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Lawmakers Approve Development of New Statewide Water Data Platform

The Legislature has passed a bill directing the California Department of Water Resources and other state agencies to create a statewide water data platform. If signed by the governor, AB 1755 would task DWR with publishing the request for proposals needed for system development by 2018.

The Legislature has passed a bill directing the California Department of Water Resources and state agencies to create a statewide water data platform.

The legislation's proponents say the system would provide easier access to water transfer information and other water and ecological data.

"AB 1755 creates a statewide water data information system to integrate critical water data in a user-friendly, publicly accessible website," Assemblymember Bill Dodd, D-Napa, said Aug. 25 on the Assembly floor before the Assembly voted 75 to 0 to approve amendments to the legislation.

The bill stipulates that "information technology tools and applications developed and gathered using state funds should be made publicly accessible" and that open source tools could avoid the need to build an "expensive" new centralized database. The Department of Finance is estimating one-time costs of as much as $3.8 million to implement the new system.

If signed by the governor, by Jan. 1 2018, the Department of Water Resources would be required to make public the data protocols needed for the new system and publish, by April 1, 2018, the request for proposals needed for development of the new water platform. Data would be presented on the system beginning in 2020.

The legislation delegates the Department of Technology's role in the creation of the platform to the Department of Water Resources.

Dodd noted that AB 1755 is supported by the the Association of California Water Agencies, Metropolitan Water District, the Environmental Defense Fund and the California Chamber of Commerce.

Matt Williams was Managing Editor of Techwire from June 2014 through May 2017.