The Kansas Water Dashboard

The purpose of this project, through the National Science Foundation Convergence Accelerator program, is to develop a water management data ecosystem that collects water quality and quantity data, models it with machine learning algorithms, and makes insights available on a dashboard for local government officials and state government agencies so that the state of Kansas can make decisions that sustain water quantity, improve water quality, and ensure water equity.

The data dashboard will streamline and integrate data collection efforts across multiple state agencies. The result of this project aims to make livelihoods in parts of Kansas sustainable and for Kansas to serve as a model for how to integrate high-frequency data into decision-making processes and enhance equitable, unbiased data-driven solutions to the urgent water equity problems our society faces.

Sensor and Gateway Component 

The first part of the project works with city water officials and agricultural producers to install LoRaWAN gateways and water quality and quantity sensors. The gateways increase the area where sensors can be installed without relying on internet or cell service towers. The sensors provide data that is processed into individual dashboards for the end-users that enables them to track in real-time how their decisions are impacting the level of water in their wells as well as the quantity of water in the aquifer those wells access.  

Public Dashboard Component 

While the sensor-based monitoring of water quality and water quantity makes possible individual dashboards for the end-users with rights over those wells, our use-inspired research has shown the need for a public-facing dashboard. The Dashboard team has worked to understand what benefits the public-facing dashboard would bring to the state and has aligned it with the pillars of the Kansas Water Plan. This approach makes it possible for decision-makers, researchers, and members of the public to understand what progress is being made towards each of those pillars and how Kansas is working to secure the safety and sustainability of its water supply.  

This project is a collaborative effort between the University of Kansas, Viannix Inc., and local communities in Western Kansas, and is funded through the National Science Foundation’s Convergence Accelerator program.