Gov. Jerry Brown announced Friday he has signed legislation directing the California Department of Water Resources and partnering state agencies to create a statewide water data platform.
Proponents of the bill, called the Open and Transparent Water Data Act (AB 1755) from Assemblymember Bill Dodd, say the system will improve access to water transfer information and other water and ecological data as California continues to deal with a multi-year drought.
"AB 1755 creates a statewide water data information system to integrate critical water data in a user-friendly, publicly accessible website," Dodd, D-Napa, said Aug. 25 on the Assembly floor.
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.
Under AB 1755, by Jan. 1 2018, the Department of Water Resources will be required to make public the data protocols for the new system and publish, by April 1, 2018, the request for proposals associated with development of the new water platform. Data would be presented on the system beginning in 2020.
DWR will work with the California Department of Fish and Wildlife, State Water Board, and the California Water Quality Monitoring Council to develop the new system. The legislation stipulates DWR may opt to partner with a nonprofit to create or maintain the database.
The system will integrate multiple databases managed independently by federal, state, and local agencies and academia "using consistent and standardized formats," AB 1755 says. The system will present data sets such as State Water Project or Central Valley Project operations information, groundwater use, groundwater levels, urban water use and land use; data on water rights and water diversions, and water quality; and many others.
The new water information system comes at a time when California remains in drought. According to the U.S. Drought Monitor, the state's entire land mass is anywhere from "abnormally dry" to "extreme drought," depending on the location.
“The drought has exposed the need for a modern water information system to address the state’s water supply,” Dodd said in a press release. “California does not suffer from a lack of water data, but from a lack of usable water data needed to make smart decisions. This bill will create instant and accessible water information that will better enable water managers to cope with future drought conditions.”
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, among other groups.
"This landmark legislation will be a game changer for managing California’s most precious resource for decades to come,” said Jim Wunderman, president and CEO of the Bay Area Council. “California’s current water transfer market is inefficient and Assemblymember Bill Dodd’s legislation will create a fair, efficient and functional water marketplace with the power to ease the impact of drought and reduce water waste.”
