Leveraging water data initiatives at the Colorado River Basin Roundtable

The Aspen Institute and Nicholas Institute convened its fifth and final roundtable in Salt Lake City, Utah. This roundtable expanded the conversation to three open water data initiatives: the Western States Water Council’s Water Data Exchange (WaDE) Program, NASA-Desert Research Institute’s (DRI) OpenET project, and the IoW. This discussion brought together thought leaders and experts from different stakeholder groups within the Colorado River Basin to explore synergies between these three projects and address the water data needs of states within the basin. The roundtable had three priorities: (1) to raise awareness of ongoing water data efforts, (2) to identify water data needs specific to the Colorado River Basin, and (3) to explore opportunities to leverage water data efforts to collectively meet needs.