BILL NUMBER: S9280
SPONSOR: MAY
 
TITLE OF BILL:
An act in relation to enacting the "New York open water data act"
 
SUMMARY OF PROVISIONS:
Section 1 is the short title.
Section 2 defines key terms, including "conveners" (the New York Water
Resources Institute at Cornell and New York Sea Grant at Stony Brook),
"agencies" (six state and city entities responsible for water manage-
ment), and "water data" (a broad category covering inland waters,
infrastructure, coastal areas, and sensitive data).
Section 3 directs the conveners to facilitate regular planning meetings
among the agencies and sets a two-year deadline for the agencies to
identify key data needs, develop common collection and dissemination
standards, publish water data through the state's OpenNY platform with
GIS and API access, and create pathways for citizen science contrib-
utions. Agencies must update data quarterly, collaborate with regional
and national bodies, and submit annual plans to the governor and legis-
lature.
Section 4 is the effective date.
 
JUSTIFICATION:
New York has more fresh water than almost anywhere in the country. The
Great Lakes, the Finger Lakes, the St. Lawrence, the Hudson, and the
aquifers beneath Long Island represent an extraordinary resource. As
drought reshapes large parts of the United States and water scarcity
becomes a defining political and economic issue, that resource will
matter more with each passing decade.
Good water policy depends on good water data. Right now, the data
exists, but it is scattered across dozens of agencies and entities,
collected under different standards, stored in incompatible formats, and
largely inaccessible to the public, to researchers, and to the local
governments that make decisions about water every day. No one has a
complete picture.
Western states facing crisis conditions have invested heavily in modern-
izing their water data infrastructure. New York does not face the same
immediate pressures, but that is exactly why this is the right moment to
act. Building the data foundation now, before shortages or conflicts
force the issue, means New York can make long-term water management
decisions from a position of knowledge rather than scrambling to catch
up.
This bill establishes the framework to do that. It brings the relevant
agencies together under the facilitation of two of the state's leading
water research institutions, sets common standards, and makes the
resulting data publicly available in usable formats. It includes water
affordability data alongside resource data, recognizing that water
governance is not only an environmental question but a social one. And
it creates an ongoing accountability structure through annual reporting
to the governor and legislature.
 
LEGISLATIVE HISTORY:
2026: A10199 (Kelles)
2025: S1211 (May) / A5254 (Kelles) - vetoed
2023-2024: S239 (May) / A3299 (Kelles) - passed Senate
2022: S9520 (May)
 
FISCAL IMPLICATIONS:
To be determined
 
EFFECTIVE DATE:
One hundred eightieth day after it shall have become a law.