Technology Innovator Interviews: Digital Tools to Equitably and Efficiently Manage Water Resources
This week, we are tackling water data with Jyoti Venketraman of New Jersey Future, Lucas Stephens of Internet of Water and Ian Robinson of Blue Conduit. While vast amounts of public water data are available in the United States, they are collected by different public agencies and organizations, for different purposes, at different scales, and are scattered across multiple platforms with different standards. The time that must be invested to find, clean, and standardize such data leaves little time and resources to put the data to work to generate insights. As a result, decision-makers are forced to make judgments without the benefit of a complete, up-to-date picture of their water resources.
With the increased funding for water infrastructure comes the equally important task of ensuring we have robust digital infrastructure and tools to equitably and efficiently manage our water, and we’ll talk through how a Digital Service for the Planet will help get us there.
Let’s get to it!
QUESTIONS & ANSWERS
For starters, what were some of the key components of the Digital Service for the Planet that resonated with your team?
Jyoti: Since 2014, New Jersey Future has played a backbone role in supporting a 600-member-strong multidisciplinary collaborative called Jersey Water Works, which focuses on transforming New Jersey’s water infrastructure. Two key digital tools launched as part of this collaborative work are Jersey WaterCheck and the New Jersey Water Risk and Equity Map. The Digital Service for the Planet resonates with us because it amplifies the importance of improving federal government data technology efforts and the efficiency benefits that have been crucial for us at the state level, but still lacking in many other states and across federal agencies.
Lucas: The idea of a Digital Service for the Planet, and its potential to foster collaboration around digital infrastructure needs within the federal government, closely aligns with many of the goals of the IoW Project. Leadership and expertise in data infrastructure are critical to the process of modernizing water data systems throughout the country. A Digital Service for the Planet could provide key organizational support and funding for government programs seeking to improve their technology and data-sharing capabilities, building on the previous success of key environmental science programs in this regard, and providing the ultimate benefits of transparency and sustainability in environmental decision-making.
Ian: BlueConduit uses its machine learning technology and statistical expertise to address cities' data gaps and increase their capacity to leverage digital services to create healthy, thriving communities. As we’ve partnered with cities to inventory their lead service lines, we found that most cities are unfamiliar with the machine learning technology and statistical methodologies our company utilizes. They do not have technical experts on staff, and they lack the digital infrastructure needed to complete this work on their own. A Digital Service for the Planet could help fill this critical gap and make such technologies available to all communities to address environmental injustices, irrespective of their technical expertise.
Team reviews lead inventory maps. Photo Credit: Blue Conduit
What opportunities are there to increase environmental technology adoption or improvements in digital infrastructure in government agencies?
Jyoti: Digital tools like Jersey WaterCheck and the New Jersey Water Risk and Equity Map, which promote data accessibility and transparency, foster trust and help break down communication barriers. Through the use of data, a shared vocabulary can be built with respect to the problems that need to be solved, along with a shared compass for tracking progress toward solutions. In turn, this promotes support for resilient and equitable infrastructure investments.
Lucas: In recent years, there has been a rapid increase in the number of community science programs and projects across the U.S., in part encouraged by technological advances in sensor equipment and low-cost data collection software. Environmental monitoring data collected by community science groups has the potential to fill gaps in government-based monitoring programs, but its integration with state agency programs and policies remains uneven throughout the country.
Some state agencies and tribes have long-standing volunteer programs, especially those concerned with surface water quality monitoring, where federal regulations explicitly require the consideration of external data sources. In the most successful partnerships between states and community science organizations, community science data is treated in a similar manner as agency data and is used in a variety of agency policies, including Clean Water Act assessments of lakes and streams, and guidance for state monitoring priorities. These programs not only improve state monitoring coverage and monitoring efficacy, but also build public interest and participation in water quality governance.
Nevertheless, mutual trust between state agencies and community science organizations is not yet a pervasive cultural norm, nor has the potential of community monitoring as an effective strategy for agencies been systematically realized across the country. The IoW, as a member of the Water Data Collaborative, is working to improve trust and increase data sharing to expand state monitoring capacity through collaborative projects and the development of common standards.
