GIS in Action 2026

This presentation shares the benefits of applying recycled water to a degraded urban wetland, using remote sensing and spatial analysis to document and quantify the impacts of recycled water upon vegetation health, soil biome, and site ecology.

As Washington County densifies, the volume of wastewater effluent that can be released into the Tualatin River each day remains limited by the stream ecology of the Tualatin. CWS has partnered with Oregon DEQ to define a new beneficial use of recycled water to restore jurisdictional wetlands that have been degraded by decades of agricultural use.

This presentation showcases how geospatial data and analysis can advance the use of recycled water for wetland restoration in Washington County and beyond. Using Thomas Dairy as a case study, we use UAS data collected at the site since 2019 to monitor vegetation health before, during, and after reuse application. Field measurements using advanced sensors (TEROS and ATMOS devices) are used to: 1.) Monitor the fate of land-applied recycled water, ensuring compliance with rules and regulations around recycled water use; and 2.) Quantify and confirm the agronomic rate of the native plant community. We also compare UAS data to satellite imagery (Sentinal-2 sensor) to analyze relationships between GNDVI and NMDI indices at different scales. We hope that this analysis will encourage other wastewater treatment agencies to invest in reuse programs that restore degraded wetlands across the state.

The City of Gresham, with assistance from Dewberry, is working on a comprehensive Fire Data Hub site to better inform the public on how our Fire Department operates and responds to incidents. The project consists of a data pipeline built with the ESRI Data Interoperability extension (FME), an Experience Builder application for exploring incident data, and an ArcGIS Hub site. We will discuss what went into planning for this project, lessons learned, tips and tricks, and our goals for the future.

We will share our practical lessons learned from migrating and operating enterprise GIS in the cloud, specifically AWS and Azure based implementations. Topics include right sized architectures; performance tuning (caching, tiling, storage tiers); secure identity, roles, and governance; data pipelines that connect CAD/BIM, IoT, and analytics; and automation for updates and deployments. Attendees will learn migration patterns to pursue and avoid and a lightweight operating model for cost control, reliability, and collaboration. Throughout this presentation we will focus on three key topics, 1. Cost Benefits, 2. Security Benefits, and 3. Maintenance Benefits.

This presentation highlights a mobile health van application that uses ArcGIS workflows to visualize service locations, overlay public health indicators, and better align care delivery with community need. From a business perspective, it supports more efficient resource deployment, cross-agency coordination, and data-driven decisions that improve community health outcomes/goals.

I’ll share a roundup of recent work from Metro’s Data Resource Center (DRC), which continues to enhance the region’s shared GIS infrastructure through new open datasets and improved public tools that support planning, analysis, and decision‑making across the region. Highlights include newly released RLIS (Regional Land Information System) layers—such as refreshed contours and a subset of nationally published jobs and commuting data—along with enhancements to MetroMap and updates to the Safe Routes to School Walkshed App. I’ll also offer a sneak preview of new features in the Social Vulnerability Explorer. Finally, I’ll touch on what’s coming next, including digital accessibility work, 2024 lidar derivatives, and other data and application improvements planned for the year ahead.

This presentation showcases an animated visualization created in ArcGIS Pro using Metro’s RLIS Housing data. Designed for the Urban Growth Report (and shown in a previous GIS in Action presentation), the animation helps communicate patterns of urban expansion and housing development over time. This presentation will walk through the steps of how this animation was created directly from GIS data in ArcGIS Pro, and some lessons learned along the way.

This is a follow-up to my presentation last year regarding the ODOT Multimodal Inventory effort. I'll update attendees on advancements in the project.

In the fall of 2025—at the height of the federal government shutdown, resulting in the lack of federal funds to provide needed services in Oregon—thousands of Oregon residents faced the threat of losing Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) food security benefits. In response, dozens of Portland-area restaurants announced they would provide free or reduced meals to those with an Oregon Trail SNAP Electronic Benefits Transfer (EBT) card or, in some cases, to anyone in need,“no questions asked." Lists of participating restaurants were compiled and circulated online, updated on a near daily basis. Recognizing the need for a simpler way to find a nearby meal, a team of alumni, staff, and students from Portland Community College’s GIS and Geospatial Technologies program used these lists to create a “Portland Food Aid - Resources Finder” webmap tool with Experience Builder, using Arcade coding to show which participating restaurants were both nearby and open. Data for food banks and pop-up pantries was also included. This tool answered the question “Where can I get something to eat right now?” for anyone impacted by hunger due to SNAP benefit cuts. This tool was used over 400 times between mid-November and the end of December, when benefits had been fully restored.

The ability to “animate” a City’s GIS with real-time IoT data has long been a goal for organizations managing complex infrastructure. Transforming a static map into a living operations dashboard enables teams to make decisions based on current conditions rather than yesterday’s reports. However, many critical data feeds originate from sensitive systems such as SCADA, where security and reliability concerns can make integration difficult—or seem impossible. This session will showcase how the City of Salem successfully bridged secure operational technology systems to create Geospatial Live, a real-time operational platform supporting utilities and public works. Attendees will gain practical insights into the system architecture, integration strategies, security considerations, and workflows that make real-time GIS an increasing important component of the City's GIS portfolio. Whether you are beginning your real-time GIS journey or advancing an existing deployment, this session provides actionable lessons learned, key technical decisions, and implementation strategies from a municipal government perspective.

Washington Surveying and Rating Bureau (WSRB) is an independent, not-for-profit, public service organization serving Washington state. We help insurers and their customers by providing objective data on multiple risk factors. Our services enable insurers to evaluate risk efficiently and effectively, giving their policyholders peace of mind by making sure insurance rates are fair and non-discriminatory. WSRB is not connected with any insurance company except to the extent that insurers operating within Washington state can subscribe to our services; ownership of WSRB is vested in a subscriber trust agreement that is approved by the Washington State Office of the Insurance Commissioner (OIC).

WSRB leverages GIS extensively to achieve to provide subscribers with trusted information, enhancing their decision-making. This presentation will highlight how GIS architecture and processes ensure precise and timely data for WSRB customers.