IGAD Food security, Nutrition & Resilience Information System

Water Availability

USGS water point time-series monitoring with condition classification (Good / Watch / Alert / Near Dry / Seasonally Dry) and depth trends.

Overview

The Water module monitors surface water body availability across the IGAD region using satellite-derived data from the USGS FEWS NET Water Point Monitoring system. Each monitored water point has a time series of water depth and condition classifications, which are critical for food security assessments in pastoral and agro-pastoral areas.

Data Model

Each record in the Water model represents a single water point at a single date:

Field	Type	Description
pointId	Integer	USGS water point identifier
name	String	Water body / point name
country	FK (IGADCountry)	Country the point belongs to
date	Date	Observation date
lat / lon	Float	Geographic coordinates
rain	Float	Rainfall at the point (mm)
evap	Float	Evaporation (mm)
depth	Float (%)	Raw water depth as % of maximum
scaled_depth	Float (%)	Final scaled depth percentage
median_depth	Float (%)	Long-term median depth percentage
area	Float (ha, nullable)	Water body area in hectares
condition	Choice	Status classification (see below)

Unique constraint: ['pointId', 'date'] — one record per point per date (time series).

Condition Classifications

Condition	Marker Colour	Meaning
Good	Green	Water body at normal or above-normal level
Watch	Yellow	Below normal; monitor closely
Alert	Orange	Significantly below normal; access risk
Near Dry	Red	Very low water level; critical access concern
Seasonally Dry	Grey	Expected to be dry at this time of year

Views Available

Map (/water/map) — Interactive Leaflet map (ArcGIS World Imagery basemap) with colour-coded markers for each water point. Clicking a marker opens an info panel and loads a historical depth time-series chart (AmCharts 5) via a GraphQL query.
Data Table (/water/data) — Paginated table (50 per page) of all water point records, filterable by country and point name. Exportable to CSV and Excel.
Chart (/water/chart) — Time-series line chart for a single water point showing historical depth trends.
Upload (/water/upload/) — CSV import. The country is derived automatically from a 2-letter prefix in the filename (e.g., KE_ → Kenya, ET_ → Ethiopia, SO_ → Somalia, SD_ → Sudan, SS_ → South Sudan, UG_ → Uganda).

Data Collection

python manage.py collect_water                  # Fetch latest data from USGS API
python manage.py collect_water --test-connection # Test API connectivity
python manage.py collect_water --use-ip          # Use IP address instead of hostname (fallback)
python manage.py water_bulk                      # Bulk import from CSV file
python manage.py water_bulk_delete               # Delete water point records

The collect_water command queries the USGS FEWS NET water point API (edcintl.cr.usgs.gov/geoengine5/v1/waterpoint/data) for the last 365 days across Kenya, Ethiopia, Somalia, Sudan, South Sudan, and Uganda. New records are bulk-inserted and records older than one year are automatically pruned.

GraphQL Integration

The map uses the system GraphQL endpoint (/q) to fetch historical water depth data when a user clicks a marker, enabling dynamic chart updates without a page reload.

Relevance

Water availability is a primary determinant of livestock survival in pastoral areas and household health in arid regions. Alert and Near Dry conditions during peak dry seasons — particularly in Somalia, Kenya, and Ethiopia — are strong indicators of humanitarian need.