Thousands of decisions are made daily regarding California water management, each of them dependent on robust data and accessible information. California's 2016 Open and Transparent Water Data Act (AB 1755) provides an important opportunity to improve the quality of these decisions, tasking the Department of Water Resources with the development and implementation of a modern water information system.

 

While AB 1755 provides an opening for improved data systems, the law itself does not ensure that the data will be useful or useable. Our latest multi-institution collaboration, Data for Water Decision Making , argues that data systems must not only be open and transparent, but must also be presented in a way that is relevant to the needs of decision makers. Through a series of workshops in 2017, we engaged a range of data users and data providers to systematically analyze data needs for decision making.

 

We and our partners developed "use cases" that analyze how decision-makers use (or could use) data, covering a range of topics from water supply to water quality to long-term infrastructure investments (see figure below). Analyzing these use cases yielded key recommendations for effective implementation of AB 1755.

 

The emergent conclusions from our report can help steer state agencies and inform stakeholders as California solidifies its vision and process for modernizing its water data. We hope that they will help keep the interests of decision makers front and center.

 

At CLEE, Katie is delving into California water policy, first by focusing on groundwater recharge, exploring innovative methods to enable distributed recharge and related incentives. She is also working on the intersection of data and water rights.

Judith Katz is a passionate environmental advocate and a nonprofit veteran with more than 20 years of experience in organizations like the ACLU, the Student Conservation Association, and most recently, Bay Nature Institute. We are thrilled she is joining CLEE's team as its first dedicated development staff. 

Her job is to strengthen the connection between CLEE and its supporters and to ensure that donors are kept informed of their investment's impact.   Contact Judith if you would like to discuss investing in CLEE's work.

CLEE is a self-supported research and educational support center within Berkeley Law. Our work is made possible by project funding and donations from our generous community of supporters. If you like what we do, please consider making a one-time or recurring donation through our giving portal.

We wouldn't be here today without the generosity of alumni, practitioners, and supporting organizations. Our deepest thanks to all of you who have already given, and those who are considering giving today!