Abstract

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Paper
Applied Mobile GIS for Investigation of Arizona Surface Water Rights
Track: New Technology and System Integration
Author(s): Andy Fisher, Karen Martini

Since the 1980s, the Arizona Department of Water Resources (ADWR) has served as technical advisor in a court proceeding to determine the nature, extent, and priority of surface water rights in Arizona. Field investigations are a major part of ADWR's role in the Arizona General Stream Adjudications, and in the past, standard paper-based cartographic methods were used. New technologies are now being implemented that improve the efficiency and precision of these investigations.

Since 2005, ADWR has been using mobile GIS in its field investigation of water rights claimed by the Hopi Tribe in northeastern Arizona. ArcPad, Trimble GPS, and Windows-based tablet PCs were employed during data collection and ArcGIS methods were employed for pre- and post-field data processing. Although use of mobile GIS has not proven to be a seamless process, it is considered a success and is now being applied to other department field projects.

The Arizona Department of Water Resources GIS section is improving labor intensive field investigations through integrated deployment of mobile GIS, GPS and computer technologies. ADWR has realized a significant increase in productivity over previous investigation methods. Mobile GIS provides precise spatial data collection in the field while eliminating several data processing steps in the office.

Andy Fisher
Arizona Department of Water Resources
Hydrology
3550 N. Central Ave
Phoenix, AZ 85012
US
Phone: 602-771-8535
E-mail: aafisher@azwater.gov

Karen Martini
Arizona Department of Water Resources
Hydrology
3550 N. Central Ave
Phoenix, AZ 85012
US
Phone: 602-771-8535
E-mail: kamartini@azwater.gov