At SWCA, our geographic information systems (GIS) services are about more than data on a map – GIS is a way to create meaningful, community-focused solutions that help people and places thrive. Two specialists, Kim Lyons and Liz Hitzfelder, lead SWCA’s water and fire GIS technical services with expertise and a passion for turning complex data into real-world action. Together, they are pioneering innovative ways to tackle today’s most urgent environmental challenges – from wildfire risk to water quality and resilience – using GIS tools and public engagement strategies.
For Kim Lyons, SWCA’s Water GIS Technical Lead, her early days as a field technician collecting water quality samples, studying macroinvertebrates, and managing a research lab during and after graduate school taught her the ins and outs of water resources. Kim now brings her skills to the GIS arena, creating sophisticated, interactive models that turn water risk data into actionable insights for communities and decision-makers alike.
Liz Hitzfelder joined SWCA as a fresh GIS technician with a graduate degree and a drive to dig into fire GIS – a field that captured her imagination with its potential to prevent disasters. Today, she’s SWCA’s Fire GIS Technical Lead, managing comprehensive wildfire mitigation plans, building wildfire risk and hazard assessments, and guiding community members on how they can protect their neighborhoods from the threat of wildfire.
Liz Hitzfelder, SWCA’s Fire GIS Technical LeadWATER AND FIRE GIS BRING CLARITY TO COMMUNITY WATERSHED AND WILDFIRE PLANNING
Both Kim and Liz understand that risk management isn’t one-size-fits-all, and their knowledge is as resource-specific as it gets. Liz leads her team in collaborating with SWCA’s wildfire planning experts to craft Community Wildfire Protection Plans (CWPPs) that assess wildfire risk down to the finest detail, but her work doesn’t end there. Working with a team of wildfire planning experts and resource-specific GIS technicians, Liz is talking with residents and community leaders and creating custom models that help mitigate wildfire risk to communities.
“There’s a profound responsibility in transforming data into something communities can act on,” says Liz. “When we develop wildfire risk and hazard assessments, our goal is to translate complex risk into practical tools that protect lives and property – it’s science with real impact.”
Kim Lyons, SWCA’s Water GIS Technical LeadMeanwhile, water GIS services under Kim’s leadership provide the backbone for SWCA’s water-related environmental planning. She’s built intricate GIS models for projects that range from wetland assessments to coastal hazard mapping, turning data into an immersive experience for public stakeholders. Kim’s interactive maps allow everyone – whether city planners or residents – to see their watersheds in vivid detail and actively participate in its protection.
Kim reflects, “Providing people with insights about their watershed empowers them to make informed decisions, which ultimately strengthens community resilience on every level.”
In many communities, fires and watersheds are inextricably linked, so collaboration between Kim’s and Liz’s teams, and with experts in wildfire and watershed planning throughout SWCA, brings both perspectives into one powerful toolset. Take, for example, SWCA’s work on CWPPs that overlap with watershed protection areas – called CWP2s. On the GIS side, Liz’s team begins with a fire risk assessment, identifying regions most at risk of wildfire. Kim’s team then steps in, layering water risk data like erosion and sediment flow into the model to understand how fires could impact the region’s rivers, lakes, and water supplies. Together, they work back and forth through many rounds of reviews with watershed and wildfire experts and the client to create plans that tackle both water and fire challenges holistically.
The results of their work are powerful, equipping communities with the knowledge to anticipate, prepare, and act. By combining their knowledge with water resources and wildfire planning and response expertise throughout the company, Kim and Liz bring communities closer to resilience, helping residents visualize threats and engage in solutions that span both water and fire.
BRIDGING SCIENCE AND SOCIETY THROUGH INTERACTIVE GIS PLATFORMS
By using tools such as Story Maps and Hub Sites (see examples for Boulder County, Town of Croswell and Washington County, and City of Corona), Kim, Liz, and the broader GIS team are turning traditional GIS tools into interactive, engaging experiences that invite the public to explore and understand environmental risks firsthand. Their work lives online, in real-time, allowing communities to see water and fire risks right in their backyards.
Looking ahead, both Kim and Liz are excited about incorporating new technologies like 3D modeling into their work, giving communities an even clearer, more immersive view of potential scenarios. Imagine watching a wildfire’s impact unfold in a virtual landscape or visualizing the flow of water through an eroded hillside after a fire. It’s this kind of forward-thinking technology that makes SWCA’s GIS services a step ahead, offering both solutions and powerful insights.
Together, Kim and Liz represent the best of what SWCA has to offer: passion, precision, and a clear vision of a more resilient future. As leaders in their fields, they’re proving that GIS is more than a technology. GIS is a bridge between science and society, a way to inspire action, and a tool to make the world a safer, more sustainable place.
To learn more about GIS services at SWCA, contact chartnett [at] swca [dot] com (Christian Hartnett), kimberly [dot] lyons [at] swca [dot] com (Kim Lyons), or elisabeth [dot] hitzfelder [at] swca [dot] com (Liz Hitzfelder).