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Satellites and AI to identify water leaks in New Mexico – Intelligent CIO North America

A groundbreaking solution potentially saves millions of dollars and gallons of wasted water.

The New Mexico Environment Department (NMED), Google Public Sector and Woolpert Digital Innovations have announced Hydro Delta – a new initiative that uses satellites and artificial intelligence to detect water leaks.

Using this innovative technology, NMED can provide municipal entities with accurate and reliable data for better water management, potentially saving millions of dollars and gallons of wasted water.

NMED alone estimates that Hydro Delta will save New Mexico's water systems up to $154 million.

“Hydro Delta is transforming New Mexico's drinking water supply, particularly the systems that serve rural areas of the state,” said Secretary of the Environment James Kenney. “Thanks to the guidance of Governor Michelle Lujan Grisham's 50-Year Water Action Plan, our state is taking the lead in protecting our most precious resource in the face of climate impacts that threaten our water security.”

In some New Mexico water systems, 40 to 70 percent of treated water is lost through leaks, largely due to aging infrastructure. These leaks are often extremely difficult to locate and repair, especially in small rural communities with limited staff and resources.

Hydro Delta empowers communities with timely and hyperlocal insights gleaned from millions of satellite images. Using Earth Engine, Google's world-leading platform for developing and deploying geospatial AI, Woolpert has developed a continuous change detection platform that monitors key water indicators such as soil moisture, vegetation health, and temperature. The system finds anomalies, many of which are undetectable to human observers on the ground, then reports them in an intuitive interface for decision-makers.

“Ensuring access to clean, reliable drinking water is a priority for every state, and Hydro Delta demonstrates New Mexico's innovative leadership in using AI to protect this important resource,” said Brent Mitchell, Vice President, Go-to-Market at Google Public Sector. “Together with Woolpert, we are proud to advance this initiative using Google Earth Engine and our cloud AI technology to improve the overall sustainability and quality of the state's water systems.”

Hydro Delta plays a critical role in developing inspection strategies for leaking systems, minimizing costs and search times.

When a potential leak is discovered, NMED staff notifies one of New Mexico's 1,100 water systems for investigation.

The bipartisan infrastructure bill provides low-interest loans and grants for water systems, including replacing lead pipes, identifying per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS), and general system updates. These federal funds increase the opportunities for local water systems to receive funding to fix leaks.

George Azzari, Director of AI at Woolpert Digital Innovations, said: “By leveraging our advanced geospatial expertise and Google’s cutting-edge technology, Hydro Delta is poised to revolutionize the way we identify and fix water leaks across the country. This tool is a testament to our commitment to developing innovative solutions to protect our most valuable resource.”

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