Decision Center for a Desert City
The Decision Center for a Desert City has created WaterSim on the Web, an interactive tool that brings science to the general public. It allows you to explore future water scenarios for metropolitan Phoenix in an easy-to-understand format. With Water Sim at your command, you can gauge water availability in response to changes in climate conditions, drought, population growth, urbanization, land use, and technological innovation, as well as test policy decisions about the built environment, landscaping practices, and recycled water.
Using WaterSim Explorer, users move decision-input levers and instantly view potential outcomes. Using WaterSim Scenario Builder, you can compare, side-by-side, two different scenarios. These features, along with the historical and geographical background provided, make WaterSim a powerful instructional and informational resource.
The Decision Center for a Desert City's Southwest Water Information Project (SWIP) interactive web atlas is a web-based, water-related GIS application for the Phoenix metropolitan area. It was designed as an online mapping tool to provide an objective base of information that can be used to educate the community and those involved in water policy discussions.
Each of the maps, either directly or indirectly, shows variables related to water demand. Topic areas include household water usage, factors such as lot size, percent mesic vegetation and percent pools, demographics, housing completions, and the urban heat island. These categories are targeted toward meeting the water information needs of multiple audiences, including the general public, water managers, policy analysts, and elected officials.
SWIP was developed in cooperation with the University of Arizona and the major water institutions of the region including Salt River Project, Central Arizona Project, Arizona Department of Water Resources, and the major water providers of the region including the City of Phoenix.