Learn Open Data / Example Datasets
This page provides examples of open datasets related to water resources. Recommendations for datasets are also provided to help water entities determine which datasets they might be able to publish. OWF will add online examples when they are identified or implemented.
- Foundational Large-scale Datasets
- Colorado Municipalities
- Open Water Foundation datasets on the web - link to data.openwaterfoundation.org
- Datasets stored in Open Data Portals
- Agricultural Datasets
- Environmental and Recreational Datasets
- Industry Datasets
- Municipal Datasets
- System Datasets
Foundational Large-scale Datasets
Foundational large-scale datasets are those that cross jurisdictional boundaries and provide a foundation for large-scale analysis. For example, the Colorado municipalities dataset below provides a foundation for any analysis linked to municipalities.
Colorado Municipalities
The Open Water Foundation has created an open dataset for Colorado municipalities that adheres to guidelines presented in this documentation:
- Source data are maintained in Excel Workbook according to the Open Dataset Guidelines
- Data are available in a version-control repository: Colorado municipal water providers dataset
- See the Excel master dataset file - must download to view
- See the exported csv format file - can view online as a scrollable table
- See the exported GeoJSON format file - can view simple map online
Agricultural Datasets
The following are ideas for open datasets:
- industry statistics such as how much agricultural land, how many farms, average size of farm, average age of farmer, economic impact, etc.
- how much urban/agricultural water sharing via rentals, temporary agreements, long term agreements, etc.
- datasets to explain impacts and benefits of agricultural water use
- climate change impacts, to help understand (potential) impacts and (potential) actions
Environmental and Recreational Datasets
The following are ideas for open datasets:
- anything that helps understand environmental flow requirements and ability to meet requirements
- water quality data and trends
- climate change impacts, to help understand (potential) impacts and (potential) actions
Industry Datasets
The following are ideas for open datasets:
- how much water is used by industrial sector
- how much water is used by specific large industries, trends, efficiency, links to efficiency programs
- spatial distribution of industry water use (energy, dairy, brewing, etc.)
Municipal Datasets
The following are ideas for open datasets:
- drought status, to help customers know when drought restrictions may apply
- history of rate increases, to help customers understand context and rationale
- water conservation/efficiency data including trends, program adoption rates, goals, sustainability, to help understand the demand and supply impacts of efficiency
- capital project current projects and backlog, to help understand what rates pay for
- water quality data and trends, to show regulatory compliance and high water quality for ratepayers
- economic data to demonstrate fiscal transparency and efficiency
- municipal water rates across water providers
- climate change impacts, to help understand (potential) impacts and (potential) actions
System Datasets
The following are ideas for open datasets:
- datasets for river natural flows, to explain baseline water availability
- at each point in a system, how much storage is available above that point
- for each basin, how much water is native supply, imported supply, exported, surface water, groundwater, etc.
- datasets that show relationships between entities (social networks)
- when a document is published that includes tables and graphs (e.g., an annual report), publish the data from the report in a machine-readable form, such as Excel workbook with worksheets for every table/graph