By and large, website owners spend the resources necessary to improve their digital landing spot for one primary reason: To make the experience easier and more enjoyable for visitors. If a redesign improves navigation for visitors – if it gets them where they want to go and helps them see what they want to see easier and faster -- the likelihood of those visitors paying a return visit increases.

That is the thinking behind the recent redesign of the Arizona Water Banking Authority, the state agency that facilitates underground water storage in locations around Arizona.

Like most redesigns, the AWBA pages offer viewers a far more simple, readable and approachable home page that renders navigation far easier. But a big feature of the new website is its interactivity. It provides viewers with a simple-to-use map of Arizona’s long-term storage locations, as well as a wealth of easily accessible data.

In addition to allowing visitors to view AWBA credits at each storage facility, the interactive GIS map allows user to download the full data into excel.

The interactive map was designed for a variety of uses.

“As you would expect, the GIS map will probably be used differently by different audiences,” said Simone Kjolsrud, the Water Bank’s technical administrator, who used her expertise in website design to perform the update.

“For some people it just helps to provide a big picture geographical understanding of where the Water Bank has stored water, or purchased credits, over time.

“For others, they might be interested in learning more detailed information about exactly how many credits the Water Bank has at each type of storage facility within each Active Management Area, whether it be in an Underground Storage Facility (which physically stores water in the aquifer through direct recharge), or a Groundwater Savings Facility (an indirect recharge facility that uses surface water, such as Central Arizona Project water, in lieu of pumped groundwater).”

Overall, the idea is to provide transparency and information for people who are interested in Water Bank activities, the types of storage facilities where the Bank has developed credits and the locations of those credits.