Onondaga Lake Watershed Geographic Information System

Problem - The purpose of this project is to create a watershed GIS (Geographic Information System) to support the comprehensive cleanup and restoration of Onondaga Lake that is underway. A GIS is a computer system capable of capturing, storing, analyzing, and displaying geographically referenced information; that is, data identified according to location. Given the broad scope of the Onondaga Lake Partnership's (OLP) mission, a GIS is a powerful tool that can organize, store, and share information pertinent to the management of the natural resources of the Onondaga Lake watershed. The OLP GIS will be used for land use planning, resource management, scientific monitoring, and data presentation. The project has two phases. The goal of the first phase of the project is to develop a system design and implementation plan to enable use of GIS technology by the OLP, other organizations, and the public. The tasks will be done through a committee consisting of representatives from OLP member agencies that receive technical support from the U.S. Geological Survey.

Location - The project area is the entire Onondaga Lake Watershed, Onondaga County, N.Y.

Approach -

• A GIS Planning Committee was formed in the fall of 2002 to begin the process of developing the GIS. The committee's first step was the development and distribution of a Needs Assessment questionnaire to identify the best available digital data and prioritize the spatial data needs of the OLP members, and to make recommendations about methods to store these data and provide access by OLP members and the general public.
• In December of 2002, the GIS Planning Committee met to finalize the questionnaire, which was distributed in January 2003. Results of the completed questionnaires were compiled in April 2003, and the GIS Planning Committee met in May to review and complete the Summary Report.
• Information obtained through the needs assessment survey is being used to guide the development of the system design and implementation plan for an Internet mapping application. Also, a spatial-data library is being assembled from the results of the questionnaire.