California is taking a major step forward in transforming how water is managed and monitored with the roll out of a groundbreaking tool aimed at modernizing water rights data. Launching this summer, the State Water Board’s $60 million Updating Water Rights Data for California (UPWARD) project is set to replace the outdated, paper-based system with a streamlined, user-friendly platform. By tackling the inefficiencies of the current system, UPWARD will provide timely, accessible information for better decision-making, especially critical during water shortages and droughts. This innovative effort promises to enhance the state’s ability to safeguard its most precious resource.
The overarching goal of the UPWARD project is to create new digital infrastructure and data governance processes to improve the quality and accessibility of water rights data. The project will replace the current eWRIMS system with a modern data system, digitize paper records and make them accessible online, and create the teams, policies, and protocols to properly manage the data into perpetuity.
The new system will guide the user through the reporting process and use verification and validation processes to ensure data is correct. Water rights information for each diverter will be organized and include information such as reminders when reports are due; larger organizations with multiple water rights can arrange them by branch or regional office. The system will include GIS capabilities so points of diversion, place of use, and other features can be mapped. The data will be available on a searchable map where users can drill down to find points of diversion and be able to access scanned documents related to the water right.
Digitizing the paper records is a fundamental part of the project, including metadata tagging to make the record accessible and retrievable. The tagging process is the most time-intensive piece, requiring water rights expertise to ensure accuracy. So far, the digitization team has scanned half a million of the over 7 million paper documents.
Changes to water measurement and reporting regulations needed
The implementation of the new Cal-WATRS system will necessitate changes to the water measurement and reporting regulations.
The current regulations, adopted in 2016, were developed in response to a historic multi-year drought, which highlighted the need for improved data on when, where, and how much water is being diverted to better manage water scarcity. The measurement data is critical for the Board to forecast water availability, manage water rights, and protect both senior water rights holders and environmental priorities.
Implementation of the regulation began in 2018, but compliance has been limited, with only about 20% of diverters submitting the required annual reports—a rate that has not significantly improved over time. Staff have conducted listening sessions, provided guidance materials, and engaged in outreach efforts to improve compliance. Despite these efforts, compliance rates remain stagnant. Updating the regulation to include standardized data formats and clarify diverter responsibilities is necessary to enhance compliance and streamline data management.
The proposed changes will align the submitted data with the requirements of the CalWATRS platform and include refined key terms for clarity; aligned reporting deadlines; a standardized format for data file submissions; updated requirements for measurement location, large diversions, and points of rediversion; and overall restructuring to improve readability.
The Office of Administrative Law (OAL) has published the Notice of Proposed Action, beginning a 45-day comment period on the proposed changes. Your comments are due to the Water Board by 5:00 p.m. on April 23, 2025. A public hearing will be held on April 16, 2025, at 10:00 a.m. by Zoom only. Register here.
If the comments received result in substantial updates, an additional 15-day comment period would be necessary. The finalized text is anticipated to be ready for Board adoption in the summer of this year. Once approved, it will be submitted to OAL for final approval. The target effective date for the regulation is October 1, 2025. The new requirements would apply to the reports due on February 1, 2027.
Schedule of the rollout
The website is set to launch in July, although not all features will be available. Erik Ekdahl, Deputy Director of the Division of Water Rights, noted that it won’t magically solve all data problems on day one. “We have an expansive new toolbox to use internally and externally, but it’s going to take a few years of using the new system to get that data to better quality so it will be beneficial for everyone,” he said. “It’s not going to magically make our old data better. We have done substantial data cleanup, but there are some things where there’s a wall of what we can do.”
Now through July, the team will be working to refine the CalWATRS User Interface and reporting flow, begin enrollment coordination with large and complex water rights holders, and provide the Upward Advisory Group access to CalWATRS for hands-on testing. In August, staff will provide initial enrollment support with outreach to smaller water rights holders; support will continue through January 2026. The team will also be working to scale up the digitization and metadata tagging processes and develop a Data Governance Policy to set standard operating procedures and ensure that the data remains high-quality. Actual reporting on the new platform will not begin until the start of the new water year on October 1.
Benefits beyond administration of water rights
The new system will have broader use outside of managing water rights. “Water availability affects a whole host of other things that we work with: new water right applications, change petitions, temporary recharge permits – all these depend on kind of that water availability question,” said Mr. Ekdahl. “We never had a data system that could capture that data. So if we can start to get a better picture, not just during times of shortage, but during average years, during wet years, that’s really going to help us understand what water is actually being used, where it’s being used when it’s being used, and then how that could be better allocated to a whole host of other beneficial uses.”
“To be clear, CalWATRS will not model water availability. It will collect data in a cleaner and much more organized way so that it will feed our modeling programs that do the water availability faster and cleaner.”
