Bringing a state government agency into the 21st century through geographic information systems (gis) streamlining workflow by integrating database management systems and gis for a non-riparian water use permitting program

Government entities, both Federal and State, are two of the largest collectors, repositories, and disseminators of digital data. Management of the data is an asset if the system is well designed and developed. This thesis focuses on redesigning the current workflow for a state agency responsible for excess surface water management though a permitting program as ordered through agency rules and state legislation. The current workflow includes four components: an access database, geospatial information system, and geospatial data, and hydrologic model, which is referred to as the watershed delineation The watershed delineation component relies on an archaic manual process which is time consumptive and less than accurate. The manual process is the key component in the determination of an application submitted for non-riparian water use. These components, as a whole, are unwieldy, outmoded, and laborious in the information age. To address the problems encountered with the components of the workflow, a set of research objectives are identified. This thesis focuses on the design and development of workflow for the Non-Riparian Water Use (NRWU) Program at Arkansas Natural Resources Commission (ANRC) utilizing three objectives: (1) Review the current workflow of the NRWU program and specifically identify the problems in the current system
(2) Review the advanced technologies related to the NRWU workflow and provide suggestions for the new system (3) Redesign the NRWU system and develop a new workflow that is incorporated with the advanced technologies for the NRWU program at ANRC The methodology facilitates a determination in the processing phase of the application. More specifically, the focus is on the watershed delineation. Since the NRWU program is an active program, two hydrologic modeling tools are selected and utilized to facilitate the determination as to which model would best meet the needs of the program. The two tools chosen that are incorporated into the NRWU program are the tools associated with NHD Plus V2 data set and accompanying tools and USGS’s Streamstats. The results of the two trials show strengths which favor the scopes of the two projects, however for the needs of the NRWU program and ANRC, USGS’s Streamstats is better suited. The state prefers a tool which is expedient and provides a reproducible product. The tool used to delineate the watershed delineation is the most important aspect of the redesign of the workflow. While this part is needed, redesigning the workflow to utilize all the components is needed.