ITEM: INFORMATIONAL ITEMS/STAFF REPORTS

26. QUARTERLY GEOGRAPHIC INFORMATION SYSTEMS PROGRAM UPDATE

Meeting Date: July 19, 2004 Budgeted: N/A

Program/Line Item No.: N/A

Staff Contact: Eric Sandoval Cost Estimate: N/A

General Counsel Approval: N/A

Committee Recommendation: N/A

CEQA Compliance: N/A

The purpose of the MPWMD Geographic Information Systems Program is to provide analytical geospatial support to staff. The current goal is to develop an agency-wide GIS program to inventory, assess, manage and analyze data from regions, which share common challenges utilizing in-house expertise. The next quarterly report will be prepared for the October 2004 meeting. The following paragraphs highlight GIS activities in the April-June 2004 period.

Functional Requirement Study and GIS Needs Assessment — The second draft of the GIS Functional Requirement Study and Needs Assessment Report is complete and is currently being reviewed. Creation of a formal GIS Implementation Plan, which will guide the development and maintenance of the GIS program has begun. A GIS Implementation Plan will complete the assessment for enterprise-wide GIS development at MPWMD.

Association of Monterey Bay Area Governments (AMBAG) Orthophotography Project — The Association of Monterey Bay Area Governments (AMBAG) has entered into a cooperative agreement with MPWMD regarding a Regional Orthophotography Project. AMBAG has entered into a technical services contract with SANBORN Colorado, L.L.C. to provide technical and professional services related to orthophotography of the Monterey Bay Region.

Aerial photography and high-resolution elevation acquisition flights were conducted in July 2003. MPWMD’s contract with AMBAG ended June 30 without complete delivery of products. Staff is working with AMBAG to extend the project until July 31 to finalize and complete the project. MPWMD is withholding 50 percent of the contract payment until all products are delivered.

District staff is participating in the Orthoimagery Subcommittee. The Subcommittee is an advisory group, which provides technical advice to AMBAG for the Orthoimagery Project. The Subcommittee has agreed to continue advising AMBAG and the participants until the project is complete.

File Management and Organization — During this reporting period, District staff has continued to evaluate current data management and organizational procedures. The following is a list of on-going or completed tasks:

· Generate metadata template for District staff

· Evaluate GIS, statistical and graphic software for District requirements

· Develop Map Gallery web page for the District web site

· Complete public GIS data requests

· Research annual Aerial Photo survey alternatives

· Fulfill map requests from staff

· Coordinate with the Watershed Institute to verify Large Woody Debris GIS datasets meet District standards

· Assess and review Red Legged Frog report and GIS datasets

· Continuing to update and create metadata for GIS data layers. Metadata is documentation which describes the accuracy, methodology, source, contact information, etc. of a geospatial dataset.

Data Collection and Conversion — During this reporting period, District staff has required support for ongoing projects. Due to these needs, data collection and conversion has been necessary even though a formal GIS program is not in place. A preliminary goal of converting/creating one GIS data layer per month has been established. To date, 32 layers have been created or converted. This number exceeds the preliminary goal of ten.

In addition, 173 Cal-Am aerial photos from 1986 and 1995 were converted to digital format. Staff is continually in the process of Data Collection and Conversion. This will be an on-going effort. Review of specific datasets will vary project by project.

Staff and Project Support —

The following is a list of on-going or completed tasks or projects:

· Completed a draft protocol document for archiving and maintenance of digital images, diagrams, and figures for District-wide distribution.

· Completed a draft protocol document for digital conversion standards for documents, images and diagrams.

· Providing GIS assistance for the Watershed Assessment project.

· Completed Monterra Ranch/Canada Woods maps

· Completed conversion of Carmel River Lagoon datasets into GIS format

· Coordinate with District staff to verify Desalination DEIR GIS and graphic datasets meet District standards

· Revise/update existing Steelhead rearing and spawning habitat maps

· Completed Cal-Am service boundary maps

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