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Environmental and Cultural Data Products Carl Zichella - Chair, EDWG Byron Woertz - WECC Dan Moreno and Nate Wagoner - ICF W ESTERN E LECTRICITY C OORDINATING C OUNCIL

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Presentation Overview Data Testing and Analysis -IID Hoober-to-SONGS potential project Data Viewer -Analysis Capabilities Upgrade -Transmission Line Data -Interoperability with other Data Services Solar in the San Joaquin Valley Cultural Resource Data 2 W ESTERN E LECTRICITY C OORDINATING C OUNCIL

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Data Testing and Analysis Applying WECC Data to real-world projects is an ongoing focus of the EDWG: Test validity of the current Environmental Risk Classification system Identify new planning level environmental considerations driving transmission siting Educate stakeholders about availability of the Data Products and their use for early project screening 3 W ESTERN E LECTRICITY C OORDINATING C OUNCIL

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Data Testing and Analysis: Hoober-SONGS WECC partnered with Imperial Irrigation District (IID) to evaluate the Hoober-SONGS Transmission Line Project: IID provided WECC with GIS data layer of the line Review IIDs initial potential line routing Analyze Area Types & Risk Categories crossed Develop a WECC least environmental risk corridor based on Risk Category Data Layer Compare WECCs vs. IIDs alternative 4 W ESTERN E LECTRICITY C OORDINATING C OUNCIL

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Testing Environmental Risk Classification on Hoober-Songs 5 W ESTERN E LECTRICITY C OORDINATING C OUNCIL

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Testing Environmental Risk Classification on Hoober-Songs 6 W ESTERN E LECTRICITY C OORDINATING C OUNCIL Summary Statistics

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Testing Environmental Risk Classification on Hoober-Songs 7 W ESTERN E LECTRICITY C OORDINATING C OUNCIL

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Testing Environmental Risk Classification on Hoober-Songs 8 W ESTERN E LECTRICITY C OORDINATING C OUNCIL

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Testing Environmental Risk Classification on Hoober-Songs 9 W ESTERN E LECTRICITY C OORDINATING C OUNCIL

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Data Testing and Analysis: Hoober-SONGS Lessons Learned Overall, IID and WECC track very closely! -Issues related to terrain and individual, siting level concerns appear to drive some of the deviations Interpretation of highest risk areas -IID anticipates greater cost/time/uncertainty crossing Indian Reservations (RCC 3) than Wilderness Areas (RCC 4) 10 W ESTERN E LECTRICITY C OORDINATING C OUNCIL

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Data Testing and Analysis: Hoober-SONGS Next Steps: -Re-evaluate Indian Reservations as Risk Category 3? -Compare final approved line vs. Risk Classification recommended line? 11 W ESTERN E LECTRICITY C OORDINATING C OUNCIL

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Data Viewer: Analysis Upgrades Current Functionality: View/Download WECCs Environmental and Cultural Data Sets Import other data sets from an organizations ArcGIS Online account or other web-based sources (e.g. BLM) Potential New Functionality: -User creates a new transmission line on the map -User receives summary statistics describing environmental risk 12 W ESTERN E LECTRICITY C OORDINATING C OUNCIL

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Data Viewer: Analysis Upgrades Step 1: Sketch a line -User would draw a transmission line route based on Risk Category or any other features of interest (e.g., terrain) -User would save their line, which would be available for later use 13 W ESTERN E LECTRICITY C OORDINATING C OUNCIL Edit

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Data Viewer: Analysis Upgrades Step 2: Perform the Analysis -User would select the data layers to compare against their new transmission line: -Risk Classification Category -Area Type -Land Use (e.g., Ag Land) -Slope -Others? 14 W ESTERN E LECTRICITY C OORDINATING C OUNCIL

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Data Viewer: Analysis Upgrades Step 3: Receive the Results -User would receive the results of the Analysis Bar Chart with mileage statistics Map of the transmission line 15 W ESTERN E LECTRICITY C OORDINATING C OUNCIL

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Data and Data Acquisition: Transmission WECC is reviewing the final Platts agreement to make transmission line data available in the Data Viewer Data received, tested, and working! Minor fine-tuning, then ready for adding to Data Viewer Demonstration 16 W ESTERN E LECTRICITY C OORDINATING C OUNCIL

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Data and Data Acquisition: BLM/DRECP/REA Online map services published by BLM can be added to the WECC Data Viewer 17 W ESTERN E LECTRICITY C OORDINATING C OUNCIL

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Solar in the San Joaquin Valley 18 W ESTERN E LECTRICITY C OORDINATING C OUNCIL Goal: Identify areas for Solar Development Stakeholder driven process Collaborative approach using GIS data and analysis Leverage WECC Risk data for transmission line siting?

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Data and Data Acquisition: Cultural WECC Presented at the Cultural Resource Data Sharing Partnership Broad participation from agencies/SHPOs Explained WECCs approach to collecting and sharing cultural data Reviewed WECCs Cultural Data Sharing Agreement 19 W ESTERN E LECTRICITY C OORDINATING C OUNCIL

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Data and Data Acquisition: Cultural A new interactive webmap format called a story map was used to tell the story of how cultural data are shared and analyzed. 20 W ESTERN E LECTRICITY C OORDINATING C OUNCIL

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Data and Data Acquisition: Cultural Cultural Resource Data Sharing Partnership meeting helped identify new targets for Data Provider outreach: Outreach focus for new potential data partners: -AZ and MT Seeking EDWG volunteers for outreach to: -BC, AB, ID, NM, CA, OR, federal agencies 21 W ESTERN E LECTRICITY C OORDINATING C OUNCIL

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Data and Data Acquisition: Cultural WECCs Cultural Data Sharing Agreement has been submitted for review and signature to existing and potential partner Data Providers 22 W ESTERN E LECTRICITY C OORDINATING C OUNCIL

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Data and Data Acquisition: Cultural WECC Data Sharing Agreement Content : Benefits of sharing cultural data to the providers: -WECC/Transmission Stakeholders can consider cultural resources earlier in planning -WECC/Transmission Stakeholders gain a unique way to visualize cultural resources at a regional scale -Cultural Data Providers coordinate on regional issues and improve data standardization 23 W ESTERN E LECTRICITY C OORDINATING C OUNCIL

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Data and Data Acquisition: Cultural WECC Data Sharing Agreement Content : Data Security Process Data Format Expectations Data Processing & Output for Data Viewer Inventory/Survey Areas, Cultural Site Density Cultural Risk Categories Detailed Technical Geoprocessing Steps 24 W ESTERN E LECTRICITY C OORDINATING C OUNCIL