JEFFERSON CITY — As Missouri spends millions of dollars to upgrade its outdated computer systems, a less high-tech threat is challenging state officials.
With the unpredictable Missouri River flowing just a few low-lying blocks to the north, Gov. Mike Parson’s administration wants to relocate its central computing office somewhere less flood-prone.
Parson, as part of a more than $15 million budget request to the Legislature, is proposing to move the digital heartbeat of state government out of the first floor of the Harry S. Truman Office Building to higher ground.
“If disaster strikes or equipment malfunctions, the state risks losing its stored data and may not be able to get applications up and running in an appropriate time period,” the budget request notes.
At issue is “failover capability,” which would give the state the ability to seamlessly switch to a reliable backup system in the event of a flood or other emergency.
According to the proposal, the state does not currently have full failover capability of all of its applications, which run everything from the motor vehicle licensing system to payroll for 50,000 state employees.
The Office of Administration, which manages state operations for the executive branch, says the facility has been at risk during previous flooding.
“The current facility has not been forced to fully close due to natural disaster but had been partially evacuated in 1993 when water was under the floor and needed to be continually pumped out. Equipment was shut down and temporarily relocated until flooding subsided,” administration spokesman Chris Moreland told the Post-Dispatch Tuesday.
In 2019, flood water was within six inches of the data center walls.
“The site remains at risk unless moved to an alternative location. If the data center is impacted it could have catastrophic consequences on the data stored at that site,” the request notes. “This would result in loss of services to citizens and customers.”
The request does not mention human-caused climate change and subsequent severe weather as a factor in seeking a new home for the servers and other equipment.
But state officials have taken steps to address increased flooding in the region.
The Department of Conservation, for example, has altered its approach to managing the Columbia Bottoms Conservation Area north of St. Louis to account for higher water levels.
The department also recently moved to raise the price of certain permits, citing increased costs of goods and services and also “more frequent” flood and drought events.
Conservation Department spokesman Joe Jerek said the state isn’t pointing to climate change as the reason.
“We are not climate experts so we cannot determine what is causing more frequent extreme weather events. Based on extreme weather events that have happened over the past 10 years or so, we expect them to continue over the long term,” Jerek said.
Parson also has acknowledged the effects of weather on the state’s economy. Last year, he lobbied for the creation of a new office designed to improve the state’s ability to predict and monitor floods and drought in Missouri.
The Office of Administration also says the computing facility is 40 years old and needs an overhaul. Officials say it is cheaper to move than to upgrade the current space.
“The cost to upgrade the existing equipment and infrastructure in the primary data center is approximately $25 million, which is more expensive than moving the data center out of the current location to a new location,” the agency said.
Moreland didn’t identify where the facility might be moved, but the state owns various office buildings and leases other space throughout the capital city.
To jumpstart the process, the office is asking lawmakers for an initial investment of $15 million in next year’s budget, as well as $2.8 million for a lease on a secondary data center site.
Once moved, the department wants to hire 12 new workers for a Disaster Recovery and Automation Team.
“The completion of this project will enhance the state’s ability to protect citizens’ data and ensure that the State is able to bring back applications expeditiously in the event of equipment failures and or disasters,” the budget request added.
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A fly over homes along Wilson Avenue in University City as seen from a drone on Thursday, Sept. 22, 2022. The homes on the right side of Wilson Avenue were bought out years ago because of flooding. This summer’s flooding on the River Des Peres prompted University City to consider if federally-funded buyouts of homes on the left side of the street should also be offered. Photo by David Carson, dcarson@post-dispatch.com
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