System Evolution

The nature of the above technological interventions bears discussion. Water projects typically have a beginning and an end. For example, Reclamation constructs a dam and then turns it over to the water users to repay and operate. In the case of automation and Internet technologies, there is a continually evolving product. The technologies get more sophisticated and less costly with each passing day. And as the technologies get more complex, so do the needs of the water users. With real-time technologies, you are promoting a process more than a specific product.

Traditionally, Reclamation has had a fairly rigid product development process. This approach was taken in the development and installation of large SCADA systems. The problems with this process for small-scale automation systems are numerous: (1) it is too costly; (2) it takes too long; (3) hardware and software are frequently proprietary; (4) the customer does not always get what he needs; and (5) it is difficult for the product to evolve.