About TIIMS Fact Sheet PDF

What is TIIMS?

The Tahoe Integrated Information Management System (TIIMS) is an interactive website being developed to house and disseminate information about Lake TahoeBasin planning and restoration efforts via the World Wide Web. TIIMS contains features and functions to meet the needs of all stakeholders within the Basin — from citizens to research scientists to resources managers. Through TIIMS, users can discover, access, use, analyze, map and contribute data and information about Lake Tahoe. The system provides online workspaces, calendars and meeting tools to enable agencies to coordinate with each other.  TIIMS also contains a valuable public outreach component that offers educational materials, photographs, and information on how to become involved in Lake TahoeBasin restoration efforts. 

 

TIIMS represents a complete information management solution. It will address the institutional arrangements, policy requirements, agency communication and coordination needs, and standards and protocols that are needed to share and integrate information resources from different information sources.  It is a dynamic and flexible system that will expand and change to meet data and information integration needs as they develop and grow within the Basin.

 

Why is TIIMS needed?

Numerous federal, state and local agencies are involved in restoration and planning efforts within Lake Tahoe.  These agencies collect, analyze and publish data and reports concerning the state of the environmental health of the Basin.  Each year, these entities receive a myriad of requests from other agencies, research scientists and concerned citizens for their data and information.  They also spend enormous resources conducting public outreach activities to inform stakeholders about their work and enlist participation and interest in their agency’s efforts.  During workshops and meetings, a recurring concern voiced by different agencies was the need to efficiently exchange data and information with each other and the public.

TIIMS was developed to meet this need.  The system provides a ‘one-stop-shopping center’ that allows the seamless sharing of all types of information and data within the Basin.  By enabling a more efficient means of searching and retrieving data, as well as conducting public outreach activities, TIIMS will save valuable resources. 

 

 

How does TIIMS support key Lake Tahoe Basin restoration and planning initiatives?

Currently, a collaborative effort between federal and state agencies called Pathway 2007 is underway to ensure integration among agencies in the development and implementation of several key restoration and planning initiatives.  The Pathway 2007 initiatives include:

• Development of the Lake Tahoe Total Maximum Daily Loads (the total maximum daily load of a pollutant that is allowed by regulation into a water body to meet water quality standards)
• Development of the U.S.D.A. Forest Service’s Land and Resource Management Plan;
• Updating the Tahoe Regional Planning Agency’s (TRPA’s) Environmental Thresholds;
• Development of TRPA’s 2007 Regional Plan; and
• Implementation of the Environmental Improvement Program (EIP), which has identified nearly 800 projects to be completed over a 20-year period.
• TIIMS supports these efforts by providing the Pathway 2007 participating agencies with decision-making, communication, and public outreach tools.  These features will allow participating agencies to share and manage information more efficiently and cooperatively.

 

 

 

Who issupporting TIIMS?

TIIMS is truly a collaborative effort among many federal, state and local agencies.  The TRPA, with support from a Project Team comprised of members from key agencies and organizations, is leading this effort and overseeing the day-to-day tasks to develop and implement the system.  Six other agencies are partners in the TIIMS’ effort and are actively involved in the process.  These agencies have contributed financial resources, technical expertise, essential data and information resources as well as dedicated many staff hours to ensure TIIMS’ success.  Currently, the TIIMS partners include:  TRPA, the Nevada Division of Environmental Protection, the California State Water Resources Control Board, the U.S.D.A.Forest Service, the U.S. Geological Survey, U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, and the Desert Research Institute.

Numerous other agencies in the Basin, ranging from academic groups to nonprofit agencies, are also involved in the effort.  To date, over 25 agencies within the Basin have been consulted on the design and development of TIIMS. 

 

How is TIIMS being developed and what is the status of development?

TIIMS is being developed in phases through the collaborative efforts of the TIIMS Partners, technical consulting resources, and with continued input from Basin stakeholders.  There are four primary phases of development:  Requirements and Planning (Phase I); Pilot (Phase II); Production (Phase III) and Operations and Maintenance (Phase IV).

During Phase I, an extensive Requirements Analysis was completed which identified information resources, information needs, information management systems and the desired functionality of TIIMS.  Approximately 25 federal, state, local, academic and non-profit agencies and organizations participated in this effort and over 140 people were consulted.  During this phase, extensive outreach activities were conducted to enlist participation and garner support for the project. 

During Phase II, the pilot or prototype version of TIIMS was developed and released in December 2003 for comment.  The prototype incorporates priority functions and information/data resources identified in the Requirements Analysis.  During this phase, extensive public outreach activities are being conducted to advertise the site, garner more support for the effort and, perhaps most importantly, gather feedback about the TIIMS prototype. 

The Production Phase (Phase III) is slated to start in March 2004 and finish in September 2005.  During this phase, the Prototype will be expanded into a fully operational system including map-based query functions and tools to support the decision-making process.  During this phase, the system will migrate towards a more distributed design.

The fourth and final phase of production involves operations and maintenance during which two major components will be implemented:  program management and operational support.  This phase will begin at the end of the Production Phase and will continue for the life of the system.

What is needed to ensure the success of TIIMS?

The most important resource needed to ensure the success of TIIMS is users — that is, agencies and individuals who will use and contribute to the system.  Because the system is dynamic, its development and success depend on the level of participation in the system itself.  The system was designed to grow and expand to meet the needs of the stakeholders as those needs grow and change.  Therefore, it is essential that users contribute content — from fact sheets, reports and brochures that detail Lake Tahoe restoration efforts to databases and more complex models.  TIIMS will only be as good as the information users contribute to it.