PROJECT DEVELOPMENT

In the 1990's, the Association began a systematic program to instrument and automate their watershed. Automation equipment was installed on all major water control structures, including 3 major reservoirs and 15 diversion structures. Additionally, over 15 real-time river and canal monitoring sites and four weather stations were equipped with telemetry. All these various monitoring and automation systems were generating a lot of data, but it was unavailable to all but a few water managers. This was a constant source of frustration to secondary water managers, irrigators, forecasters, researchers, river runners, and others who could benefit from access to the real-time data.

Meanwhile, the rapid rise in the development and use of the Internet meant that many of the water managers were either getting "on-line" or considering it. It became apparent that getting the real-time data onto the Internet would be a good way to distribute it to a wide audience without requiring the purchase of specialized equipment.

In 1997, the Association teamed with StoneFly, a private consulting firm, and Reclamation to establish a web site (www.sevierriver.org) for the distribution of real-time data on Sevier streamflows, canal diversions, reservoir levels and releases, snowpack, and weather. Since then, the web site has been continually evolving. On-going activities related to www.sevierriver.org (Hansen et.al., 1999) including: (1) the National Weather Service and Utah State Climatologist are using the Association's communication system and web site to fill gaps in their weather monitoring network, allowing for a more comprehensive historic record and better forecasts; (2) StoneFly is expanding the scope of the web site to include dam safety, recreation, and tourism information; (3) one USU team is working on a water rights model which updates daily; (4) another USU team is incorporating GIS formats (including snow-pack coverage) into the Internet displays; (5) Reclamation and StoneFly are writing software so water orders can be placed over the Internet; (6) Reclamation is currently adding diagnostic sensors to the automation system to allow for anticipatory maintenance and distance troubleshooting (using Internet displays); (7) a real-time water balance is being developed to monitor the status of gaging stations and to estimate ungauged inflows and outflows; (8) Reclamation and USU staff are developing a salinity monitoring system for the lower Sevier River Basin; (9) StoneFly is working to extend the Internet displays to include canal monitoring; and (10) Reclamation has plans to develop a real-time decision-support system. These enhancements are, in part, being funded by a grant from the Department of Commerce's Technology Opportunity Program (TOP).

The Sevier River web site has become a cooperative effort of a diverse consortium of groups including: local water users, private enterprise, federal agencies, and university researchers.