WSRCD Press Release - Award Winning Watershed Information Model has been Updated

PRESS RELEASE - May 16, 2005

Award Winning
Watershed Information Model
Has been Updated!

The fun and interactive Watershed Information Model, or WIM, (http://wim.shastacollege.edu) has been updated! Earlier this month, WIM developers completed their fourth update since the Website launched in August, 2003. WIM is a 24-hour Web resource available to anybody interested in local watershed activities from fire hazard reduction to fisheries restoration. WIM was awarded the NACD/ AEM Excellence in Communications Award in February 2005 in part for its appeal to multiple audiences, watershed-driven design and successful use of Web technology. Watersheds are all around us and under our feet everywhere we go, so come explore the watersheds around you on WIM!

WIM offers unlimited information for visitors seeking watershed related assessments, reports, photos and Geographic Information Systems (GIS) data files in an easily searchable Data Catalog. Other key features include extensive interactive maps, detailed watershed pages for 19 area watersheds, a 'matrix' (table) of completed and ongoing projects in the area, a monthly newsletter, a glossary of related terms, links to other interesting GIS and watershed based Websites, and the Hydrologic Cycle diagram, all available with the click of a mouse. Visitors can also find student-collected creek observation data from the Whiskeytown Environmental School. The interactive maps feature seamless digital photos in the Base Data, helpful in identifying locations from a bird's eye point of view. There is much to explore on the WIM site, made possible by a grant from the CALFED Bay-Delta Authority Watershed Program and California Department of Water Resources.

The Western Shasta Resource Conservation District (RCD) invites you to come see what's new on WIM this spring. Together with our developer, VESTRA Resources, Inc. and key partners including Shasta College, the RCD has added pages and features to expand WIM's usefulness and appeal to all Web visitors. The Data Catalog now contains nearly 1,000 documents, photos, GIS datasets and GIS Map Services for all watersheds in the WIM study area. To discover recently added resources to the Data Catalog, select the yellow "What's New" icon on the home page or look for the link under the "Did You Know?" menu. The link automatically searches the Data Catalog and displays the ten most recent resources! Helpful new links have been added to the Links page, also under the "Did You Know?" dropdown menu. Categories include Environmental Education, Watershed Education and Fire Education. On the Watersheds Introduction page, new text indicates the October 2004 inclusion of the Upper Pit River Watershed and provides a link to the informative introductory page. New Map Services are also featured in the Interactive Maps, including the nine maps in the Lakehead Area Strategic Fuel Reduction Plan and the numerous and intriguing maps of the new Shasta West Watershed Assessment. And finally, if an error occurs such as a page fails to load, a new mail link to wim@westernshastarcd.org is accessible on the bottom of every page.

The new updates to WIM are available to view on-line now. Not sure which watershed you live in? Not a problem as maps are plentiful on the Website. Use the digital ortho-photos, topographic maps or visitor maps in the background under Base Data to help orient location. Not sure which watershed your school is located in? View the Interactive Maps and search the "Find a Place" feature to locate everything from "Parsons" to "Black Butte" to "Montgomery Creek". The possibilities on WIM are endless, so why not explore the Watershed Information Model yourself?

Please contact the Western Shasta RCD for more information at (530) 365-7332 and visit WIM: http://wim.shastacollege.edu.