Abstract

West Virginia Water Withdrawal Tool
Track: Water Resources
Authors: Zahid Chaudhry, Jennifer Todd, Larry Evans

Knowing when it is environmentally safe to withdraw water from a stream is difficult. Looking at a stream one cannot determine if water can be removed with no deleterious effects. The West Virginia Department of Environmental Protection has developed guidance and a browser based application (ArcGIS Server Flex API) to help the public know when water can be safely withdrawn from a West Virginia stream to protect the aquatic habitat. This application utilizes USGS Instantaneous Values Web Services to retrieve real time gauge data and, based on predefined criteria, provides guidance whether water should be withdrawn or not and lists which stream(s) may safely be used for withdrawal. The whole user interface is very intuitive and user friendly and all you need to do is click in the area of interest. The application was selected as the Best In-House Developed Application at the 2010 WV IT Summit.