Proceedings of the integrated decision-making watershed management symposium: Processes and tools

The Hackensack Meadowlands District (District) is a 32-square mile degraded, urban, estuarine watershed, located six miles west of New York City. The Hackensack Meadowlands Development Commission (HMDC) is a state agency with comprehensive land use planning and permitting authority for the District. The Rutgers University Center for Information Management Integration and Connectivity in collaboration with the HMDC have developed a webbased system called “Digital Meadowlands” to access detailed information about the District in support of environmental management and research (http://cimic.rutgers.edu/digitalmeadowlands). The application presently has five major modules each one with its own search engine and query procedures: 1) Image module with satellite images of the District; 2) Reports module with an electronic catalog of research and engineering reports that can be searched via a text-based query or by using an interactive map; 3) Monitoring data module with continually updated datasets on weather and air and water quality, and static datasets from discrete monitoring projects; 4) Interactive maps of zoning, parcel and land use; and 5) Videos of virtual fly-bys and TV news clips about the District. Digital Meadowlands provides a wealth of information to scientists. With time it will become the repository of the collective environmental memory for the HMDC District. The staff from HMDC likely to benefit the most are those revising development proposals, drafting environmental impact forms, and involved in environmental impact. studies, in outreach and in education. Short formal and hands on training sessions are being provided to staff on the use of the system