The National Integrated Drought Information System (NIDIS) Apalachicola-Chattahoochee-Flint River Basin Drought Early Warning Pilot
The National Integrated Drought Information System (NIDIS), in collaboration with Federal, State, Local and Tribal stakeholders, will be designing and implementing a drought early warning information system for the Apalachicola-Chattahoochee-Flint (ACF) River Basin.
The kick-off meeting for this pilot took place in Lake Blackshear, GA in Dec 2009.
The following is a partial list of key issues for the Pilot to address, as determined by attendees at the Lake Blackshear meeting:
The kick-off meeting for this pilot took place in Lake Blackshear, GA in Dec 2009.
The following is a partial list of key issues for the Pilot to address, as determined by attendees at the Lake Blackshear meeting:
- Gaps in understanding
Water availability and demand- The role of groundwater in the basin water budget
- Gaps in measurements
- Perform a data inventory for the basin
- Determine what data gaps need to be filled for adequate basin-scale coverage
- Presentation of information
- Present water information with high visual impact (e.g., demonstrate the impacts of different lake levels or river flows on recreational use with easy to understand graphics)
- Present water information at the basin scale
- Data related to drought monitoring and forecasting should be made available at a single user-friendly web site
- Education
- Educate the public about the causes and impacts of drought throughout the basin
- Educate the state legislatures so they understand drought adequately enough to make decisions that enhance the states' response to drought
- Drought Indicators
- Develop drought indicators that accurately represent the current stage of drought (e.g., various lake levels at Lake Lanier can be tied to different stages of drought)
- Make sure this drought indicator information is accessible and understandable to the public
- Forecasting
- Ensemble Streamflow Prediction models need low-flow calibrations
- Develop a low-flow data base and products for assessing and forecasting drought
Plan of Action and Timeline for developing and implementing a drought early warning information system for the ACF Basin
- January 2010: Establish a Data Evaluation Committee to assess measurements in the basin
- Spring 2010: Establish Sub-basin Committees for the following regions
- Middle Chattahoochee & Flint Rivers
- Upper Chattahoochee River
- Apalachicola River and Bay - Spring 2010: Host sub-basin meetings to gather stakeholder input for the design of the drought early warning information system
- Spring 2010: Meet with ACF Basin representatives from the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers
- March 2010: Co-host an Inter-tribal stakeholder meeting