The California Water Data Consortium is partnering with FlowWest to support the State Water Resources Control Board and Department of Water Resources in publishing critical urban water use and drought data on the California Natural Resources Agency’s Open Data Portal.
Until recently, these valuable datasets were either unpublished or scattered across different departments, making it difficult to answer fundamental water management questions. Now, these resources are available in analysis-ready formats to support researchers, state staff, and the public.
In this session, you’ll hear directly from Ashley Vizek of FlowWest about the process of preparing these datasets for public use. Additionally, Master of Environmental Data Science (MEDS) students from the University of California Santa Barbara’s Bren School will share insights from their work analyzing this newly released data to answer pressing drought management questions.
Why This Matters
Open and well-documented drought data is essential for building California’s water resilience. The Bren students use these newly published datasets to examine drought management questions from multiple perspectives and develop recommendations for best practices in data analysis. Their work includes a gap analysis that will help identify what additional information is needed to answer vital questions about drought in California. Join us to learn how these collaborative efforts help transform shared data into actionable insights for more effective drought response and planning.
Agenda
- Welcome and Introduction (5 mins)
- FlowWest Presentation (15 mins)
- Bren MEDS Capstone Project Presentation (15 mins)
- Facilitated Discussion (15 mins)
- Q&A (10 mins)
Presenters
- Ashley Vizek, FlowWest
- Tom Gibbens-Matsuyama, UCSB Bren MEDS program
- Emma Bea Mitchell, UCSB Bren MEDS program
- Karol Paya, UCSB Bren MEDS program
- Takeen Shamloo, UCSB Bren MEDS program
About the Presenters
Ashley Vizek is a Principal Data Scientist at FlowWest where she works with clients and collaborators to empower data supported decision making for natural resources management by making water and ecological data findable, accessible, interoperable, and reusable. She directs work across a number of data science projects related to Central Valley spring-run Chinook salmon, habitat and restoration monitoring in the Central Valley, and data integration in the Klamath River Basin. Prior to joining FlowWest, Ashley worked at the Northwest Fisheries Science Center as a social scientist and economist where she researched the social dynamics and costs and earnings of the West Coast Groundfish Catch Share Fishery. Ashley earned a B.S. from Purdue University, and a M.S. from Portland State University Department of Environmental Science and Management.
Tom Gibbens-Matsuyama is a graduate student in the University of California, Santa Barbara Bren School of Environmental Science and Management. He is currently pursuing a degree in their Environmental Data Science program. Born and raised in Ventura, California, Tom was drawn to the ocean at an early age. This led him to receive a degree in marine biology from the University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa in 2023. With collaborators at the Hawaiian Institute of Marine Biology, Tom’s senior project investigated the effects of green sea turtles on benthic communities. This experience introduced him to the biostatistical capabilities of the R programming language. Alongside a biostatistics undergraduate TA position, Tom discovered a newfound interest in data science. At Bren, Tom is building on that foundation to develop his data science skills to be applied not only to marine issues but also to a wide range of environmental problems. He is excited to collaborate on both marine and non-marine projects, and is passionate about using data-driven approaches to create practical solutions.
Emma Bea Mitchell is an Environmental Data Science Master’s student at the Bren School of Environmental Science and Management at UCSB. She graduated from the University of Redlands in 2022, where she combined three different programs to create a personalized major in Environmental Science, Policy and Justice. Through volunteer work and study abroad experience, she found a strong connection to the environment. All of these experiences combined, led Emma Bea to MEDS, where she is pursuing her passion of studying the intersection of humans and the environment by learning to utilize the power of computer programming. In her career, she hopes to use data science to help repair the harmful impacts of dangerous environmental decisions on people and the environment.
Karol Paya is an Environmental Engineer with an Honours Bachelor’s degree in Water Resources from the University of Waterloo, Canada. She is currently pursuing a Master’s degree in Environmental Data Science at the Bren School, University of California. Her work is driven by a passion for leveraging technology to tackle environmental challenges and promote sustainable solutions.
Takeen Shamloo is a graduate student at UC Santa Barbara, pursuing a Master’s degree in Environmental Data Science. He graduated in 2024 with a B.S. in Statistics & Data Science, alongside a minor in Earth Science. His passion for environmental conservation was deeply influenced by frequent family camping trips during his childhood where he developed an early appreciation for preserving nature. This passion was further solidified through his work at the LA Sanitation’s Environmental Monitoring Division. There he gained valuable experience and insight into the intricate processes involved in wastewater treatment. The rigorous sampling and analysis required for effective treatment sparked his interest in the intersection of data science and environmental conservation. Takeen is eager to apply his data modeling skills to collaborate with organizations dedicated to preserving natural resources. His ultimate goal is to contribute to the development of innovative practices that promote sustainable resource management and ensure the health of our environment.
Presentation Recording
Thank You To Our Sponsors
About Data for Lunch
Data for Lunch is a free and dynamic virtual event series for water professionals, researchers, policymakers, and other partners to explore and discuss the latest water-related datasets, technologies, and governance innovations.
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Funding for this project has been provided in full or in part from the Budget Act of 2022 and through an agreement with the State