TITLE: Using ArcView GIS to Extract and View Environmental Health Data from our ENVISION Database

ABSTRACT The Environmental Health Department in Madera County (California) is just getting into the GIS arena. We saw the need to be able to analyze our custom environmental health data with ArcView GIS against our County basemap. However, we are just learning ArcView GIS and wanted a simple way to do just that. We contracted with a company in Merced to develop a user-friendly interface that had the same look and feel of the custom software that we already use. The result has been a very flexible and yet powerful application that allows us to use ENVISION and ArcView GIS at the same time. It also has a "button" to ArcView GIS that we can use to quickly access ArcView GIS tools if we need to do additional work with our project.

INTRODUCTION

The Environmental Health Department in Madera County became the lead agency for developing and implementing GIS in 1997. While there was significant interest in GIS technology amongst several departments, the director of Environmental Health saw the many benefits of using it in this department and accepted the challenge. We were able to start by utilizing some grant funds to acquire the hardware, software and staff training to implement this most useful tool. However, we realized that our expertise was not in mapping and that we would be using it more on an analytical basis. Once we made that determination we decided to look for a vendor who could help us develop an interface to assist us in this process. We chose MDSS (Merced Data Special Services) to build the interface.

DEVELOPMENT

The Madera County Environmental Health Department is one of the 37 counties of the 58 in California that uses ENVISION software to monitor and maintain the environmental programs mandated by Federal, State and Local governments. Madera County has been using this product since 1986, first in the DOS version and now in the Windows format. It is a very robust and flexible software solution that enables us to maintain our records, report to other government agencies as required by law and share information. We us it in all aspects of environmental health.

When we started the development process with MDSS we wanted the interface to initially accomplish three things:

We also wanted to be able to add additional functionality to the interface as it evolves over time.

The resulting finished product is a custom interface over ArcView with a dynamic link to our data in ENVISION. In addition to all the functionality of the interface, we also have the ability to click over to ArcView and utilize all of the tools available and then click back into the interface.

The interface has quick buttons that allow us to access specific environmental health program data. There is also a button to search for any other site on the county basemap by address or assessor’s parcel number. Also included is an easy to use print map function that makes the map title, layout and legend for quick printing to an 8 ½" x 11" sheet of paper.

The ease of use of this interface has allowed us to use it as a training tool for staff. Since GIS is not our primary function in this department we have endeavored to provide staff with tools that are easy to learn and integrate with their daily activities. By having the interface buttons and tools named the same as the buttons and tools in ENVISION it lessens the learning curve for staff and provides familiarity with the same "look and feel" of the tools they already use.

We started with three programs; small water systems, hazardous materials and septic system permits. One of the first things we wanted to accomplish in the small water systems program was a diagram of each water source (i.e. well) and the distances in specified distances around each well with the data on septic systems and hazardous material sites within those distances. We started in the interface to find and define each source, we then used ArcView to further define the areas as three concentric circles around each source and then used the interface again to look at the septic system and hazardous material sites within the defined areas. We then printed the map to be included in the hard copy file of the water system.

In the hazardous materials program we wanted a faster and more efficient way to locate and notify property owners around a specific facility of any changes or work being done at that facility. Before the use of the interface, we would identify as many parcel owners around the facility and follow-up with a physical inspection of the area by car to verify all of the addresses. With the interface, we quickly identify the facility, then using ArcView we buffer the area and look at the table of the buffered area and create mailing labels in Crystal Reports to send a letter to each of the surrounding properties that must be notified. This whole process takes minutes compared to hours of staff time.

We also wanted to be able to analyze data on septic system permits both new and repairs to assist in analyzing areas of growth. By identifying areas of frequent repairs to septic systems we can report to other county departments who make decisions on the density of homes in subdivisions. This information can help determine size of the lot, density or possibly aid in the type of soils testing that may need to be done. The picture shows an area of repair (purple) septic system permits and the obvious trend of septic failures developing.

CONCLUSION

We are very pleased with the work we have been able to do with this interface. Since we are also learning ArcView, we have found that there is additional functionality we would like added to increase our abilities to analyze our data. However, as we become better at using the interface and ArcView, we hope to not only improve our skills in GIS but also eventually use the interface as a front counter application to assist the public.