A cumbersome manual system caused the San Jacinto River Authority to miss out on almost a quarter of their revenue potential from docks and on-site sewer facilities permits—funds used to operate 21,000-acre Lake Conroe, a manmade drinking water supply.

To improve workflow efficiency and increase revenues, the Authority turned to an engineering firm developed a Web-based, GIS database and trained lake operations staff in operating the system. While GIS has long been used to record information linked to land, this is the first known instance of GIS linking a physical object to a permit to collect revenues and monitor compliance.

Since the new system’s implementation, the Authority has recaptured revenues and improved operational efficiency, allowing staff more time to inspect for violations and take enforcement action, thereby preserving the lake’s water quality. During field verification of existing records, 100 docks and numerous irrigation systems were identified and added to the revenue pool.

GIS Solution Project was besigned by Brown & Gay Engineers based in

Houston, Texas.  This project was a gold medal winner in the 2010 Texas

CEC Engineering Excellence Awards Competition.