Water Features

A founding member of the IoW team, Kyle Onda knows a thing or two about the lengths it takes to translate the IoW Principles into practice. His diverse background offers a unique perspective on the challenges and opportunities ahead. Now, in his new role as Director of the IoW at CGS, he is poised to advance the vision of modern water data infrastructure even further.

Across the Western US, regional water use analysis and planning are increasingly important due to unprecedented drought and high demand growth. However, reconciling differing data access protocols, structures, and terminologies across states is a challenge. WestDAAT provides access to data in a machine-readable format for over 1.7 million active water rights.

The Hypoxia Task Force, made up of the 12 mainstem Mississippi River states, works to improve water quality in the Mississippi-Atchafalaya River Basin. The Great Lakes to Gulf Virtual Observatory integrates water quality data with land use and conservation practices information, helping to track progress on nutrient loss reduction and guide decision-making.

When last we met, back in September 2021, the Texas Water Data Hub was truly in its infancy. Fast forward over a year and a half, and the beta version of the Texas Water Data Hub is out of the barn! Was it a smooth process to get to where we are? Well, no, not exactly. We’ve had a few obstacles pop up along our path, but we get back on the trail each time.

The USGS is the world's largest provider of in situ water data and supports the backbone systems for authoritative US water data. And yet, much of the country’s core water resources data are not managed by USGS. The Center for Geospatial Solutions is helping the USGS to address this gap by developing a widely accessible, comprehensive water data commons.

A culture of modern data management has begun to take hold in the water management community. Leaders in state agencies across the country are beginning to recognize that better water data infrastructure helps them to be more effective and efficient in managing their water resources. The path to reach this goal, however, is still often unclear.