200:
+        raise ValueError(f"No registered PIN for email '{email}' and PIN {pin}. See documentation to register with a URL.")
+    json_string = response.content.decode("utf-8")
+    jwt_json = json.loads(json_string)
+    jwt_token = jwt_json["jwt_token"]
+    headers = {}
+    headers["Authorization"] = f"Bearer {jwt_token}"
+    return headers
+
+
 def _adjust_dimensions(data: np.ndarray, entry: ModelTableRow) -> np.ndarray:
     """
     Reshape the dimensions of the data array to match the conventions for the entry period and expected variable.
diff --git a/tests/hf_hydrodata/test_gridded.py b/tests/hf_hydrodata/test_gridded.py
index eb2ed24..1d808dd 100644
--- a/tests/hf_hydrodata/test_gridded.py
+++ b/tests/hf_hydrodata/test_gridded.py
@@ -21,11 +21,11 @@ class MockResponse:
     def __init__(self):
         self.headers = {}
         self.status_code = 200
-        self.content = b"test content"
+        self.content = b'{"email": "dummy@email.com", "jwt_token":"foo"}'
         self.checksum = ""
 
 
-def mock_requests_get(url, timeout):
+def mock_requests_get(url, headers=None, timeout=5):
     """Create a mock streaming response."""
 
     response = MockResponse()