The Drainage Services Department (DSD) had implemented various green channels over two decades and collected information – including physical, environmental and water quality data – from multiple projects. This was only kept on a project basis, without a systematic inventory that could inform better green channels management. In view of this, DSD looked for a solution to manage data and provide a platform for public access via an effective system management tool. DSD also wanted to showcase their achievements in river enhancement, to improve communication with the local community.
We were commissioned under the Eco-hydraulics Study on Green Channels to develop an EcoDMS comprised of two components: a database system linked to ArcGIS platform for internal data management, and a website with education elements.
The database is an internal system for managing input and records of DSD’s green channels. In addition to keeping information in a systematic manner, it enables visualisation of data on a GIS platform. Different kinds of filters were adopted to enable engineers to extract the required data set precisely for further analysis. Our team determined GIS system requirements, database attributes and raw format to facilitate the build-up. It also prepared the templates to standardise data input.
The website was created to enable data to be presented and disseminated to the public, to share knowledge of the river habitats and DSD’s river works in Hong Kong. The EcoDMS website contains information on selected green river channels and their location, ecological and water quality, photos with dominant vegetation highlighted, video clips taken by drone, and a documentary of site trials for two ecological enhancement works we designed. We also designed the site layout and contents and coordinated with IT vendors to provide the final page.
The soft launch of the EcoDMS received positive feedback from different government departments and green groups. The EcoDMS website has launched in the DSD homepage for public access.