Grand County Water Information Network unveils five-year strategic plan and data dashboard project

Grand County Water Information Network (GCWynne) presented its updated five-year strategic plan to the Board of County Commissioners on March 18, outlining goals to expand monitoring, improve data management and public dashboards, grow education programs, and seek stable funding and staffing.

Executive Director Kyle Masterson and Water Quality Specialist Kaylee Folk described the plan’s mission and values, the organization’s monitoring programs and partners, and a near-term effort to build a public-facing dashboard with LRE Water to make nearly 9 million lines of historical water data more usable. Masterson described the network’s “vision where our communities thrive in harmony with a healthy, resilient Upper Colorado River watershed,” and Folk highlighted monitoring programs that include lake clarity, cyanobacteria (toxic blue-green algae) testing, conductivity/temperature sensors, and a 50-plus site stream-temperature network.

GCWynne asked the commissioners to consider continued support and partnerships as it seeks to hire an additional watershed project manager to manage growing programs and grant activity. Masterson said the organization secured partial grant funding from the Grand Foundation to develop the plan and has identified LRE Water to build a user-friendly dashboard, which staff said will take several months to build out.

Commissioners and staff thanked presenters and noted GCWynne’s data are already being used by the stream-management plan and other partners; one commissioner asked for demonstrations and workshops for the public once the dashboard is ready.

Ending: GCWynne said it will continue building the dashboard and return with demonstrations and funding requests as development proceeds.