Jones & DeMille Engineering (JDE) was selected by the Seven County Infrastructure Coalition to provide data gathering services and analyze information to identify various infrastructure corridors, review existing land use and cultural data. This also included information on various energy resources such as natural gas and oil wells, mining, power, transportation, rail lines, and recreation.
Data Gathering
One of the primary goals of the initial study was to collect and organize existing infrastructure, resource, and land use data in a secure, user-friendly geographic information system (GIS) for ongoing use by the Coalition and its member countries.
To facilitate this goal, the project team developed a geodatabase to house spatial data and document data sources and limitations. Protocols were also established to provide the appropriate level of access to proprietary data or sensitive data protected by law.
During the initial phase of the data gathering process, the project team catalogued data previously collected or generated through past projects within the Coalition. They also coordinated with Coalition member counties, municipalities, service districts, and state and federal agencies to obtain authoritative data relevant to the project scope. Private utility providers were also contacted and asked to share their spatial data with the Coalition.
Once the initial data gathering phase was complete, gaps in the type and extent of data coverage were identified, and efforts were made to fill in those data gaps with additional data searches and follow up contacts with data sources.
Datasets collected during the study were added to the Coalition geodatabase and organized by category. Each dataset’s source information and use limitations were documented to facilitate efficient data updates and to protect sensitive data.
Geographic Information System Implementation
Data has been made available to the Coalition, its member counties, and the public through the Coalition’s ArcGIS Online site, a cloud-based mapping platform for data visualization and analysis. Access to sensitive datasets is limited to Coalition members and its member counties.
The project team went through a similar data gathering and analysis process when Sevier County joined the Coalition in 2017. Data specific to the County, including data covering municipalities, special service districts, and unincorporated areas, were obtained from authoritative public and private sources and added to the Coalition’s geodatabase. Datasets already included in the geodatabase were also updated and expanded to include Sevier County’s geographic extent. Once gathered and documented, the new and expanded data were made available through the Coalition’s web GIS platform.
The Coalition understands the importance of using up-to-date and reliable data for effective planning and decision making, and it is dedicated to the long-term maintenance of the database developed during this project.
The project team completed a major update of the Coalition’s geodatabase and web GIS content in the third quarter of 2019. This effort included updating existing datasets, adding new or enhanced datasets from authoritative sources, and improving web GIS layers and map content.
Going forward, the Coalition’s geodatabase and web GIS content will be updated at regular intervals to ensure the most current data is available for the Coalition’s use. Additional datasets will also be added to the datasets as they become available.