The WATER Hub

WATER Hub is an organization that provides water data services. It was created as part of the National Science Foundation's Phase I Convergence Accelerator Program, which runs from February 2024 to February 2025.

The dashboards developed by the WATER Hub in Phase I 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.

WATER Hub provides both public and private dashboards. Private dashboards help well owners make data-driven decisions about daily water use, while public dashboards integrate water data for state agencies and officials to analyze and manage water resources in Kansas.

Private Dashboards

The first set of dashboards collects data from sensors in wells owned by cities and irrigators. This data is sent through LoRaWAN gateways to a cloud server, where it is processed, analyzed, and then shown on a private dashboard that only the well owner (such as a city official or irrigator) can access. These private dashboards provide city water officials with information to help decide which wells are safe to use each day, and they help irrigators understand how their water use affects the depth of their wells. In both cases, the WATER Hub's private dashboards help users make informed decisions about daily water use from their wells.

Public Dashboards

The second set of dashboards combines publicly available water data and provides analysis for state decision-makers using a public-facing tool. Currently, the Kansas public dashboard, developed in Phase I, is used by the Kansas Governor’s Office (KGO), the Kansas Department of Health and Environment (KDHE), the Kansas Water Office (KWO), and Groundwater Management Districts (GMDs) 1, 3, and 4. These GMDs are located in western Kansas and cover the area above the High Plains Aquifer. The public dashboard brings together federal, state, and local datasets, offering different levels of detail based on geography.

With Phase II funding from the NSF,  WATER Hub plans to expand both its public and private dashboards. Phase II will be from February 2025 to February 2028. 

Private Dashboard Expansion

In Phase II, WATER Hub plans to grow its private dashboards by increasing investments in gateways and sensors for more irrigators and cities across additional Groundwater Management Districts (GMDs). By working with collaborators from GMD 1, 3, and 4, the WATER Hub will offer private dashboards to every city with water rights in these areas. Through installing LoRaWAN gateways in those cities, WATER Hub will be able to connect 14 percent of all points of diversion that use water in the High Plains Aquifer to sensor-based technology.

Public Dashboard Expansion

In Phase II, WATER Hub plans to grow its public dashboards by creating dashboards for Nebraska, Missouri, and Iowa—our new expansion states. Building on the work we did with federal datasets for the Kansas dashboard, we will work with local and state partners in these new states to combine federal, state, and local data. By working directly with the people who will use these tools, we will create data solutions that help support equitable water use decisions in each state.