NIDIS Implementation Team Roger S Pulwarty NOAA The National Integrated Drought Information System Communication and Outreach Engaging Preparedness & Adaptation Drought and Flood Impacts Assessments and Scenarios Monitoring & Forecasting

Climate Services: “The timely production and delivery of useful climate data, information and knowledge to decision makers” (NRC, 2001) VISION “An informed society anticipating and responding to climate and its impacts” Mission: “to develop and deliver research, information, and services to enhance society's ability to understand, anticipate, mitigate, and adapt to climate variability and change”

NIDIS Goals & Objectives Public Law ( , 2006) “better informed and more timely drought-related decisions leading to reduced impacts and costs” 3

NIDIS PL Three tasks (1) provide an effective drought early warning system that— (1 A) is a comprehensive system that collects and integrates information on the key indicators of drought in order to make usable, reliable, and timely drought forecasts and assessments of drought, including assessments of the severity of drought conditions and impacts; (1 B) communicates drought forecasts, drought conditions, and drought impacts on an ongoing basis to— (i) decision-makers at the Federal, regional, State, tribal, and local levels of government; (ii) the private sector; and (iii) the public

NIDIS Act PL continued…… (1C) includes timely (where possible real-time) data, information, and products that reflect local, regional, and State differences in drought conditions; (2) coordinate, and integrate as practicable, Federal research in support of a drought early warning system; and (3) build upon existing forecasting and assessment programs and partnerships

NIDIS Components 1. NIDIS Program Office 2. U.S. Drought Portal 3. Climate Test Beds/Drought –Integrating data and forecasts 4. Coping with Drought –Integrated Applications Research 5. NIDIS Early Warning Information Systems –Design,Prototype, Implementation, Process sustainability

NIDIS Governance: Executive Council NIDIS Program Office NIDIS Implementation Team: Over 50 Federal, state, tribal and private sector representatives NIDIS Technical Working Groups Integrated Drought Information Systems Drought Early Warning System Design-Information clearinghouse, Pilots, and Implementation WATERSHED/URBAN/LOCAL REGIONAL NATIONAL Public Awareness And Education Engaging Preparedness Communities Integrated Monitoring and Forecasting Interdisciplinary Research and Applications U.S. Drought Portal

NIDIS Early Warning Systems Pilots – Blue-first round;yellow-second round of prototypes/transferabilty Southeast ColumbiaRiverBasin Lower CO Basin Great Lakes Region +Texas California Upper Missouri Basin

Kremmling Lake Powell Lake Mead Upper Basin down to Lake Mead Coordinated reservoir operations: Low flow shortage triggering criteria (Powell/Mead)Coordinated reservoir operations: Low flow shortage triggering criteria (Powell/Mead) Inter- and Intra-basin transfers; Front range urban-agricultureInter- and Intra-basin transfers; Front range urban-agriculture Ecosystem health/servicesEcosystem health/services

Upper Colorado River Basin (UCRB) EWS Design Workshop –UCRB Monitoring Gaps Assessment –US Drought Portal Upgrades sub-portal –Assimilate and characterize indicators and triggers in the UCRB –ESP improvements and Assessment of water demand in UCRB (ongoing) –Webinar launched as part of RFC Annual Operating Plan Outlook Drought Index Planning support-Surface Water Supply Index

NIDIS Newsletter released-circulated across disaster management community, agencies and states Drought, Climate change and Early Warning on Western Native Lands June 09 Centers for Disease Control-Drought and Public Health Report Climate Change and Water Resources: Federal Perspectives (USGS 1331)

Coping with Drought: TRACS Ensemble Hydrologic Forecasts over the Southeast in Support of the NIDIS Pilot Drought Index Evaluation and Implementation in a Geospatial Framework Linked to Hydrologic Data Web Services Evaluating Adaptation Policies For Urban Water Resource Management Between Short-Term Drought Responses And Long-Term Planning Integrating Socioeconomic Assessments to Build Community Resilience in Mitigating Drought A Climate Information System to Enhance Drought Preparedness by Underserved Farmers in the SE U.S.

