Transcript Western Governors’ Association and Western States Water

Drought and Climate Workshop
Grand Hyatt – Washington, DC
September 14, 2010
Western Governors’ Association
Tom Iseman
Western Governors’ Association
www.westgov.org
Western Governors’ Association and
Western States Water Council
WGA brings together Western
states to:
 Develop policy and address
important governance issues.
 Advance the role of the states
regionally and at the national
level.
 Develop and manage innovative
programs related to natural
resources, the environment,
economic development,
international relations and state
governance.
WGA’s Recent History on Drought

WGA Reports (1996) and Resolutions (1999)
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National Drought Commission (May 2000)
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Brian Schweitzer – Montana farmer/rancher/soil scientist
Creating a Drought Early Warning System for the 21st C

Western Governors’ Association 2004

National Integrated Drought Information System Act (2006)
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NIDIS Implementation Plan (2007)
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Climate Adaptation Report and Climate Services (2010)
Current Status of NIDIS
This week, we are asking:
1.
2.
3.
Is the NIDIS system serving the need for drought
information, and what can we do to strengthen the Service?
Are we doing enough to build a comprehensive, integrated
response to drought emergencies, including drought
preparedness mitigation planning?
And how do our drought programs and response strategies fit
with climate services and adaptation?
Regional Outreach Meetings

Two Regional Meetings
Lincoln, NE – Oct 2009
 San Francisco, CA – March 2010
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Attendees
50-60 at each meeting
 Water managers, energy, navigation, environmental

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Key Questions
Impacts
 User Needs
 Next Steps

www.westgov.org
Findings
A Range of Key Decisions
 Basic Data and Forecasts
 Socio-Economic Assessment
 Information to support Decision-Making
 More Education and Outreach on NIDIS
 National Coordination, Regional Early Warning
 NIDIS as a model for Climate Services

www.westgov.org
Format for Next 1.5 Days
 Panels
 Breakout Groups
 Reporting and Discussion
 Developing an agenda.
WGA & WSWC will prepare a summary report with
recommendations based on input from the
workshop.
Goals for Workshop
1. Strengthen NIDIS and drought information
services.
2. Promote the development of comprehensive and
integrated drought preparedness policy.
3. Explore NIDIS and drought preparedness as a
model for climate services.
Goal 1: Strengthening NIDIS
 Improving Basic Data Collection: For key drought-sensitive issues or areas. And
coordination across agencies and groups.
 Clearinghouse of Data: Data should be accessible in one place, categorized, and
available to potential users.
 Regional Early Warning Systems: Develop regionally-specific indices for drought to
help local communities adapt. Across temporal and spatial scales.
 New Types of Information


Socio-Economic Data: To understand impacts and inform preparedness.
Ecosystems: Drought impacts to ecosystems and loss of ecoservices.
 Real-time Impacts: CoCoRahs. How drought is impacting people.
 Improve predictions: Current snapshot is good. How do we get better prediction?
At short or long time scale.
 Ensuring effectiveness: Evaluate and improve programs and their impact on
planning and preparedness. Rigorous assessment of pilots. Need explicit metrics for
effective preparedness or resiliency.
 Programmatic Sustainability: Sustain investments in NIDIS early warning systems.
Goal 2: Drought Preparedness Policy


Bottom-Up from States and Locals.
Standing Emergency Fund as an incentive to drought preparedness planning.

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How to capitalize?
List particular criteria for plan and approval process.
Voluntary. No mandatory requirement for water use reporting.
Use of loan guarantees/subsidized interest.
Provide mechanism for coordination among federal agencies.
Encourage collection and maintenance of observation platforms and data
continuity.
If comprehensive policy is not possible, pursuing components, e.g. planning, as a
stand alone could work. Reclamation Drought Relief Act – reauthorization may be
specific opportunity.
Drought plans should be synonymous and compatible across boundaries, esp
watershed.
Alternate funding mechanism, e.g. drought insurance.
Need metrics of effectiveness, e.g. sustainability index?
Goal 3: Drought and Climate Service
 Focus on usability of data – consult users to determine needs.
 Coordination and consolidation of data sets
 NIDIS as a component of a climate service, but not a ‘model’


