Calif. water atlas seeks to clarify water issues

"The people are building the new atlas on the modern principle that free and open access to government data will create a more informed citizenry, and better policy. But the techno-savvy map builders were inspired by the work of a previous generation, who tried to do the same thing with more rudimentary tools. Johnson, now 80, helped build the state's first public water atlas in 1979 along with Stuart Brand of the Whole Earth Catalog. While a product of a different time, the first California Water Atlas was based on the same principle: that people deserved to know who controlled the water. Now, Johnson funding the project through his Resource Renewal Institute and providing historical context for the new project, which is benefiting from collaboration of multiple generations of Californians who bring different skills and knowledge to the effort. So far about $70,000 has been spent getting the website and first map up and running, and its future will rely greatly on continued donations and volunteers. "Our millennial generation is fairly ignorant about the great California water system we are about to inherit, but we have a plan to solve this problem," Chacha Sikes, 38, another new atlas group member, wrote in the journal Boom published by the University of California. "We believe by sharing information about our natural resources more openly and understandably, we can make smarter choices with water and heal the devastation caused by previous generations." ..."