# OpenWaterTowers

> Agent-facing counterpart to the [human project page](/projects/open-water-towers/).

## Record metadata

- Record: 008
- Slug: open-water-towers
- Domain: Civic
- Domain code: CIV
- Type: Open data
- Status: Active
- Period: 2026
- Portfolio role: Supporting
- Publication state: Public repository
- Case-study readiness: Draftable
- Compendium edition: 0.4

## Summary

An open civic infrastructure database and field atlas for public water-storage landmarks.

## Overview

Water towers are among the most visible pieces of civic infrastructure and among the least legible to the people who pass them. Their operators, histories, projects, and service relationships are scattered across public documents and local knowledge.

An evidence-backed map and data model for water towers, standpipes, operators, public sources, photos, projects, claims, and conservatively described service areas.

Purpose: Make local infrastructure discoverable and historically legible without exposing sensitive operational details.

## The problem behind the project

Water infrastructure is visible in the landscape but difficult to understand from scattered public documents. The project connects field observation, local history, geography, engineering context, and public records.

OpenWaterTowers turns that scattered material into an evidence-backed atlas. It distinguishes verified structures from candidates and links locations to operators, public sources, photographs, claims, projects, and conservatively described service context.

Residents, local historians, civic researchers, infrastructure enthusiasts, and contributors performing safe verification from public viewpoints.

## How it took shape

GeoJSON map layers, structured operator and source records, field-verification guidance, public-source research logs, and a publishing model that distinguishes verified towers from candidates.

The repository uses structured records, GeoJSON layers, research logs, source links, and field-verification guidance. The contribution workflow is intentionally cautious: contributors can document a public landmark without collecting access details or other operational information that would add risk without adding civic value.

Josiah established the civic purpose, public-interest questions, data model, verification workflow, and safety boundary, working with coding agents to implement the repository.

The public repository includes verified records, candidate layers, source-linked research, mapping, a contribution workflow, and explicit code and data licenses.

## What the project means now

The broader idea is that open infrastructure data can be both useful and restrained. Good documentation does not require publishing every discoverable detail; it requires choosing the details that improve public understanding and preserving the evidence behind them.

Coverage is still local and incomplete. The project avoids access details, security signage, restricted utility maps, and sensitive operational information.

Public infrastructure can be documented usefully without treating every available detail as appropriate to publish.

Add a concise current-results summary, richer public-safe media, and more verified records.

## Publication and interpretation notes

- Current classification: Active
- Portfolio readiness: Draftable
- Publication boundary: Public repository

## Additional agent context

This is a strong current civic-data project. It is intentionally conservative about infrastructure security: public landmarks, sources, history, and verification are in scope; restricted access and sensitive operational detail are not.

## Related project records

- [Kootenai Civic Data](/projects/kootenai-civic-data/llm/) — A provenance-first civic intelligence workspace for local decisions, infrastructure, and public records.

## Navigation

- [Complete project index](/projects/llm/)
- [Human version of this record](/projects/open-water-towers/)
- [About Josiah's working method](/about/llm/)
- [Agent discovery map](/llms.txt)