The problem
The program tracked its funded projects in an ArcGIS dashboard that only people with a seat could open, and the public picture of the program lived in reports. The state wanted one view anyone could read, and a second view for the program team that carried the detail the public one should not: project locations, contract status and the annual reporting calendar.
What we built
Two dashboards from one data pull. The public dashboard shows every funded project: counties shaded by project count, projects by type, funding split between UDAF, partners and farmers, UDAF contributions paid against obligated, acres and linear feet of canal improved by funding year, and headline figures for water and labor saved. Filters for watershed and HUC6 basin, county, funding year, project type, status and location drive every tile and chart together. Project locations are left off to protect the privacy of participating farms.
The internal dashboard, behind a password, adds the project points on the map, contract status, the annual reporting calendar with overdue flags, acreage totals, dollars per acre-foot saved, a searchable project list, a details drawer for every record and a CSV export of whatever is filtered. It fits on one screen on a computer and stacks on a phone.
How it works
Nightly refresh from the program's own layer
A small script pulls the project layer from ArcGIS every night, leaves out canceled contracts, places each project in its USGS HUC6 basin, drops coordinates from the public file, checks the result and swaps the files in atomically. A failed pull keeps yesterday's data live and emails us.
Reads like a report, works like a tool
Every tile and chart has an i button explaining exactly what it counts. A written guide walks through each part of the page, with example questions and a glossary, and a three-minute tour opens on first visit.
What it changed
The program can hand anyone a link instead of a seat, the team sees reporting status for the whole portfolio at a glance, and the numbers are never more than a night behind the sheet the staff already maintain.