District information will soon be just a simple “point and click” away with its newest innovation, the Water Management Information System, or WMIS.
WMIS will centralize information from the District’s well construction permitting, resource data, water use permitting and environmental resource permitting databases, making it easily accessible for both the staff and the public. Upon completion, WMIS will increase the amount of information online, facilitate online permitting and processing, and streamline workflow.
“WMIS will reengineer the District’s business processes,” said Maureen McNiff, customer relationship manager for the District’s Information Resources Department. “It will significantly reduce paperwork, making the permitting process less time-consuming, while improving service to the public.”
WMIS was initiated in July 2005 and the development will be completed in four phases. The first phase, to be completed in January, will make enhanced well construction permit applications available online. Applicants will be able to submit their applications, as well as request a time extension, online. WMIS also will be linked to the property appraiser’s web site, where available, to ensure the most current and accurate data.
Also in January, new technology, such as geographic information systems (GIS), will be implemented in WMIS. GIS allows the system to be more user-friendly by allowing the applicant to “point” to a specific site on a computer map to identify the desired location of a well. In later releases, the ability to retrieve all available information associated with a site, including water use permits, environmental resource permits, well construction permits, land elevation and ownership, will be available. By implementing GIS, the user will save time and ensure accuracy of the information provided.
Over time, WMIS also will house all the District’s resource data, making information such as rainfall averages, aquifer levels and water use available for analysis and comparisons.
Plans for the remaining phases will integrate information from systems including water use permitting, environmental resource permitting and sovereign submerged lands. After all the systems have been integrated, WMIS will then be tweaked to address any issues and provide necessary resolutions. The anticipated completion date of the entire project is March 2010.