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TypeWater
nameeWater 2.0: The Next Step in Water Use Reporting in Alabama
Speaker 1Tom Littlepage
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speaker1_phone(334) 242-5697
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speaker1_bio

Mr. Littlepage graduated from Auburn University with a degree in Civil Engineering. Upon graduation, he spent approximately nine years in the Air Force. Upon his return to Alabama, he began his career with the State of Alabama with the Alabama Department of Environmental Management (ADEM). He later transferred to the Alabama Office of Water Resources (OWR), a division of the Alabama Department of Economic and Community Affairs (ADECA).
Mr. Littlepage heads the Water Management Unit of the Alabama Office of Water Resources and manages the Water Use Reporting Program for the State of Alabama. He also oversees Alabama’s drought planning and management process. This has included overseeing the implementation of the Alabama Drought Planning and Response Act passed in 2014, approval of drought regulations finalized in 2016, and the revision to the Alabama Drought Management Plan in November of 2018.
He has also worked on various efforts to review potential changes to Alabama’s water management programs including policy enhancements in how Alabama manages water withdrawals and use. Currently that effort is focusing on updating the data management system used to administer the Alabama Water Use Reporting Program.

Abstract Text

The Alabama Office of Water Resources (OWR) was created to provide the ability to monitor and measure water use throughout the State under the Alabama Water Use Reporting Program. To support that effort, OWR has tried to ensure that the water use registration and reporting process is as efficient and easy to use as possible. We have now embarked on an initiative to improve that process even more with the development of eWater 2.0.
The first generation of eWater is a client-server software application originally fielded in 2003. It has become obsolete and is unable to be upgraded. This presentation will provide a summary of the improvements to the water use reporting program under an interactive and user driven application named eWater 2.0.
Information presented will highlight the benefits of on-line access to both applicants and Certificate of Use (COU) holders as well as process improvements to the OWR staff by using a combination of Commercial-Off-The-Shelf (COTS) software and a custom application developed by the State of Alabama Office of Information Technology. The presentation will highlight how this approach provides a cost-efficient and user-friendly tool that will improve water use data reporting and analysis for years to come.