The Arizona Water Observatory: Changing the way people access water information
Have you ever needed to gather Arizona water data for a project? If so, you’ve likely faced the challenge of searching across multiple websites and sources. Rarely is there a “one-stop shop” for data, you end up with dozens of tabs open, piecing together datasets and spending hours formatting them to meet your needs.
To help solve this problem, the Center for Hydrologic Innovations, a pillar of the Arizona Water Innovation Initiative at Arizona State University, in collaboration with Center for Geospatial Solutions at the Lincoln Institute for Land Policy, is leading an effort to make water data more accessible for practitioners. Together, we are developing the Arizona Water Observatory (AWO), a new tool designed to simplify the process of finding, accessing and using Arizona’s state water data.
What is the Arizona Water Observatory?
The AWO is envisioned as “a water control center running on an open-source, map-based platform.” Its goal is to bridge gaps in water data accessibility, streamline decision-making and enhance collaboration across agencies and organizations.
Currently under development, the project is guided by a technical workgroup that includes representatives from the Arizona Department of Water Resources, Central Arizona Project, Salt River Project and other key state, county, and city-level agencies. Their feedback is helping shape the platform, which will integrate water data from across Arizona into a centralized, user-friendly system.
The AWO will provide several features, including interactive, map-based visualizations where users can easily create and explore data layers. In addition, it will include open access through Application Programming Interfaces or APIs to download data and use them across workspaces and models.
Analytical tools will allow users to highlight data points or regions of interest, export summaries in multiple formats and explore data across both space and time. Flexible integration will support diverse formats beyond a single GIS platform, enabling broader use by water professionals.
By combining these tools, the AWO will allow users to query, compare and analyze water data in ways that directly support decision-making and modeling with a goal of centralizing water data and providing a one stop solution for water professionals.
Collaboration with state agencies
Because the AWO is designed for water professionals working with Arizona data, agency collaboration is central to its development. This summer, the team presented the project at the Arizona Geographic Information Council (AGIC) Symposium, the state’s primary forum for geospatial data coordination and governance.
The 2025 AGIC Symposium took place in Prescott, and offered workshops, training and professional development across topics like natural resources, public safety and state data management.
The AWO was featured in a data insights session, highlighting its connection to AGIC’s long-standing efforts to improve Arizona’s data sharing and visualization capacity such as the AZGeo Data Hub.
AGIC plays a key role in advancing the use of GIS to address Arizona’s environmental, economic and infrastructure challenges. Given that AWO is being built on a geospatial framework, the symposium was an ideal venue to share updates and engage with the community.
The AZGeo Data Hub, developed by AGIC in partnership with the Arizona State Land Department, provides authoritative geospatial data for state agencies, municipalities, tribal governments and the public. The AZGeo is a trusted, centralized repository, and its scope spans a wide range of data, not all of which is water-related. It also relies on Esri’s ArcGIS platform.
In contrast, the AWO is water-focused and being built as an open-source application, designed to aggregate and centralize hydrometeorological data, allow users to download and manipulate data in multiple formats and enable advanced querying, visualization and analysis without being tied to a single GIS software ecosystem.
For example, users will be able to select a polygon of interest within Arizona, extract specific water variables, and export them for further modeling and analysis, all within one platform.
As Shea Lemar, Deputy State Cartographer and former Director of Geospatial Research and Solutions, explained, the AWO will provide valuable support for Arizona state agencies by making critical water data more accessible and actionable.
Building a strong geospatial community
Beyond platforms like AWO and AZGeo, AGIC also fosters professional growth through initiatives like its Mentorship Program. This program helps connect students and professionals, supporting skill-building, knowledge sharing and long-term career development in the geospatial field.
Together, these efforts can strengthen Arizona’s geospatial community for both researchers and practitioners. Plus, AWO will add another layer by empowering water practitioners with the data they need to plan for the state’s water future.
“Access to trusted and up-to-date water data is central for water resources planning, for the operations of infrastructure projects and for policy-making in the government, non-profit and private sectors,” says Enrique Vivoni, ASU Fulton Professor of Hydrosystems Engineering and director of the Center for Hydrologic Innovations. “As a university that supports our community, it is really important we deliver new tools for data analysis and visualization that help ensure Arizona’s water security and economic development.”
About the authors: Callahan Stormer is a research software engineer and Vivian Hobbins is a senior program manager, both with the Center for Hydrologic Innovation, a pillar of the Arizona Water Innovation Initiative at ASU.
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