Ian: Government agencies can realize quick wins from the adoption of environmental tech by transparently communicating to their constituents. Making environmental safety information available and accessible for all constituents increases community trust and creates a feedback loop that can lead to government policies and practices that better serve communities.
For example, the city of Toledo will be releasing a map, built by BlueConduit, to communicate information and progress on the city's service line replacement program. The map is a critical component of the city’s public education campaign around its long-term program to replace all of the city’s lead service lines. The map aims to empower Toledo residents with information about 1) the known or likely service line material at their address (i.e., lead or copper), 2) the status of the city’s pipe replacement project at an individual residence and neighborhood level, and 3) the action steps they can take to minimize the risk of lead exposure.
This visual representation of the city’s data gives residents the tools and information they need to protect their family’s health before, during, and after lead line replacement.
Can you share examples of innovative ways you’ve partnered with government agencies, and barriers that you had to overcome to do so?
Jyoti: New Jersey Future is a member of Jersey Water Works (JWW) and a backbone organization for it. JWW is an award-winning collaborative effort of many diverse organizations and individuals who embrace the common purpose of transforming New Jersey’s water infrastructure. Through the use of the collective impact model, JWW ‘s work and structure embodies the belief that we all can do more by working together when solving complex problems. JWW members include water and sewer utilities, community-based organizations, nonprofits, government representatives from the New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection and the Environmental Protection Agency, and other municipal government members.
A snapshot of the Jersey Water Works interface where community members can learn more about their water quality and providers. Photo Credit: Jersey Water Works
The collaborative’s best practice recommendations and reports have successfully shaped state-level policy changes, such as recent amendments strengthening the Water Quality Accountability Act reporting requirements and legislative advances made in the realm of removing lead service lines and disclosure of lead in NJ. The collaborative space and structure created by JWW enables government agencies to tap into this diverse network and reports/information coming out of the various committees to inform their own work.
However, collaborative work brings its own set of unique challenges. JWW’s operational structure is set up to ensure that JWW as a collaborative does not take any positions. This ensures that the space serves to elevate the power of education, cross-sector problem solving, and leadership to catalyze the transformation of the water infrastructure sector. Individual members may lobby based on the affiliation of their organization, but JWW and its working committees only highlight best practices, promote policy successes, and educate the public and policymakers on shared goals. This can inherently lead to some occasional confusion. In the same vein, the very nature of collaboration requires time to build relationships, trust, and consensus, all of which are very rewarding but can contribute to a perception of slow movement towards change.
Lucas: The IoW works directly with state agencies as well, to improve their data management and better link decision-making with replicable analysis, especially in periods of low water availability to improve water supply resilience in a warming climate. One of the biggest stumbling blocks to improving public data that we have observed is inter-agency collaboration and data sharing. Bringing together multiple agencies in any project reveals hidden challenges that require innovative solutions.
In that vein, the IoW has partnered with a variety of federal and state agencies including NOAA’s Carolinas Integrated Sciences and Assessments, the North Carolina State Climate Office, the North Carolina Department of Environmental Quality, California State Water Resources Control Board, as well as several Tribal Governments, to facilitate collaborations that increase public access to water data and improve local decision-making. Although our state-by-state approaches are often tailored to conditions and groups in the area, the engagement process, data ingestion frameworks, and tools we develop can serve as guides for other states that wish to improve data sharing between agencies or expand monitoring capacity by incorporating observations from local stakeholders.
However, there are also examples where enabling legislation is needed to kickstart interagency collaboration and improve water data infrastructure. In 2019, New Mexico passed HB 651: The New Mexico Water Data Act. The bill requires (1) the identification of key water data, information and tools needed to support water management and planning; (2) the development of common water data standards for data collection; (3) the development of an integrated water data and information platform; and (4) the identification of available and unavailable water data. The IoW team is now partnering with the NM Bureau of Geology to advance the mutually supportive goals of the IoW project and HB 651 by developing a federated water data delivery service for the state of New Mexico, known as the Water Data Initiative. This project advances water data accessibility to improve groundwater and surface water management and decision-making while serving as a model for regional data integration in New Mexico and the West.