FY10 Priority 13 Apalachicola-Chattahoochee-Flint Early Warning System Yr1 –ACF Monitoring Gaps Assessment Carolinas Catawba-Wateree Early Warning System

Planning and information workshops- Peachtree Georgia May 08 Chapel Hill NC June 09 Columbus Georgia Sept 09 Design workshop Lake Blackshear Dec 1-2

15 Apalachicola-Coosa-Tallapoosa (ACT) and Apalachicola-Chattahoochee-Flint (ACF) Basins

Applications Research Prediction Monitoring Impact Mitigation Proactive Planning Improved Adaptation Integrating Tools: e.g. Drought Portal Coordinating federal, state, and local drought-related activities (e.g., within watersheds and states) Identifying and transferring innovative strategies for drought risk assessment, communication and preparedness NIDIS INFORMATION MANAGEMENT

Year 1: Scoping the Drought Early Warning Information System Gap analyses: What information exists and how is it being coordinated and used? Characterize and communicate risks across timescales-with existing information for 2-3 critical issues Year 2. Implementation of the Drought Early Warning System (seasonal, multi-year, longer term trends): Develop drought sub-portals Embed information into preparedness and adaptation plans Establish network for ongoing briefings on impacts and projections across climate timescales Develop subteams to assess (1) Monitoring and forecasting; (2) Impact indicators and triggers (3) Preparedness and education: Assemble drought-sensitive planning indicators and management triggers database; Assess present drought information coordination partnerships and processes Identify Federal and state-level partnerships, decision support tools and actions needed (to improve information development, coordination and flow for preparedness and risk reduction) Develop an operational plan for designing and implementing an EWS process Initiate development region or basin specific Drought Information Monitor and Portal (as a subset of the U.S. Drought Portal) Develop decision support tools for demand projections and revise triggering criteria Prototyping: Given better data and information coordination would responses have been improved for past events? Assess (1) value of improved information using past conditions, (2) responses for projections/ scenarios (decadal, climate change), (3) feedback on priorities (e.g. data gaps) to Executive Council. Feedback into regional Drought Monitor and Portal. Early Warning System maintenance (Fed-state-tribal) and transfer to other sub- basins

Drought stages including preparedness Indicators,triggers, response and impact avoidance Declaring drought accurately Declaring drought early enough Minimizing the duration of a declaration Informing an equitable and reasonable response Where to go for help

Drought and Water Resources Federal Partnerships Monitoring & Forecasting Drought and Flood Impacts Assessments and Scenarios Communication and Outreach Engaging Preparedness & Adaptation Information Services in support of Adaptation

Drought and Water Resources Services Mission: Implement a dynamic, accessible, authoritative drought information system NOAA Produces:With Our Partners:Used By: Monitoring and Forecasting U.S. Drought Monitor USDA, National Drought Mitigation Center USDA, state and local governments U.S. Soil Moisture MonitoringDOE, USDA (NRCS)USDA, agricultural producers Normalized Difference Vegetation Index USGS, NASAUSAID (FEWS NET) Crop Moisture IndexUSDAUSDA, agricultural producers Ensemble Water Supply ForecastsUSDAUSBR, USACE, state water management agencies, local district water managers Soil Moisture Anomaly ForecastUSDA (NRCS)USDA, agricultural producers

NOAA ProducesWith Our Partners:Used By: Products Informing Risk Assessment and Management Reconciling projections of future Colorado River stream flow in a changing climate USBR, USGS, University of Washington, University of Colorado, University of Arizona, University of California-San Diego USBR, state and local water providers, reservoir managers, Water Conservancy Districts USGS Circular 1331: Climate Change and Water Resources Management: A Federal Perspective USGS, USBR, USACE USBR, USACE, Water Utilities Climate Change in Colorado: A Synthesis to Support Water Resources Management and Adaptation Colorado Water Conservation Board, University of Colorado, Western Water Assessment RISA Colorado water planners, State Climatologists Managing Threatened and Endangered Salmon in Low Water Conditions USBR, CA Department of Fish and Game, CA Department of Water Resources, University of California Davis, Humboldt State University NMFS, CA Department of Fish and Game, CA Department of Water Resources, Pacific Fisheries Management Council Assessing Drought Indicators and Triggers USGS, USDA (NRCS), Colorado Water Conservation Board, Colorado State University, Utah State University, University of Wyoming USGS, USDA, USBR, water planners/providers, reservoir managers, State Climatologists U.S. Bureau of Reclamation (USBR), U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (USACE), U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA): Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS), U.S. Geologic Survey (USGS), Department of Energy (DOE), U.S. Aid for International Development (USAID): Famine Early Warning System Network (FEWS NET)