Existing law imposes on the Department of Water Resources various duties with respect to water in the state. Existing law, the Open and Transparent Water Data Act, requires the department, in consultation with the California Water Quality Monitoring Council, the State Water Resources Control Board, and the Department of Fish and Wildlife, to create, operate, and maintain a statewide integrated water data platform that, among other things, integrates existing water and ecological data information from multiple databases and provides data on completed water transfers and exchanges.

This bill would require the department, with while seeking input from with the California Water Data Consortium, as defined, to create a water data dashboard that is accessible through its internet website, as specified. The bill would include related findings and declarations.

Existing law declares that all water within the state is the property of the people of the state, but the right to the use of the water may be acquired by appropriation in the manner prescribed by law.

This bill would make nonsubstantive changes to that declaration.

SENATE COMMITTEE ON

Senator Anna Caballero, Chair

2023 - 2024 Regular Session

SB 1373 (Cortese) - Water data dashboard

Bill Summary:

This bill would require the Department of Water Resources (DWR) to create a water data dashboard that is accessible through its internet website, as specified.

Fiscal Impact:

• Unknown but potentially significant one-time and ongoing costs (General Fund) for DWR to create a water data dashboard. While the bill would require that the dashboard include mapping, graphing, and visualizations, it does not define “dashboard” nor does it specify what or how much data would be represented or how to best display it. Several state agencies and departments provide data dashboards. The dashboards vary widely in terms of their complexity and costs, but most seem to have both one-time and ongoing costs that are in the hundreds of thousands or millions of dollars. The actual costs attributable to this bill will depend on the ultimate size, features, data, visuals, and other specifications of the dashboard as implemented by DWR.

Background:

The Open and Transparent Water Data Act. AB 1755 (Dodd, Chapter 506, Statutes of 2016), the Open and Transparent Water Data Act, requires DWR, in consultation with the State Water Resources Control Board, the California Department of Fish and Wildlife, and the California Water Quality Monitoring Council, to make available important water and ecosystem data for widespread use. In response, DWR convened a broad Partner Agency Team comprised of the entities listed above and other state agencies that have data, expertise, and interest in implementing AB 1755.

Today there are two state-hosted water data portals, specifically the California Open Data Portal and the California Natural Resources Agency (CNRA) Open Data Platform. State agencies have made over 1,000 datasets and numerous data visualizations available on these two portals. The water data sets collected include information from federal agency operations including the US Bureau of Reclamation (who run the Central Valley Project (CVP)) and the US Geological Survey (who operate a number of stream gauges throughout the state) and others.

California Water Data Consortium. Founded in 2019, the Consortium is an independent, nonprofit organization that supports state agency implementation of the Open and Transparent Water Data Act. The Consortium was designed to enable broad stakeholder participation, a continuous discourse centered around the needs of water data users, a shared venue for dialog and collaborative projects, and a dialogue to inform the state’s own use of water data. The Consortium steering committee includes state agency representatives, water managers, NGOs, and others with expertise on water data.

Proposed Law:

This bill would require DWR to create a water data dashboard that is accessible through its internet website. Specifically, this bill would:

1. Require DWR, while seeking input from the Consortium, to create a water data dashboard that is accessible through its internet website.
2. Require DWR to merge the following data to be accessible through the dashboard:
   1. Any data the federal government or the Consortium provides regarding the movement of water in the CVP.
   2. Any data collected by the state on the movement of water in the CVP.
   3. Any data collected by the state on the movement of water in the SWP.
3. Require that the dashboard includes, but not be limited to, mapping, graphing, and visualizations.
4. Define the Consortium in statute.
5. Make findings and declarations, including:
   1. California’s water resources are critical for human consumption and ecological diversity, and act as a cornerstone of the state economy.
   2. Data collected about water in California has become easier to find.
   3. The purpose of this measure is to build upon California’s integrated water data systems by merging and presenting data in a manner that is easier for a non-expert public to access and understand.

