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Western States Water Council Water Resources Committee Minutes Santa Ana Pueblo, New Mexico October 28, 2004 . INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY IN THE OFFICE OF THE NM STATE ENGINEER Nancy Knouse, accompanied by Gar Clarke, addressed the Committee regarding information technology (IT) advances in the Office of the New Mexico State Engineer (OSE). Nancy stated that eleven years ago the office had all paper files and no computer network, servers, or e-mail. There were only two information technology (IT) employees. She handed out copies of her powerpoint presentation. The OSE prepared a "justification" for the State's Chief Information Officer (CIO) describing their need for funding. The State Engineer and other key executives fought for the money, and staff gathered information on user requirements and needs. Part of the information used for justification included estimates of the value of water. A 1995 report valued 4.4 million acres of irrigated land at $8.8 billion. The justification also high- lighted the reduced labor costs, with less paper and less need to protect and limit access to paper files. The Governor's enterprise mandate and potential savings due to economies of scale were also part of the justification. They also described current IT innovations, including "iW A TERS," which allows internet access for public research of water and water rights. Karl Dreher asked, "Is IT centralized?" Nancy replied that water rights IT is a state system . and application. Applications stay in agencies, but IT infrastructure is being centralized. Pat Tyrrell noted that one of the justifications for increasing IT costs, is reduced labor costs. "Have you actually seen cost savings?" Nancy said that IT automation has allowed staff to be redeployed to other tasks, but not reduced staff. Most state agencies are usually understaffed. John D' Antonio explained that when he first managed the Albuquerque District office in 1998, he began populating databases. There was a huge backlog of applications. Staff spent 35-40% of their time on customer service, just day-to-day walk in traffic, and another 20% on field work, etc. IT advances have led to huge time savings. Pat asked, "Do you do water right searches?" John answered, "We can't do them all. Consultants do some, and people do their own. Imaging saves documents, and doesn't put them at risk. We make kiosks available." Dale Frink asked, "How much have you spent?" Nancy said that they have a $2.6 million budget this year -- which includes custom development, 16 IT staff, communications, telephones - all the IT costs, the network, etc. John added it has cost $15 million so far to populate the database, and they are still a few years away from its completion. They are also integrating GIS technology with their adjudication. . 10