Colorado River Basin Data Visualization Challenge

  • Image of Colorado River and canyon.

    Launch: September 7, 2017
    Awarded: November 16, 2018

    Reclamation seeks innovative, interactive, and user-driven visualizations to improve the understanding of past, current, and projected water conditions in the Colorado River Basin.

    The Bureau of Reclamation and Colorado River Basin (CRB) data play a significant role in managing the Colorado River, including operating dams and canals to deliver water and generate power, overseeing water allocations and water use, and protecting and restoring habitat for endangered and threatened species. State and local agencies, water users, recreationists, researchers and other stakeholders and partners also rely on CRB data for a wide variety of uses. Reclamation is currently working to make CRB data open and accessible to both Reclamation (internal) and non-Reclamation (external) users. However, better approaches to visualizing CRB data are needed to improve data exploration, analysis, interpretation, and communication by internal and external users. In particular, better visualization approaches are needed to improve understanding and communication of current and projected conditions in the basin and the water management actions that affect those conditions.