Oral Presentation Freshwater Sciences 2023

Open-source web tool for targeted environmental monitoring (#379)

Michael Kittridge 1 , Olivier Ausseil 1 2 , Richard McDowell 1 3 , Zeb Etheridge 1 4 , Alasdair Noble 1 3 , Joanne Clapcott 1 5
  1. Our Land and Water, Christchurch, CANTERBURY, New Zealand
  2. Aquanet, Wellington
  3. AgResearch, Lincoln
  4. Komanawa, Christchurch
  5. Cawthron Institute, Nelson

Environmental reporting is often performed iteratively as static reports that can sometimes become outdated when the report is released. They may also lack an ability to provide various mitigation scenarios to help environmental managers make decisions about which mitigation actions to take and where to perform the environmental monitoring to capture the changes. We present a New Zealand real-time, open-source, web tool to help environmental managers decide where to monitor environmental changes (rivers, lakes, and groundwater) given upgradient mitigation actions. 

The web tool incorporates environmental numerical models in a user-friendly interface. It allows the user to input custom mitigation areas and quickly route the changes to the downgradient water bodies. The tool then allows the user to select several options for how they would like to monitor the changes and illustrates the water bodies according to the best places to perform the environmental monitoring. The three types of water bodies the tool will address includes rivers, lakes, and groundwater in all of New Zealand. 

The presentation will include a live demonstration of the tool, where it can be accessed, and where it can be downloaded for offline use.