AB 1755: Open and Transparent Water Data Platform for California

The implementing agencies developed a Strategic Plan for Assembly Bill 1755, the Open and Transparent Water Data Act. This Strategic Plan guides the implementation of the program to achieve the vision, goals, objectives, and strategic actions.

Strategic Vision – Useful data for sound, sustainable water resource management.

Goals – In support of the vision, four goals have been articulated:

• Data are sufficient: Data are sufficient to support water resources management and answer water resource-related questions.
• Data are accessible: Data are available for use and discoverable.
• Data are useful: Data are available in a form that facilitates use in various models, visualizations, and reports.
• Data are used: Data are put to work in decision-making and innovation.

Preliminary Protocols for AB 1755

To support the initial implementation of AB 1755, the partner agencies developed three initial minimum protocols, consistent with available open data platforms. These protocols will adapt over time in response to both changing software capabilities and the open data portals’ user needs to support a more efficient and transparent use of data.

A lack of data and information has limited our ability to understand, let alone better manage, all aspects of our water resources. The Data for Water Decision Making report argues that simply providing more data is not enough, and that generating useful and usable information hinges on the development of data systems based on end users’ needs. The development of use cases clarifies the questions that water resource decision-makers must answer, identifies the data necessary to answer those questions, and fosters trust in decisions.

The partner agencies are working to populate and federate two State-hosted portals, specifically the California Open Data Portal and the CNRA Open Data Platform, to allow users improved access to available water and ecological datasets. State agencies have made over 1,000 datasets and numerous data visualizations available on these two portals. Both portals will offer additional functionality, as well as new and updated data on a continuous basis, based on availability, technological developments, and user feedback.

California Open Data Portal

The California Open Data Portal, hosted by the California Government Operations Agency (GovOps) and the California Department of Technology, features data from many different State agencies on a wide variety of topics. The California Open Data Portal brings government operations closer to citizens and can help spark conversations for growth and progress.

California Natural Resources Agency Open Data Platform

The CNRA Open Data Platform has been developed to provide data to California citizens, agencies, and interested groups in a transparent and useful manner. The Open Data Platform supports the CNRA organizations’ and programs’ missions by providing an environment to publish and share useful data that can be effectively utilized by all.