S T A T E   O F   N E W   Y O R K
 ________________________________________________________________________
 
                                   1211
 
                        2025-2026 Regular Sessions
 
                             I N  S E N A T E
 
                              January 8, 2025
                                ___________
 
 Introduced  by  Sens. MAY, COMRIE, HARCKHAM, JACKSON, WEBB -- read twice
   and ordered printed, and when printed to be committed 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:
   (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)  All  such  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)  All  data  related  to  state and municipal water infrastructure,
 including but not limited to canals, aqueducts, dams, and pipes;
 
  EXPLANATION--Matter in ITALICS (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
                       [ ] is old law to be omitted.
                                                            LBD01686-01-5
              

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   (d) Data that may include areas of mixing of fresh and marine  waters,
 including but not limited to tidal basins and estuaries; and
   (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.
   § 3. Water data conveners and agencies;  duties;  standards  and  best
 practices; annual plan. 1. By January 1 in the year after this act shall
 have  become  a  law,  and  at least quarterly thereafter, the conveners
 shall organize and hold a meeting with the agencies to plan  and  deter-
 mine a framework to meet the requirements set forth in this section. The
 conveners  shall  provide  any expertise and support necessary to assist
 the agencies in meeting the requirements of this section and the  frame-
 work established by the agencies.
   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 in ways that further 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
 agencies.
   4.   The agencies and  the  conveners  shall  update  all  water  data
 collected pursuant to this act at least annually.
   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.
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   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 water data and information needs to support water
 management and planning;
   (b)  goals,  targets and actions to carry out the purposes of this act
 in the upcoming fiscal year;
   (c) budgetary resources to carry out the purposes of this act; and
   (d) metrics for achieving the purposes of this act.
   § 4. Funding. Funding for  such  act  shall  consist  of  all  revenue
 received  pursuant  to  an  appropriation  thereto, and all other monies
 appropriated, credited or transferred from any other source pursuant  to
 law.  Nothing  in this section shall be deemed to prevent the state from
 receiving grants, gifts or bequests for the purpose of such act.  Grants
 shall only be awarded based upon the availability of funds.
   § 5. This act shall take effect on the one hundred eightieth day after
 it shall have become a law.