Ian: We are focused on using technology to improve public health and address issues of environmental justice. The Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC) estimates as many as 12 million U.S. homes have lead service lines and low-income neighborhoods and communities of color are disproportionately impacted by the presence of lead pipes. The lack of accurate water service line materials records and the uncertainty it creates is a big driver of cost for any lead remediation program; however, these costs are magnified within economically disadvantaged and minority communities.
In 2016, BlueConduit’s initial software accurately predicted the city of Flint, Michigan, had about 40% of lead in its inventory — while historical records suggested only 20% at most of the city’s pipes were lead. The home-by-home predictive model used in Flint reduced the total number of days residents lived with a lead-tainted water supply and minimized the public health consequences by allowing officials to send replacement crews sooner to homes with the highest risk of having lead pipes.
This data-driven approach not only expedited lead removal, it also saved the city tens of millions of dollars in unneeded pipe inspection digs. In the case of Detroit, officials estimate the city has saved $165 million by using our predictive modeling technology in its search for lead pipes.
We see enormous potential for a Digital Service for the Planet to make innovative machine learning and predictive analytics accessible to all communities as they address their water quality challenges. A federally organized Digital Service for the Plant would accelerate lead removal by state and city governments and help ensure that resource-constrained cities have equal access to such technologies.
Due to the age of our country’s infrastructure, we know that harmful toxins like lead exist within our built environment. Making accessible and robust technologies that expedite our efforts to address water issues is a matter of financial stewardship and environmental justice. Governments that can leverage cutting-edge data analytics methods and tools are able to save valuable time, money, and effort to improve their infrastructure and protect the health of the community.
Through each of these collaborative projects that New Jersey Future, Blue Conduit and Internet of Water engage in, they demonstrate the value of improved data management and encourage other public agencies or organizations to adopt similar practices. While each project provides an immediate benefit to the community for which it was designed, these projects also help to shift cultural and technical norms. A Digital Service for the Planet would foster and scale these initiatives that enable equitable, sustainable, and resilient water management and stewardship across the nation.
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To explore this topic further, join us on December 7th for a technology roundtable with Varuna IoT, Xylem & Temboo where we’ll explore how technology can help deliver better projects with the new water infrastructure funding, register here.
We will also be giving an overview of Water Data at the U.S. Digital Service Justice40 office hours, learn more here.
### About these organizations
New Jersey Future
New Jersey Future is a nonprofit, nonpartisan organization that promotes sensible and equitable growth, redevelopment, and infrastructure investments to foster healthy, strong, resilient communities; protect natural lands and waterways; increase transportation choices beyond cars; provide access to safe, affordable, and aging-friendly neighborhoods; and fuel a strong economy for everyone. The key challenges we are confronting span four major focus areas: infrastructure (especially water), redevelopment, climate risk, and coordinated development. We share a strong commitment to advancing policies and practices that support strong, healthy, and resilient communities for everyone.
Internet of Water
The Internet of Water (IoW) Project seeks to improve decision-making and ensure equitable, sustainable, and resilient water management by building foundational, modern water data infrastructure and creating new technical and cultural norms for sharing and integrating water data. IoW works to unlock the potential of public water data currently held in hard-to-access systems, enable its reuse to create innovative water information solutions and tools, and facilitate the widespread integration of such tools into water management and governance nationwide.
Blue Conduit
BlueConduit is a water analytics company that has developed cutting-edge, predictive machine learning methods to locate lead service lines, empowering local officials with the information to efficiently remove those pipes. The company’s solutions enable utilities to focus their resources on digging where the lead is, accelerating the removal of this significant health concern, and saving millions of dollars in avoided digs. Since 2016, BlueConduit has worked with more than 50 municipalities and inventoried nearly 1 million service lines, which serve more than 2 million people. For more information, visit BlueConduit.com and follow us on Twitter and LinkedIn.
