November 2012Southeastern Water Pollution Biologists Association

Lara PanayotoffKentucky Division of Water

Department for Environmental Protection

To Protect and Enhance Kentucky’s Environment

AcknowledgementsAlabamaLisa Huff*Gina LoGuidice*Vickie HulcherKayren Pittman

MississippiNatalie Segrest*Valerie Alley

KentuckyMelissa MiracleCJ WattsJessica

Schuster*Jo BlansetSusan Cohn*Lisa Hicks*Lara Panayotoff*

* SWPBA members

Kentucky DEP

Just crunch some numbers, will ya?

• Fixed monitoring networks

• Intensive watershed surveys and studies

• Complaints, spills

• Sample results• Field observations• Species data• Station Information

Binders Full of Data• Excel Spreadsheets (so…

many… spreadsheets...)• Program-specific Access

databases (all different)• Hard Copy Reports• Various Files in

Numerous Locations• Stuff no one even knows

about

Data System ‘Must Haves’Accommodate most/all current routine

monitoring dataFlexible Reflect current work processesUser friendlyDocumentation of data quality and

usabilityEasy to get data out Promote efficient flow to WQX

Alabama Water-Quality Assessment & Monitoring Data Repository (ALAWADR)

2008 demo at SWPBA

ORACLE database

Web-based user interface

Based on STORET design and data requirements

ALAWADR Design Framework

Field Measurements & ObservationsSample Collection

WaterSedimentBiological Tissue

BioassessmentFish CommunityMacroinvertebrate Community

ALAWADR Design Framework

Physical MeasurementsCategorical ObservationsChemical Analyses (water, sediment, biological tissue)Taxonomic Composition

Development Time and CostInitial Planning – 2001-2007Initial Development – May 2007 Initial Implementation – May 2008-

2009Historical Data Migration - 2007-2010Data Flow to EPA WQX – 2011

Contractor/ In-House IT Staff /In-House Scientists

~$1.2 - $1.5 Million+

Data System ‘Must Haves’ Accommodate current routine

programs Flexible / expandible Reflect current work processes User friendly Documentation for data quality /

usability Easy to get data out Promote efficient flow to WQX

environmental Surface water Portal for Information (enSPIRE) - Mississippi

Initiated development 2009~$500k contractor work ~2 FTEs in-house staff timeMain enhancements:

Data assessment moduleEnhanced mapping capabilityAlternate data entry modesAlternate mode of LIMS data transfer

Kentucky Water Quality Data for Environmental Monitoring (K-WADE)

Initiated development late 2010~ $350k contractor time~2 FTEs in house staff timeMain enhancements:

Expanded biology modulesEnhanced stations mappingUsability/user-friendlinessOff-site partner agency users

Kentucky EnhancementsAccommodates QC

samples and replicates

captures all details needed for quantitative cell counts

results file import available

Algae Bioassessment Activity

Kentucky Enhancements

individuals details

csv file import available

Mussel Bioassessment Activity

Kentucky EnhancementsTaxon Attributes (Traits)

taxon traits list and value choices fully customizable

Kentucky Enhancements

station creation toolsdisplay station search results

Kentucky EnhancementsOff-site partner agency users (former EDAS

partners)

Kentucky Department of Fish and Wildlife Resources Kentucky State Nature Preserves Commission US Forest Service (Daniel Boone National Forest)

Remote log-in nuts and bolts Reference table management Sensitive location Joint projects

Benefits of CooperationComfort-level with a basically working

system and an experienced contractorMoney and time could be spent mainly on

state-specific needs and expanded functionality$1.5 million vs <$0.5 million

Take advantage of partner states’ unique capabilities and expertise

Cross-pollination of ideas, troubleshooting, problem solving

ChallengesAlabama would like to incorporate some of KY

and MS enhancements, but will take time & $$Further development desired in some areas

where one state has made headway but others laggingQA toolsreporting and queryingbetter indexing to assessments/ assessment unitsmore efficient data entry, including portable

moduletaxonomic nomenclature and traits tracking

The Future?Continued grant support to pay for

sharing enhancementsSupport for joint work sessions to

troubleshoot and design new modulesTechnical assistance?

Benefits to EPA and stakeholdersComparability, timely and more uniform

flow to WQX, data integrity

Lessons LearnedSignificant time investment for program

staff (like biologists being dragged off the ‘scope and out of the field)

Data management system decisions can cross over to work process decisions

Time spent on ensuring good design is worth it, because the interface can always be tweaked

Thanks!