Modernizing Data Systems in Environmental Public Health: A Blueprint for Action
Tennessee: Source Water Assessment Modernization Implementation The Tennessee Department of Environment and Conservation (TDEC), in part- nership with U.S. Geological Survey, modernized its Source Water Assessment Program by creating Tennessee (TN) Department of Environment and Conser- vation Source Water Assessment Program (SWAP) methodology using Python (PyT). This GIS-based tool automates the process of evaluating potential risks to public drinking water systems. TDEC built a cloud-ready workflow that stan- dardizes data from TDEC, U.S. EPA’s Safe Drinking Water Information System (SDWIS), and other federal and state sources; automatically delineates assess- ment zones; inventories potential contaminant sources; computes susceptibility scores using environmental variables such as land use and slope; and generates uniform reports for every public water system in the state. Centralized databases and reproducible scripts ensure that new datasets can be incorporated easily and that reports remain consistent across more than 600 systems.
Challenges and Solutions Tennessee’s original assessments were over 20 years old, and updating them manually was time- and resource-intensive, especially for smaller systems. Much of the relevant data was scattered across different agencies in varying formats. To address this issue, TDEC and USGS created a centralized spatial database designed to handle missing or inaccurate data, and it is flexible enough to incor- porate information from adjoining states. The automated workflow makes the process faster, more consistent, and easier to maintain over time. Outcomes and Benefits The modernized approach dramatically reduced the time it takes to update as - sessments while improving consistency and accuracy. State staff can now quick- ly identify high-risk areas and prioritize where to take protective action. The tool also helps ensure that communities receive precise and up-to-date information about their drinking water safety. Lessons Learned Cross-agency collaboration and learning from other jurisdictions can accelerate modernization. Standardized data models and opensource tools are crucial for scalable automation and for handling diverse datasets. A workflow designed to be resilient to missing data and to support cross-state assessment zones ensures accuracy and broad applicability. Lastly, delivering user-friendly, auto- mated reports improves partner engagement and allows agencies to focus on protective measures rather than administrative tasks.
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