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for a climate service.
Scalable model – decisions w/deep uncertainty and long time
horizons. Assess skill of models. Compare how data can be
used in planning w/uncertainty.
Fund research – gaps and priorities. Coordination on
prioritization of research. Useful and useable.
Clarify roles of sub-entities within distributed climate service,
e.g. RCC, RISA, NWS, etc.
Cabinet level coordination of climate services. Mandate
cooperation among agencies when needed.
Immediate Follow-Up:
•P o s t P r e s e n t a t i o n s o n W e b
•E l a b o r a t e o n r e c o m m e n d a t i o n s
Longer-term Activity
•R e v i e w w i t h G o v e r n o r s
•S u m m a r i z e a n d R e p o r t
•B u i l d D r o u g h t P a r t n e r s h i p s
•I m p l e m e n t w i t h l e g i s l a t i v e p a r t n e r s a n d a g e n c i e s .
www.westgov.org
www.westgov.org
Breakout Sessions
Four Breakout Groups
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Breakout#1: Michael Hayes
Breakout #2: Kelly Redmond
Breakout #3: Jim Verdin
Breakout #4: Shaun McGrath
Three Breakout Sessions:
1.
2.
3.
Drought Information for Early Warning and Preparedness
Delivering Drought Information Services
Developing Drought Policy and Climate Services
Report Back
Breakout #1 (Michael Hayes)
Group
Last Name:
First Name
Title:
Organization:
1
Anderson
Martha
USDA-ARS
1
Bales
Jerad
Chief Scientist for Hydrology
DOI, U.S. Geological Survey
1
Blette
Veronica
Chief, WaterSense Branch
EPA Office of Water
1
Brown
Erica
Director of Scientific Program Development/Regulatory Affairs
Assoc. of Metropolitan Water Agencies (AMWA)
1
Castle
Anne
Assistant Secretary
Water and Science, USDOI
1
Collins
Gary
Tribal Liaison
Northern Arapaho Tribe
1
Davis
Randy
National Soil Program Leader
USDA Forest Service
1
Dunning
Mark
Project Manager
AWRA
1
Faught
Jennifer
1
Gingold
Sarah
Researcher
Food and Water Watch
1
Hayes
Michael
Director
National Drought Mitigation Center
1
Hiza Redsteer
Margaret
Research Scientist
U.S. Geological Survey
1
Hower
Jonne
Federal Liaison Officer
WSWC-WestFAST
1
Iseman
Thomas
Water Program Director
Western Governors' Association
1
Kelsey
Jonathan
Congressional Affairs Specialist
NOAA
1
Landers
Mark
Surface Water Specialist
U.S. Geological Survey
1
Mariotti
Annarita
1
McMahon
Michael
Senior Hydro-meteorologist
HDR
1
Nellenbach
Michele
Director, Natural Resources Committee
National Governors Association
1
Partain
James
Regional Climate Services Director
NOAA
1
Pimstein
Agustin
Post-doctoral fellow
USDA-ARS
1
Ray
Tom
Water Resources Manager
Lockwood, Andrews & Newnam, Inc.
1
Shapiro
Mike
1
Strobel
Michael
Director - National Water and Climate Center
Natural Resources Conservation Service
1
Todey
Dennis
President
American Association State Climatologists
1
Walsh
Margaret
Ecologist
USDA Climate Change Program Office
1
Wegner
Dave
1
Wyatt
Bonnie
Weather Program Manager
Forest Service
1
Zhang
Huaimin
Physical Scientist
NOAA
NOAA
NOAA
EPA
House Water and Power Subcommittee
Breakout #2 (Kelly Redmond)
Group
Last Name:
First Name
Title:
Organization:
2
Arnold
Jeffrey
Senior Atmospheric Scientist
us army engineer institute for water resources
2
Beller-Simms
Nancy
Climate and Societal Interactions - Program Manager - Water
NOAA
2
Boyd
Robert
National Soil/Water/Air Program Lead
Bureau of Land Management
2
Brown
Shanna
Director, WGA DC Office
Western Governors' Association
2
Cecil
L. DeWayne
Western Region Climate Services Director
NOAA
2
Cottrell
Sarah
Deputy Cabinet Secretary
NM Environment Department
2
Deheza
Veva
Section Chief, Office of Water Conservation & Drought Planning
Colorado Water Conservation Board
2
Entin
Jared
Terrestrial Hydrology Program Manager
NASA
2
Finkler
Kira
Deputy Commissioner-External & Intergovtl Affairs
Bureau of Reclamation, US DOI
2
Gorke
Roger
Senior Policy Advisor
Office of Water, U.S. EPA
2
Hertzfeld
Michelle
International Relations Specialist
NOAA-NESDIS International and Interagency Affairs Office
2
Hoeft
Claudia
National Hydraulic Engineer
USDA - NRCS
2
Huang
Jin
Program Manager
NOAA Climate Program Office
2
Jacobs
Kathy
2
Kluck
Doug
Regional Climate Services Director
NOAA
2
Levenbach
Stuart
Program Examiner
Office of Management and Budget
2
Martinez
Christopher
Assistant Professor
University of Florida/Southeast Climate Consortium
2
McNutt
Chad
2
Olsen
Rolf
Co-lead, Climate Change
US Army Corps of Engineers
2
Petes
Laura
AAAS Science & Technology Policy Fellow
NOAA Climate Program Office
2
Pulwarty
Roger
Physical Scientist
NOAA
