S T A T E O F N E W Y O R K
________________________________________________________________________
10199
I N A S S E M B L Y
February 12, 2026
___________
Introduced by M. of A. KELLES -- read once and referred to the Committee
on Environmental Conservation
AN ACT in relation to enacting the "New York open water data act"
THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK, REPRESENTED IN SENATE AND ASSEM-
BLY, DO ENACT AS FOLLOWS:
Section 1. Short title. This act shall be known and may be cited as
the "New York open water data act".
§ 2. Definitions. For purposes of this act, the following terms shall
have the following meanings:
1. "Conveners" means the:
(a) New York water resources institute at Cornell University; and
(b) New York sea grant at Stony Brook University.
2. "Agencies" means the:
(a) New York state department of environmental conservation;
(b) New York state department of health's bureau of water supply
protection;
(c) New York state department of agriculture and markets;
(d) New York state canal corporation;
(e) New York city department of environmental protection; and
(f) public service commission.
3. "Water data" means all water data being collected within the state
including:
(a) Measurements of basic properties relating to the planning and
management of water resources, including streamflow, precipitation,
ground water, water quality and water use in agriculture, industry and
municipal uses and natural systems;
(b) Data related to fresh or inland waters of the state, including but
not limited to wetlands, lakes, streams, creeks, rivers, reservoirs,
aquifers, and groundwater;
(c) Data related to state and municipal water infrastructure, includ-
ing but not limited to canals, aqueducts, dams, and pipes;
(d) Data that may include areas of mixing of fresh and marine waters,
including but not limited to tidal basins and estuaries;
EXPLANATION--Matter in ITALICS (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
[ ] is old law to be omitted.
LBD01686-04-6
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(e) At the discretion of the conveners, the term "water data" may
include data related to coastal waters used for human activities includ-
ing, but not limited to agriculture, recreation, and industry; and
(f) Any sensitive data, including but not limited to data related to
security or public safety; provided, however, that such data may, at the
discretion of the conveners and agencies, be excluded from reporting or
may be reported only in the aggregate.
Provided, however, that nothing in this definition of water data shall
be construed to require additional data collection beyond what is
already being collected, unless the agencies collectively agree to
require collection of additional data.
§ 3. Water data conveners and agencies; duties; standards and best
practices; annual plan. 1. Subject to an appropriation therefor and
within six months after this act shall have become a law, and at least
quarterly thereafter, the conveners shall facilitate a meeting at which
the agencies plan and determine a framework to meet the requirements set
forth in this section. The conveners shall provide any technical assist-
ance and support necessary to assist the agencies in meeting the
requirements of this section and the framework established by the agen-
cies.
2. By January 1 two years after this act shall have become a law, the
agencies and the conveners shall:
(a) identify key water data, information and tools needed to support
water management and planning, including but not limited to;
(i) state and local government data on streamflow, precipitation,
reservoir and irrigation system operations, ground water use and levels,
municipal and industrial water use and land uses, but not including data
from residential wells;
(ii) data on water rights, water diversions and water quality;
(iii) data on fish, aquatic and riparian systems and ecological data;
(iv) water quality data, including sampling results generated by
public water supplies in accordance with title 1 of article 11 of the
public health law;
(v) data from private wells collected by local or state agencies;
(vi) commercial uses of water licensed by state agencies;
(vii) water affordability data, including but not limited to water
rates, shut-offs conducted, and aggregate data on arrears; and
(viii) water infrastructure data.
(b) develop common water data standards for data collection and
dissemination, including practices to standardize and clean up data and
make it available to the public in commonly used data formats, which
shall, where appropriate, be arranged or identified by county and muni-
cipality or other appropriate geographic area, and that shall exclude
specific addresses, locations, and other personal information;
(c) make such water data available to the public through the state's
open data program OpenNY, including working to identify and develop any
critical data that can be made accessible via geographic information
systems (GIS) mapping and ensuring that all datasets have an application
programming interface (API) endpoint to allow researchers and developers
to access and deploy such data at a level of detail and with a frequency
that furthers effective public use of such data;
(d) identify available and unavailable water data; and
(e) develop pathways to include water data derived from citizen
science efforts.
3. Water data research undertaken with state funding shall comply with
the common water data standards and best practices developed by the
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agencies, provided that where federal standards are required to maintain
federal funding and state standards also exist, complying with the more
stringent standards shall satisfy the requirements of this section.
4. The agencies and the conveners shall update all water data
compiled pursuant to this act at least quarterly, where data points are
incorporated into the database based on the frequency at which they are
originally collected without aggregation, except where necessary for the
protection of security or public safety.
5. The agencies shall collaborate with other regional, national and
international efforts, including but not limited to the great lakes
commission and the international joint commission, to share, integrate
and manage water data.
6. By September 1 two years after this act shall have become a law,
and thereafter annually by September 1 of each year, the agencies shall
develop and submit a plan to the governor and the legislature that
details:
(a) an assessment of existing water data and projected information
needs to support ongoing water management and planning;
(b) an estimate of budgetary resources needed to carry out the
purposes of this act; and
(c) metrics for assessing the achievement of the purposes of this act.
§ 4. This act shall take effect on the one hundred eightieth day after
it shall have become a law.