USGS to Improve Water Use Data Management for State of Massachusetts
The USGS New England Water Science Center, in cooperation with the Massachusetts Department of Environmental Protection, is collaborating on a project to improve the data management, visualization, and sharing of the state’s water use information. Additionally, two water management tools will be upgraded. The project team will develop an Executive Office of Energy and Environmental Affairs Business/Data Flow Roadmap, explore opportunities for greater continuity and data consolidation, and modernize public and internal data accessibility and visualization capabilities.
The Water Management Act (WMA) Program within the Massachusetts Department of Environmental Protection (MassDEP) regulates water withdrawals from groundwater and surface water resources. The WMA Program ensures that average daily water withdrawals that exceed an average of 0.1 million gallons per day (MGD) for three consecutive months by public water systems (PWSs), golf irrigation, cranberry growers, and other industrial, commercial, and agricultural businesses are accounted for and regulated, basin by basin, to help safeguard and ensure the sustainability of the water resource.
Of approximately 1575 PWSs in Massachusetts, 280 large systems meet the 0.1 MGD rule. WMA regulates these entities through the submittal of annual statistical reports from each system that include monthly and annual withdrawal volumes for each groundwater and surface water source. The various types of entities have different data requirements on how and when they report their use and consumption data. Furthermore, each entity type has a different process, which has led to a complex data flow, storage, and public access to the information that relies on an antiquated database infrastructure. USGS and MassDEP, in partnership with the Department of Conservation Resources’ Office of Water Resources, within the Executive Office of Energy and Environmental Affairs (EEA), are working together to streamline these processes to make data management more efficient and to provide the public improved access to water use data. This project will work toward solving these issues by developing an EEA WMA Data Flow Roadmap designed with goals to improve data consolidation, visualization, and internal and external accessibility.
The state’s current water use information will be upgraded with new technology that enhances data storage, management, and ease of use. Updated displays will make it easier for the public to understand the data. These changes may include new tools and platforms to view, analyze, and display the data.
Additionally, two water-use forecasting tools that were developed by USGS for the Commonwealth of Massachusetts several years ago, will be improved. Like the WMA databases, the reservoir and sustainable yield tools currently run on an aging database and will be overhauled. Ideally, these improvements will also modernize and increase the functionality and power of the tools, making them better assets for water needs forecasters.
27 major basins- managed basin-by-basin
1575 Public water suppliers (PWSs), DEP regulated
280 PWS Water Management Act (WMA) regulated, entities pump >0.1 MGD
170 Non-PWS / non-cranberry growers (WMA regulated)
360 Cranberry growers (WMA regulated)
New England Water Use
Massachusetts Water Use
The USGS New England Water Science Center, in cooperation with the Massachusetts Department of Environmental Protection, is collaborating on a project to improve the data management, visualization, and sharing of the state’s water use information. Additionally, two water management tools will be upgraded. The project team will develop an Executive Office of Energy and Environmental Affairs Business/Data Flow Roadmap, explore opportunities for greater continuity and data consolidation, and modernize public and internal data accessibility and visualization capabilities.
The Water Management Act (WMA) Program within the Massachusetts Department of Environmental Protection (MassDEP) regulates water withdrawals from groundwater and surface water resources. The WMA Program ensures that average daily water withdrawals that exceed an average of 0.1 million gallons per day (MGD) for three consecutive months by public water systems (PWSs), golf irrigation, cranberry growers, and other industrial, commercial, and agricultural businesses are accounted for and regulated, basin by basin, to help safeguard and ensure the sustainability of the water resource.
Of approximately 1575 PWSs in Massachusetts, 280 large systems meet the 0.1 MGD rule. WMA regulates these entities through the submittal of annual statistical reports from each system that include monthly and annual withdrawal volumes for each groundwater and surface water source. The various types of entities have different data requirements on how and when they report their use and consumption data. Furthermore, each entity type has a different process, which has led to a complex data flow, storage, and public access to the information that relies on an antiquated database infrastructure. USGS and MassDEP, in partnership with the Department of Conservation Resources’ Office of Water Resources, within the Executive Office of Energy and Environmental Affairs (EEA), are working together to streamline these processes to make data management more efficient and to provide the public improved access to water use data. This project will work toward solving these issues by developing an EEA WMA Data Flow Roadmap designed with goals to improve data consolidation, visualization, and internal and external accessibility.
The state’s current water use information will be upgraded with new technology that enhances data storage, management, and ease of use. Updated displays will make it easier for the public to understand the data. These changes may include new tools and platforms to view, analyze, and display the data.
Additionally, two water-use forecasting tools that were developed by USGS for the Commonwealth of Massachusetts several years ago, will be improved. Like the WMA databases, the reservoir and sustainable yield tools currently run on an aging database and will be overhauled. Ideally, these improvements will also modernize and increase the functionality and power of the tools, making them better assets for water needs forecasters.
27 major basins- managed basin-by-basin
1575 Public water suppliers (PWSs), DEP regulated
280 PWS Water Management Act (WMA) regulated, entities pump >0.1 MGD
170 Non-PWS / non-cranberry growers (WMA regulated)
360 Cranberry growers (WMA regulated)