2
Redmond
Kelly
Regional Climatologist
DRI / Western Regional Climate Center
2
Schwartz
Stuart
Senior Research Scientist
CUERE - University of Maryland Baltimore County
2
Simpson
Caitlin
Program Manager
NOAA Climate Program Office
2
Svoboda
Mark
Climatologist
National Drought Mitigation Center
2
Toll
David
2
Wallander
Steven
Economist
USDA Economic Research Service
2
Wilhite
Don
Director
School of Natural Resources, University of Nebraska
2
Wolff
Steve
Colorado River Coordinator
Wyoming State Engineer's Office
2
Young, Jr.
John
President, American Water Services
American Water Works Service Co.
White House Office of Science and Technology Policy
NOAA/NIDIS
NASA/GSFC
Breakout #3 (Jim Verdin)
Group
Last Name:
First Name
Title:
Organization:
3
Averyt
Kristen
Deputy Director
University of Colorado, Western Water Assessment
3
Bemis
Kirk
Hydrologist
Zuni Tribe
3
Brewer
Michael
US Drought Portal Manager
National Climatic Data Center
3
Brusberg
Mark
Meteorologist
USDA Office of the Chief Economist
3
Choate
Anne
Vice President
ICF International
3
Couch
Carol
3
Doesken
Nolan
State Climatologist
Colorado Climate Center, Colorado State University
3
Fahlund
Andrew
Senior Vice President of Conservation
American Rivers
3
Fry
Tom
Senior Policy Advisor, Climate Adaptation
The Nature Conservancy
3
Hain
Christopher
Physical Scientist
NOAA
3
Higgins
Wayne
Director
Climate Prediction Center
3
Hohenstein
Bill
3
Ingvoldstad
Scott
3
Johnson
Bob
3
Koblinsky
Chet
3
Lubchenco
Jane
NOAA Administrator
3
Mason
Deirdre
Project Coordinator
Association of State Drinking Water Administrators
3
Muse
Mike
Source Water Protection & Preservation Coordinator
USEPA/HQ
3
Olson
Carolyn
National Leader Climate Change
USDA-NRCS
3
Pierce
Roger
Acting Director, Office of Weather and Air Quality
NOAA
3
Raff
David
Program Analyst
Bureau of Reclamation
3
Reimer
Christine
Government Affairs Director
National Ground Water Association
3
Seager
Richard
Palisades Geophysical Institute/Lamont Research Professor
Lamont Doherty Earth Observatory of Columbia University
3
Sinicropi
Patricia
Legislative Director
National Association of Clean Water Agencies
3
Swenson
Richard
Special Assistant to the Chief
USDA Natural Resources Conservation Service
3
Trujillo
Tanya
3
Verdin
James
Deputy Director
NIDIS
3
Willardson
Anthony
Executive Director
Western States Water Council
3
Zamuda
Craig
Senior Policy Advisor
US Department of Energy; Office of Policy and International Affairs
University of Georgia
USDA
CH2M Hill
Water Consultant
HDR Engineering
NOAA
Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee
Breakout #4 (Shaun McGrath)
Group
Last Name:
First Name
Title:
Deputy Assistant Administrator
Organization:
4
Baker
Charles
NOAA Satellite and Information Service (NESDIS)
4
Bencala
Karin
4
Brown
David
Regional Climate Service Director, Southern Region
NOAA
4
Cary
Steven
Deputy Director of R&D
HQUSACE
4
Cleaves
Dave
Climate Change Advisor
US Forest Service
4
Darby
Lisa
Meteorologist
NOAA/NIDIS Program Office
4
Donnelly
Tom
4
Fallon
Michael
SWD Programs Director
USACE
4
Gevorgyan
Yana
Sr. Int'l Relations Specialist
NOAA
4
Hayes
Deborah
National Program Leader, Water & Soil Research
USDA Forest Service
4
Hinkley
Everett
National Remote Sensing Program Manager
USDA Forest Service
4
Hoogenboom
Gerrit
Director & Professor
Washington State University
4
Inmann
Pam
Executive Director
Western Governors' Association
4
Kalis
Martin
Public Health Advisor
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), National Center for
Environmental Health (NCEH)
4
Labovitch
Loren
4
Marcinkiewicz
Charles
4
McGrath
Shaun
Consultant
Western Governors' Association
4
Parris
Adam
RISA Program Lead
NOAA
4
Pietrowsky
Robert
4
Rankin
Richard
Program Director - Environment/Energy & Env
Idaho National Laboratory
4
Roffe-Hammond
Dorian
Global Water Policy Advocate
CIFAL Atlanta
4
Rooks
Wilton
Chairman, Executive Committee
ACF Stakeholders, Inc.
4
Shafer
Mark
Director of Climate Services
Oklahoma Climatological Survey
4
Solis
Ruben
Ph.D., P.E., Director Surface Water Resources
Texas Water Development Board
4
Thomas
Jean
National Water Rights Program Leader
USDA Forest Service
4
Turner
Brian
Deputy Director
Washington DC Office of Governor Schwarzenegger
4
Wardlow
Brian
Assistant Professor / Remote Sensing Specialist
National Drought Mitigation Center
4
Zhan
Xiwu
Physical Scientist
NOAA-NESDIS Center for Satellite Applications and Research
Interstate Commission on the Potomac River Basin
National Water Resources Association
CEQ
UniStar Nuclear Energy
COE