Open data plan
This plan was adopted by the Washington State Department of Ecology following the Open Data Policy established by the Office of the Chief Information Officer (OCIO).
As of October 1, 2024
Commitments
Ecology commits to the following five general priorities with specific actions and measures:
1. Incorporate public access when acquiring, redesigning, or rebuilding information systems.
Measure: Number of Unique Visitors per month for 2023 to Ecology’s website home page.
Results:
| Year | Jan | Feb | Mar | Apr | May | Jun | Jul | Aug | Sep | Oct | Nov | Dec |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2023 | 23,086 | 23,015 | 26,293 | 22,056 | 23,582 | 21,887 | 23,489 | 21,238 | 22,983 | 24,529 | 21,507 | 20,029 |
| 2024 | 38,439 | 33,175 | 26,865 | 25,777 | 24,562 | 31,308 | 70,625 | 40,565 | 42,124 |
2. Coordinate technology planning across agency boundaries to facilitate electronic access to state data.
Measure: Number of times information was shared between Ecology and The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). The information sharing can occur by EPA pulling data from Ecology, Ecology pushing data to EPA, or residents accessing EPA data through Ecology’s website.
Results:
| Year | Jan | Feb | Mar | Apr | May | Jun | Jul | Aug | Sep | Oct | Nov | Dec |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2023 | 43 | 132 | 225 | 221 | 245 | 494 | 241 | 256 | 210 | 226 | 213 | 218 |
| 2024 | 220 | 177 | 189 | 192 | 200 | 330 | 344 | 202 |
3. Develop processes to determine which information the public most wants and needs.
Ecology’s web team will track the number of views of the agency’s primary data portal page and significant data pathway pages, and share this with appropriate data agency stewards, including but not limited to:
- EIM homepage
- Facility/Site Database homepage
- Water Quality Permit Data homepage
- GIS homepage
Measure: Monthly unique visitors on the Research and Data page and provide results and report annually.
Results:
The number of page views per month in 2023.
EIM Search Results:
| Jan | Feb | Mar | Apr | May | Jun |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 4,868 | 4,641 | 4,758 | 4,524 | 5,022 | 4,311 |
| Jul | Aug | Sep | Oct | Nov | Dec |
| 3,164 | 4,781 | 3,733 | 3,554 | 3,721 | 3,477 |
Facility/Site Search Results:
| Jan | Feb | Mar | Apr | May | Jun |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2,591 | 2,536 | 2,877 | 2,574 | 2,607 | 2,158 |
| Jul | Aug | Sep | Oct | Nov | Dec |
| 2,360 | 2,661 | 2,306 | 2,587 | 2,475 | 2,294 |
Water Resources Search Results:
| Jan | Feb | Mar | Apr | May | Jun |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 5,114 | 4,908 | 5,599 | 4,659 | 5,714 | 4,277 |
| Jul | Aug | Sep | Oct | Nov | Dec |
| 6,856 | 8,013 | 6,458 | 6,989 | 6,195 | 5,747 |
Water Quality Permit (PARIS database) homepage:
| Jan | Feb | Mar | Apr | May | Jun |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 3,244 | 3,201 | 3,127 | 2,611 | 2,745 | 2,817 |
| Jul | Aug | Sep | Oct | Nov | Dec |
| 3,276 | 3,276 | 2,909 | 3,047 | 2,720 | 2,630 |
GIS Data Page Results:
| Jan | Feb | Mar | Apr | May | Jun |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1,257 | 1,514 | 1,557 | 1,496 | 1,531 | 1,145 |
| Jul | Aug | Sep | Oct | Nov | Dec |
| 541 | 236 | 449 | 401 | 401 | 832 |
Databases Portal Results:
| Jan | Feb | Mar | Apr | May | Jun |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 945 | 825 | 701 | 695 | 670 | 734 |
| Jul | Aug | Sep | Oct | Nov | Dec |
| 651 | 674 | 1,095 | 811 | 562 | 579 |
4. Develop and employ methods to readily protect non-disclosable data.
Measure: Number of staff completing this training each year
Results:
- For Calendar year 2023: Ecology staff completed 603 Records and Information Management and Public Disclosure training.
5. Develop and employ technical mechanisms for posting open data.
- Ecology will continue improving automated data publication to data.wa.gov. Ecology will also streamline manual data publication processes, where possible.
Related links
Contact information
Scott West
Chief Information Officer
scott.west@ecy.wa.gov