Related Legislation:

AB 1755 (Dodd, Chapter 506, Statutes of 2016), the Open and Transparent Water Data Act, requires DWR, in consultation with the State Water Resources Control Board, the California Department of Fish and Wildlife, and the California Water Quality Monitoring Council, to make available important water and ecosystem data for widespread use.

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SENATE COMMITTEE ON NATURAL RESOURCES AND WATER

Senator Dave Min, Chair

2023 - 2024 Regular

Bill No: SB Hearing Date: April 23, 2024

Subject: Water data dashboard

SUMMARY

This bill would require the Department of Water Resources (DWR) to create a water data dashboard that is accessible through its internet website, as specified.

BACKGROUND AND EXISTING LAW

Background:

The Open and Transparent Water Data Act. AB 1755 (Dodd, Chapter 506, Statutes of 2016), the Open and Transparent Water Data Act, requires DWR, in consultation with the State Water Resources Control Board, the California Department of Fish and Wildlife, and the California Water Quality Monitoring Council, to make available important water and ecosystem data for widespread use. In response, DWR convened a broad Partner Agency Team comprised of the entities listed above and other state agencies that have data, expertise, and interest in implementing AB 1755.

Today there are two state-hosted water data portals, specifically the California Open Data Portal and the California Natural Resources Agency (CNRA) Open Data Platform. State agencies have made over 1,000 datasets and numerous data visualizations available on these two portals. The water data sets collected include information from federal agency operations including the US Bureau of Reclamation (who run the Central Valley Project (CVP)) and the US Geological Survey (who operate a number of stream gauges throughout the state) and others.

California Water Data Consortium. Founded in 2019, the Consortium is an independent, nonprofit organization that supports state agency implementation of the Open and Transparent Water Data Act. The Consortium was designed to enable broad stakeholder participation, a continuous discourse centered around the needs of water data users, a shared venue for dialog and collaborative projects, and a dialogue to inform the state’s own use of water data. The Consortium steering committee includes state agency representatives, water managers, NGOs, and others with expertise on water data.

Existing Law:

1. Provides DWR with responsibilities over data associated with the State Water Project (SWP).
2. Requires DWR to create, operate, and maintain a statewide-integrated water data platform. Water Code (WC) §12410.
3. Creates the Water Data Administration Fund to provide funds for the collection, management, and improvement of water and ecological data for the purposes of implementing the Open and Transparent Water Data Act. WC §12420.

PROPOSED LAW

This bill would:

1. Require DWR, while seeking input from the Consortium, to create a water data dashboard that is accessible through its internet website.
2. Require DWR to merge the following data to be accessible through the dashboard:
   1. Any data the federal government or the Consortium provides regarding the movement of water in the CVP.
   2. Any data collected by the state on the movement of water in the CVP.
   3. Any data collected by the state on the movement of water in the SWP.
3. Require that the dashboard includes, but not be limited to, mapping, graphing, and visualizations.
4. Define the Consortium in statute.
5. Make findings and declarations, including:
   1. California’s water resources are critical for human consumption and ecological diversity, and act as a cornerstone of the state economy.
   2. Data collected about water in California has become easier to find.
   3. The purpose of this measure is to build upon California’s integrated water data systems by merging and presenting data in a manner that is easier for a non-expert public to access and understand.

ARGUMENTS IN SUPPORT

According to the author, “The Open and Transparent Water Data Act (Act) of 2016 required DWR to create and maintain an integrated statewide water data platform. This currently takes the form of two connected platforms – the California Natural Resources Agency Open Data Platform and the California Open Data Portal. This data is now easier to find, but the individual datasets are all still separate. There is no requirement for the data to be merged into a larger set that reveals a bigger picture, and it doesn’t have to be presented in a way that is easy to understand.”

