The Drought Impact Reporter Raleigh, North Carolina April 1, 2010 Tonya Bernadt Research and Outreach Specialist

Are you familiar with the Drought Impact Reporter? Yes No

Why Record Drought Impacts? NDMC mission: To reduce vulnerability to drought before the next one happens Impacts point to vulnerability Mitigation and response

Drought Impact Reporter Statistics On-line since July 2005 DIR 2.0 to be released in 2010 9,572 impacts since 2006 92% are from media reports

What’s in the Current DIR?

What’s in the Current DIR? Impacts extracted from the Media Drought Impact Event The city manager stated that Raleigh's water rates must be increased by 17 % to compensate for lower revenues as people continue to conserve water. Revenue for Raleigh's water system is projected to fall 10 % below the budgeted amounted for the fiscal year, which ends June 30. The rate increase has not yet been approved. Categories: Water/Energy   Source: Media Dates of Impact: 2008-07-01 to 2009-04-07 External URL: http://www.newsobserver.com/news/story/1475190.html Drought Impact Event Red oaks in North Carolina have produced an exceptionally large number of acorns this year, partly in response to last year's drought. Categories: Environment   Source: Media Dates of Impact: 2009-10-19 to 2009-10-19 External URL: http://www.charlotteobserver.com/local/story/1008...

Who Uses This Information? The Public As a voice in the policy process Decision makers / resource managers Drought Monitor Early indicator of drought conditions Ground truthing the Drought Monitor

DIR 2.0 Enhancements More user-friendly design Improved searching and mapping

How the DIR is Incorporated into the Drought Monitor February 24, 2009 April 28, 2009

DIR 2.0 Enhancements More user-friendly design Improved searching and mapping Change in category names

Impact Categories Current Planned Report Categories Agriculture Business & Industry Energy Fire Plants & Wildlife Relief, Response, & Restrictions Society & Public Health Tourism & Recreation Water Supply & Quality Report Categories

DIR 2.0 Enhancements More user-friendly design More efficient use of screen space Improved searching and mapping Change in category names Distinguishes between reports and impacts Current one impact is one article in the table New one reports which is news articles about drought and an impact is collection of reports. Aggregation of reports to highlight a specific drought impact.

Reports vs. Impacts Report: News article that might not have specific impact details Impact: Discusses a specific drought impact (i.e. specific result of drought; example mandatory water restrictions) In the new DIR we will be collecting a wider range of information than just strictly impacts. As I’ll describe in more detail in a few minutes, we’ll be collecting base-line information, which describes conditions during non-drought periods. Also, we’ll begin tracking information that is more speculative (i.e. the impacts haven't actually occurred yet, but are predicted to occur in the future) and info that doesn’t yet contain the level of detail we require to be considered a “drought impact”. Over the past several years we’ve found that this very early, speculative information is an excellent indicator of problems to come, and tracking this wider range of information increases our awareness of emerging drought conditions and hardships. So by design, everything that comes into the DIR, all media and non-media (i.e. public, gov’t, etc.) submitted information, becomes a report. Once this information is submitted, staff at the NDMC reviews the information and flags certain reports as also containing “impact” information. What is their criteria? In the DIR an “impact” is non-base-line information that is quantifiable, observable, and happens in a defined place at a specific time.

DIR 2.0 Enhancements More user-friendly design More efficient use of screen space Improved searching and mapping Change in category names Distinguishes between reports and impacts New “submit a report” form Ability to add photos

Who should enter impacts into the Drought Impact Reporter? General Public (i.e. individual ag producers, business owners and citizens) County FSA and / or Extension representatives Ag producer organizations All of the above Other

Anyone Can Submit On The Drought Impact Reporter We would like to increase non-media reports

Submit a Report

Submit a Report http://torka.unl.edu/DIR2/SubmitReport.aspx What are Baseline reports?? The Drought Impact Reporter offers the option to become a regular “drought spotter.” This includes providing baseline information that will allow others to understand the difference between what you see or experience in times of drought and in times of normal or plentiful water supply. Please check “Baseline Report” to submit a report that will serve as a basis for comparison but that does not reflect current drought. We recommend that drought spotters report at regular intervals, perhaps quarterly, when they are not experiencing a drought, and more frequently, perhaps monthly, when there is a drought. We recommend choosing from one to three key characteristics that are vulnerable to drought, such as the condition of a particular type of vegetation, the need to irrigate, or river or reservoir levels.

Submit a Report

Submit a Report

Submit a Report

Add Drought Impact Photos Photographer Date Place What does it show? How would it look in a non-drought year? Permission to use? Allows up to 5 photos per submission October 2006 October 2007 Photos of Morgan Creek, North Carolina, from Jody Seim Timmins

Submit a Report

Potential Networks to Add NWS Drought Reports CoCoRaHS State reports: water systems, wildfire, burn bans Extension Agents State agencies, organizations, researchers Any others?

What might motivate people to submit information to the Drought Impact Reporter? Employment related or part of job duties Organization related (i.e. family business or church) Personal (i.e. a need to communicate or another reason) All of the above Other

Thank you! Tonya Bernadt tbernadt5@unl.edu DIR URL: http://droughtreporter.unl.edu/