Toward a Regional Drought Early Warning System

Summary

The National Integrated Drought Information System (NIDIS) is a Congressional authorized program within the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. The southeast, specifically the ACF basin in Alabama, Florida and Georgia, is the second regional pilot project for NIDIS. The ACF pilot project will last three years with the resulting product being a drought early warning system for the basin. Results from the ACF pilot will be used to scale-up drought early warning systems across the United States. Three conferences were held in 2009 with technical experts and stakeholders in the basin. The first conference was to outline the scope of the pilot project while the second conference engaged the technical experts. At the third conference in December, the structure of the early warning system and started the development of the early warning product. A side benefit of the early warning system is that it will be a central location for water management information during droughts and between droughts.

Situation

Two major droughts have impacted the southeastern United States during the past decade. These droughts have shown that it is abundantly clear that droughts occur over large regions and impact economic and environmental systems outside the drought region. These droughts have also shown that drought management has regional impacts and a common set of data and open information is needed for transparency. Additionally, as Georgia develops water management plans, a common data source will be needed for clear and comprehensive among water management districts in Georgia.

Response

The first stage of developing a early drought warning system is to define the scope of what is the areal coverage as well as what to include and what not to include. The first conference in July 2009 developed the scope of the pilot and included defining the ACF basin. Because of cross-basin transfer, the “ACF” basin for this pilot includes parts of the ACT basin that transfers water to the ACF. The second conference in September brought together technical expertise from federal and state agencies as well as major water users such agribusiness and power generation. The third conference will be in December and will start the development on the first iteration of a product to be tested with users in 2010.

Impact

Results The first two conferences have brought together federal and state agencies as well as basin stakeholders. While the ACF drought early warning system will not solve the political and legal issues of the basin, it has brought the parties together to work on an open and transparent product that will be of value regardless of the final political and legal outcome of the ACF water conflict. Impact The major impact of the drought early warning system will occur in two to three years as the products are more fully developed and refined. While initially focusing on drought, the system will be of great benefit to the developing water management districts across the state. Having a common and open data source for all water managers in the state should avoid conflicts arising from data.

State Issue

Conservation & Management of Natural Resources

Details

• Year: 2009
• Geographic Scope: Multi-State/Regional
• County: Clarke
• Program Areas:
  • Agriculture & Natural Resources