“According to DWR, the SWP supplies water to over 27 million people and irrigates land that produces $19 billion yearly in agricultural products. According to the Bureau of Reclamation, the CVP manages 9 million acre-feet of water and has had an estimated 100x return on investment from Congress’ initial $3 billion investment. Despite the significance of these massive water projects on the state’s economy and water use, and the existence of the data portals, there has been little work to merge SWP and CVP water movement data in a public-friendly platform.”

“SB 1373 builds upon the successes of the Open and Transparent Water Data Act. It requires the creation of a dashboard displaying any water movement data about the SWP and CVP that is collected by the state or provided to the state by the federal government. The dashboard must be accessible on DWR’s website. This dashboard would go beyond just integrating water movement data – it would merge it and display it in an easy to understand format. SB 1373 is an opportunity to test the data systems created by the Act.”

ARGUMENTS IN OPPOSITION

None received.

COMMENTS

Any data on the movement of water. The language “Any data…regarding the movement of water” in this bill could be interpreted broadly to include all data related to the following:

• State and federal reservoir conditions and releases
• Sacramento and San Joaquin rivers flow information from stream gages
• Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta inflow and outflow
• Delta pumping information, i.e. Banks (SWP) and Jones (CVP) pumping plants
• SWP and CVP water delivery information

It is not clear if the author intends for all of this data to be represented in DWR’s dashboard, or if some subset would be considered sufficient. It is also not clear why the general public would need to see all of this data in some type of simplified graphical display.

As has been articulated in the design and implementation of the Open and Transparent Water Data Act, better access to and consolidation of water data has numerous public benefits. These benefits include understanding growing demands placed on water resources by climate change, helping direct local agencies’ infrastructure investments to protect water reliability, and helping state agencies better understand where Californians are most vulnerable to drought, flood, and water quality impacts. Data is now available on DWR’s portals for these and many more purposes. However, it is unclear if putting any data specific to the movement of water on a dashboard would provide additional public benefits.

Existing visual displays. Some of the water data above is already easily available in graphical representations. For example, in a separate self-initiated effort not related to AB 1755, DWR hosts the California Data Exchange Center, which includes a very user-friendly graphical display of the state’s reservoir conditions and releases. The figure below is a snapshot of the reservoir conditions on April 14, 2024.

The department also hosts graphical representations of SWP data on their webpage. Additionally, some external websites provide visual displays of California water data, including the California Water Watch and the Bay Delta Live websites. The Bay Delta Live includes data from CNRA’s Open Data Portal.

What’s a dashboard? This bill would require that the dashboard include mapping, graphing, and visualizations. However, the term “dashboard” does not currently appear in statute. Webster’s dictionary defines “dashboard” as “a graphical report (as on a website) of various data relevant to a particular business, group, etc. It is unclear in what way a dashboard proposed in this bill would be more useful to the public than the already existing information.

DWR discretion? It also remains unclear as to how much discretion DWR will have in choosing pertinent data and options for graphical display. Given DWR’s recent expertise in hosting water data from implementing AB 1755, this Committee may not want to be overly prescriptive, but rather allow the department to have sufficient leeway in deciding which data is to be used and how that data could best be displayed.

This bill is a work in progress. Should the bill move forward, the author may wish to consider continuing to work closely with DWR and this Committee to clarify several of the issues mentioned above, including addressing the following questions:

• Which data regarding the movement of water should be included, or excluded, in the dashboard?
• Who are the intended end-users of this dashboard, and what is its intended public purpose?
• Does DWR need to replicate existing graphical displays of data in the dashboard?
• Why does any data related to the movement of water need to be displayed in a single “dashboard” rather than using other graphical display options?
• How much discretion does DWR have over selecting pertinent data and creating user-friendly graphical displays?

Prior legislation.

AB 1755 (Dodd, Chapter 506, Statutes of 2016), the Open and Transparent Water Data Act, requires DWR, in consultation with the State Water Resources Control Board, the California Department of Fish and Wildlife, and the California Water Quality Monitoring Council, to make available important water and ecosystem data for widespread use.

SUPPORT

None received.

OPPOSITION

None received.

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