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. 2024 Jun 6;11(1):598.
doi: 10.1038/s41597-024-03434-6.

Harmonized Database of Western U.S. Water Rights (HarDWR) v.1

Matthew D Lisk  1 , Danielle S Grogan  2 , Shan Zuidema  2 , Jiameng Zheng  3 , Robert Caccese  4 , Darrah Peklak  5 , Karen Fisher-Vanden  6 , Richard B Lammers  2 , Sheila M Olmstead  7   8   9 , Lara Fowler  10
Affiliations

Harmonized Database of Western U.S. Water Rights (HarDWR) v.1

Matthew D Lisk et al. Sci Data. .

Abstract

In the arid and semi-arid Western U.S., access to water is regulated through a legal system of water rights. Individuals, companies, organizations, municipalities, and tribal entities have documents that declare their water rights. State water regulatory agencies collate and maintain these records, which can be used in legal disputes over access to water. While these records are publicly available data in all Western U.S. states, the data have not yet been readily available in digital form from all states. Furthermore, there are many differences in data format, terminology, and definitions between state water regulatory agencies. Here, we have collected water rights data from 11 Western U.S. state agencies, harmonized terminology and use definitions, formatted them for consistency, and tied them to a Western U.S.-wide shapefile of water administrative boundaries.

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Conflict of interest statement

The authors declare no competing interests.

Figures

Fig. 1
Fig. 1
The borders of all Water Management Areas (WMAs) across the 11-state region are now available in one unified shapefile, with unique identifiers for each polygon.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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