Snowy Live

Spatial Vision has partnered with energy company Snowy Hydro Limited to create the “Snowy Live ” app for iOS. Integrated with Snowy Hydro’s data, the app enables Apple users to access lake level and water release information in real-time, wherever they are.  Snowy Hydro operates within the iconic Snowy Mountains, a popular tourist destination and valuable agricultural region in New South Wales. They schedule controlled water releases to meet the energy needs of the National Electricity Market, potentially affecting lake and river levels. Prior to the release of the Snowy Live app, people could access information about these releases through Snowy Hydro’s website, however the app makes this information conveniently available to tourists holidaying in the region and to farmers planning their agricultural activities.

“By integrating real time data from Snowy Hydro into the app, we do not need to re-release the app whenever changes occur. It is an immediate, cost-effective solution for people visiting or living in this region,” says Ian Miller, Application Services Manager at Spatial Vision.

“Snowy Live was built using HTML5 technology.  This means the app is built using web technologies and then compiled into native apps for Android and iOS. Using this approach, we only had to write the code once, which is both quicker and cheaper than natively coding separate apps for Android and iOS,” says Mr Miller.

The app provides water level information for three lakes, Eucumbene, Jindabyne and Tantangara and water release data for three dams, Jindabyne, Tantangara and Khancoban.

To make the app more convenient, since most people will only be interested in one lake or dam at a time, we ensured users could select the lake(s) or dam(s) they are most interested in and ‘favourite’ them. For example, if a user was interested in Lake Jindabyne, they could select this lake as a favourite.

Access to this lake’s data is then available directly from the home page, both as a “favourite” but also showing the current lake level or water release rate in a scroll area above the buttons. In addition to displaying real time information, the Snowy Live app is also a valuable source of information for tourists visiting the Snowy Mountain region. It contains web links and contact information for the Snowy Hydro Visitor Facilities and caravan and camping parks, helping tourists plan their visit.

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