SDWIS Prime Update: July & August 2018

August 9, 2018 Anthony DeRosa

DMUC Pre-Conference Webinar Series

In June, ASDWA and EPA coordinated on a series of three pre-conference webinars that were designed to provide overviews of the major aspects of SDWIS Prime to assist staff who may be new to the project. These sessions were recorded and made available in the SDWIS User Community section of the ASDWA website.

CMDP Training at DMUC

The CMDP training on Monday, July 9^th, was very well attended, attracting nearly all DMUC registrants. Participants valued the ability to learn from a state that has it online and also hear from the laboratory users. Known issues with analyte-method pairings have prevented some states from fully utilizing the software. EPA is exploring options with their contract support to address the issue in anticipation of new development funding for CMDP expected in the Fall; with the start of the new federal fiscal year on October 1^st. Due to the popularity of the “optional” Monday training sessions in recent years, we’re going to look at ways to roll these sessions into the core DMUC agenda.

2018 DMUC

We had a successful Data Management Users Conference (DMUC) in Salt Lake City on July 10-12. It was the largest on record with around 170 onsite attendees and approximately 100 additional state and Regional staff participating remotely via webinar. Attendees appreciated the opportunity to see the completed parts of Prime but were disappointed more was not available for hands-on exploration. We hope to have an opportunity for more in-depth demonstrations of the software and to hear about state transition and implementation experiences after the pilot phase kicks-off. More discussion time was worked into this year’s agenda to maximize the opportunity to gather primacy agency feedback; adding a “parking lot” discussion and a states-only session. Again, all of hese sessions were recorded and made available in the SDWIS User Community section of the ASDWA website.

One of the more important presentations on Prime was from Anita Thompkins, EPA Division Director. She described the continued plans for Prime development and the expected project timeline. Attached is a document that captures two of her key slides:

The “roadmap” slide shows SDWIS Prime development over the next 18-24 months. EPA plans for the next release at the end of September; including the ability for all primacy agencies to explore this release starting in October. Pilot states will also begin working with the software at this time. EPA made the commitment that only after pilot states are satisfied that all is working properly and Prime is ready to implement will the clock begin for the end of SDWIS/STATE support (currently planned for March of 2020). The budget will also be an influence on how long the process takes. EPA has committed to building the core of Prime (capabilities for the EPA rules) but states will still have significant work, and potentially cost, to connect interfacing applications and build out any additional features they need.
The second slide illustrates the underlying architecture of Prime; showing how all the components fit together. It also shows where responsibility lies for each part.

SDWIS Prime Pilot Phase

Pilot states will be essential contributors to the completion of Prime as they will constitute the first users and the final testers before Prime’s broader release. Pilots will also be expected to help pass along their knowledge to the states that follow. ASDWA recruited a new set of pilot states and submitted eight names for consideration by EPA. We expect a decision soon on how many pilot states EPA can support.

SDWIS Prime Communications

As Prime rolls out and states begin to implement, there will be a need for more communication between the states; allowing states to share their experiences and work together on Prime implementation and enhancement. ASDWA will be expanding our role in communication to facilitate this state exchange. We will also be supporting multistate Exchange Network grants and the joint development and sharing of state tools, which will all be key to getting maximum use out of Prime, without breaking the bank. You can learn more about SDWIS Prime Communication options at https://www.asdwa.org/data-management/.