State Water Boards previews SEEDIN 2 chemistry module, plans summer public rollout

Tessa Fojit, CDN database manager at the State Water Boards, briefed the CDN user group on SEEDIN 2 development and the agency's outreach plan for the upcoming chemistry module. Staff are working with vendor EarthSoft to configure the Equus platform for the SEEDIN 2 chemistry module and have completed contract-lab testing and initial API testing with regional data centers.

"The chemistry module will be going live this year," Fojit said, and clarified that public use is planned for summer to avoid overlapping the integrated report data solicitation window. She described the rollout sequence: chemistry first, followed by field and habitat modules and later taxonomy. Tessa also said staff will publish guidance documents, videos and navigation help for the ECWIS/Equus site prior to public launch.

Attendees asked practical questions about the chemistry data template: Lisa asked whether the three-tab workbook (results plus two vocab request tabs) could be split for submission; Fojit explained submitters will only populate the chemistry results tab when uploading data, while the vocab request tabs support submitting and tracking vocabulary requests in the system. Lisa also asked about the Equus-assigned identifier field; Fojit said "that's a field you don't populate. The system will populate that, in the back end."

Fojit said staff are preparing outreach for laboratories in coordination with the ELAP group and plan a specific lab fact sheet describing changes that labs may need to make before SEEDIN 2 goes live. She invited suggestions for other groups and listservs to reach with outreach materials and said the team will provide a hands-on demonstration at the June meeting ahead of the public launch.

Next steps: staff will continue API testing with regional data centers, finalize outreach materials, post guidance on the updated CDN website, and demonstrate the Equus site at the next CDN user group meeting in June.