BIDS Research Affiliate Deb Agarwal has been selected to be a member of the California Water Data Consortium’s inaugural Steering Committee. As head of the Data Science and Technology Department in the Computational Research Division at Lawrence Berkeley National Lab, Agarwal’s research focuses on scientific tools enabling the sharing of scientific experiments, advanced networking infrastructure to support the sharing of scientific data, data analysis in support of infrastructure for eco-science, and cybersecurity infrastructure to secure collaborative environments.
The California Water Data Consortium facilitates collaboration and sustained engagement across public, private, and nonprofit sectors to improve the data lifecycle and to increase open access to high quality, comprehensive and interoperable data. By making better data and resources available at every level of government, the Consortium endeavors to advance data-informed water management decisions for more efficient access across all of California.
The creation of the Consortium's Steering Committee represents another step forward for open and transparent water data in California, and the Committee will guide the Consoritium's activities around advancing the interests of communities who publish, report, generate, and use public water data. Over the next two years, Committee members will volunteer a significant amount of their time and energy to collaboratively developing and implementing strategic goals, identifying new funding opportunities and resources to support Consortium activities, and fostering a more active conversation between the Consortium and the state-appointed team charged with implementing California's Open and Transparent Data Act (Assembly Bill 1755).
The new 11-member Steering Committee represents six state agencies, academia, non-governmental organizations as well as local agencies and the private sector. Each new member serves a two-year term to contribute their knowledge and experience in the collection, publication, and use of water and ecological data. The inaugural Steering Committee members are:
- Deborah Agarwal, Department Head & Senior Scientist, Data Science and Technology Department, Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory
- Mike Antos, Senior Integrated Water Management Specialist, Stantec Consulting, and Visiting Scholar, UC Irvine Anthropology
- Drew Atwater, Director of Finance and Water Resources, Moulton Niguel Water District and Committee Chair, California Data Collaborative
- Christina Babbitt, Senior Manager, California Groundwater Program, Environmental Defense Fund
- Joy Bonaguro, Chief Data Officer, Government Operations Agency
- Martha Davis, Retired, Assistant General Manager/Executive Manager for Policy Development, Inland Empire Utilities Agency
- Joaquin Esquivel, Chair, State Water Resources Control Board
- David Harris, Enterprise Data Services Manager, California Natural Resources Agency Data Center
- Nick Martorano, Director, California Water Quality Monitoring Council
- Christina McCready, Lead, AB 1755 Partner Agency Team, Department of Water Resources
- Susan Tatayon, Chair, Delta Stewardship Council
The California Water Data Consortium welcomes the broader community to an online public meeting on October 22 to launch the new Steering Committee, welcome the new members, and to brainstorm topics for the Consortium’s soon-to-be-formed, task-focused working groups:
California Water Data Consortium — Steering Committee Launch
Date: Thursday, October 22, 2020
Time: Public Meeting: 2:00 - 4:00 PM Pacific / Virtual Happy Hour: 4:00 - 4:30 PM Pacific
Location: Virtual participation
Register to review the draft agenda, choose breakout topic(s), and receive the event Zoom link.
Read More...
Welcoming the Consortium's Inaugural Steering Committee
October 14, 2020 | Tara Moran | California Water Data Consortium Blog
Hacking for solutions to California's water challenges
September 20, 2018 | Marsha Fenner | BIDS News
"Waterside Chat" with Tom Kalil at the California Water Data Hackathon
September 15, 2018 | California Water Data Hackathon
