Making a Water Data System Responsive to Information Needs of Decision Makers

Evidence-based environmental management requires data that are sufficient, accessible, useful and used. A mismatch between data, data systems, and data needs for decision making can result in inefficient and inequitable capital investments, resource allocations, environmental protection, hazard miti...

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Autores principales:	Alida Cantor, Michael Kiparsky, Susan S. Hubbard, Rónán Kennedy, Lidia Cano Pecharroman, Kamyar Guivetchi, Gary Darling, Christina McCready, Roger Bales
Formato:	article
Lenguaje:	EN
Publicado:	Frontiers Media S.A. 2021
Materias:	water management data systems stakeholder engagement environmental decision making California Environmental sciences GE1-350
Acceso en línea:	https://doaj.org/article/077088df678f408eac6ef27634fe54f1
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spelling	oai:doaj.org-article:077088df678f408eac6ef27634fe54f12021-11-17T07:03:47ZMaking a Water Data System Responsive to Information Needs of Decision Makers2624-955310.3389/fclim.2021.761444https://doaj.org/article/077088df678f408eac6ef27634fe54f12021-11-01T00:00:00Zhttps://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fclim.2021.761444/fullhttps://doaj.org/toc/2624-9553Evidence-based environmental management requires data that are sufficient, accessible, useful and used. A mismatch between data, data systems, and data needs for decision making can result in inefficient and inequitable capital investments, resource allocations, environmental protection, hazard mitigation, and quality of life. In this paper, we examine the relationship between data and decision making in environmental management, with a focus on water management. We focus on the concept of decision-driven data systems—data systems that incorporate an assessment of decision-makers' data needs into their design. The aim of the research was to examine the process of translating data into effective decision making by engaging stakeholders in the development of a water data system. Using California's legislative mandate for state agencies to integrate existing water and other environmental data as a case study, we developed and applied a participatory approach to inform data-system design and identify unmet data needs. Using workshops and focused stakeholder meetings, we developed 20 diverse use cases to assess data sources, availability, characteristics, gaps, and other attributes of data used for representative decisions. Federal and state agencies made up about 90% of the data sources, and could readily adapt to a federated data system, our recommended model for the state. The remaining 10% of more-specialized data, central to important decisions across multiple use cases, would require additional investment or incentives to achieve data consistency, interoperability, and compatibility with a federated system. Based on this assessment, we propose a typology of different types of data limitations and gaps described by stakeholders. We also propose technical, governance, and stakeholder engagement evaluation criteria to guide planning and building environmental data systems. Data-system governance involving both producers and users of data was seen as essential to achieving workable standards, stable funding, convenient data availability, resilience to institutional change, and long-term buy-in by stakeholders. Our work provides a replicable lesson for using decision-maker and stakeholder engagement to shape the design of an environmental data system, and inform a technical design that addresses both user and producer needs.Alida CantorAlida CantorAlida CantorMichael KiparskyMichael KiparskySusan S. HubbardRónán KennedyLidia Cano PecharromanLidia Cano PecharromanKamyar GuivetchiGary DarlingChristina McCreadyRoger BalesRoger BalesFrontiers Media S.A.articlewater managementdata systemsstakeholder engagementenvironmental decision makingCaliforniaEnvironmental sciencesGE1-350ENFrontiers in Climate, Vol 3 (2021)
institution	DOAJ
collection	DOAJ
language	EN
topic	water management data systems stakeholder engagement environmental decision making California Environmental sciences GE1-350
spellingShingle	water management data systems stakeholder engagement environmental decision making California Environmental sciences GE1-350 Alida Cantor Alida Cantor Alida Cantor Michael Kiparsky Michael Kiparsky Susan S. Hubbard Rónán Kennedy Lidia Cano Pecharroman Lidia Cano Pecharroman Kamyar Guivetchi Gary Darling Christina McCready Roger Bales Roger Bales Making a Water Data System Responsive to Information Needs of Decision Makers
description	Evidence-based environmental management requires data that are sufficient, accessible, useful and used. A mismatch between data, data systems, and data needs for decision making can result in inefficient and inequitable capital investments, resource allocations, environmental protection, hazard mitigation, and quality of life. In this paper, we examine the relationship between data and decision making in environmental management, with a focus on water management. We focus on the concept of decision-driven data systems—data systems that incorporate an assessment of decision-makers' data needs into their design. The aim of the research was to examine the process of translating data into effective decision making by engaging stakeholders in the development of a water data system. Using California's legislative mandate for state agencies to integrate existing water and other environmental data as a case study, we developed and applied a participatory approach to inform data-system design and identify unmet data needs. Using workshops and focused stakeholder meetings, we developed 20 diverse use cases to assess data sources, availability, characteristics, gaps, and other attributes of data used for representative decisions. Federal and state agencies made up about 90% of the data sources, and could readily adapt to a federated data system, our recommended model for the state. The remaining 10% of more-specialized data, central to important decisions across multiple use cases, would require additional investment or incentives to achieve data consistency, interoperability, and compatibility with a federated system. Based on this assessment, we propose a typology of different types of data limitations and gaps described by stakeholders. We also propose technical, governance, and stakeholder engagement evaluation criteria to guide planning and building environmental data systems. Data-system governance involving both producers and users of data was seen as essential to achieving workable standards, stable funding, convenient data availability, resilience to institutional change, and long-term buy-in by stakeholders. Our work provides a replicable lesson for using decision-maker and stakeholder engagement to shape the design of an environmental data system, and inform a technical design that addresses both user and producer needs.
format	article
author	Alida Cantor Alida Cantor Alida Cantor Michael Kiparsky Michael Kiparsky Susan S. Hubbard Rónán Kennedy Lidia Cano Pecharroman Lidia Cano Pecharroman Kamyar Guivetchi Gary Darling Christina McCready Roger Bales Roger Bales
author_facet	Alida Cantor Alida Cantor Alida Cantor Michael Kiparsky Michael Kiparsky Susan S. Hubbard Rónán Kennedy Lidia Cano Pecharroman Lidia Cano Pecharroman Kamyar Guivetchi Gary Darling Christina McCready Roger Bales Roger Bales
author_sort	Alida Cantor
title	Making a Water Data System Responsive to Information Needs of Decision Makers
title_short	Making a Water Data System Responsive to Information Needs of Decision Makers
title_full	Making a Water Data System Responsive to Information Needs of Decision Makers
title_fullStr	Making a Water Data System Responsive to Information Needs of Decision Makers
title_full_unstemmed	Making a Water Data System Responsive to Information Needs of Decision Makers
title_sort	making a water data system responsive to information needs of decision makers
publisher	Frontiers Media S.A.
publishDate	2021
url	https://doaj.org/article/077088df678f408eac6ef27634fe54f1
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Making a Water Data System Responsive to Information Needs of Decision Makers

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