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Drought Prediction: Water Use Information - End User Listening Session

Event Date
July 14, 2022
Event Time
1:00 pm - 3:30 pm
Timezone
EDT

The U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) and NOAA’s National Integrated Drought Information System (NIDIS) are holding a series of listening sessions on Drought Prediction and Water Availability to seek input on priorities and needs related to predicting water availability changes under drought conditions at national and regional scales. This input will be used to guide USGS Drought Program planning and orientation, as well as to inform other national drought programs.

This third listening session, focused on water use, was held on June 14, 2022, and included a short introduction to water use prediction products, followed by guided discussions with participants on research priorities for product development or improvement at the national or regional scale.

For more information, see the final USGS-NIDIS report on this series: Drought Prediction and Water Availability: A Report on the 2022 USGS-NIDIS National Listening Session Series.

Timestamp
0:00

Introduction and Welcome

Speakers: Jaime Painter, USGS Water Use Science Program; Marina Skumanich, NIDIS / National Coordinated Soil Moisture Monitoring Network

  • Overview of today’s session
  • Mission of USGS and NIDIS
  • Register for the upcoming listening sessions

 

Timestamp
9:15

Assessing Drought in the Social Sciences

Speaker: Diana Restrepo-Osorio, Geographer, U.S. Geological Survey Kanas Water Science Center

Watch this presentation

  • Types of Drought
  • Upper Colorado River Basin Study
  • Changing Structures

 

Timestamp
17:22

Ogallala Data Directory Project

Speaker: Cait Rottler, New Mexico Climate Adaptation Specialist, South Central Climate Adaptation Science Center

Watch this presentation

  • Introduction
  • Datasets
  • Interactive Map
  • Metadata
  • Registration

 

Timestamp
25:50

Drought Prediction: A Partnership with the Oklahoma Water Resources Board, Lugert-Altus Irrigation District, and Mountain Park Master Conservancy District

Speaker: Collins Balcombe, Supervisor of Water Resources Planning and Project Development, Bureau of Reclamation Oklahoma-Texas Area Office

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  • Reservoir Background, Drought of Record
  • Water Rights
  • Water Plan and Partnership
  • Key Findings
  • Drought Indicators

 

Timestamp
33:09

Prepare for Breakout Groups

Speakers: Marina Skumanich, NIDIS/National Coordinated Soil Moisture Monitoring Network; Jaime Painter, USGS Water Use Science Program

Breakout Discussions: After the plenary, small breakout groups were held for approximately 50 minutes to discuss:

  • How do you use water use information in your applications to anticipate changes related to drought conditions?
  • Based on your organization, what are challenges, special considerations, or common uncertainties for predicting water use changes related to drought?
  • What hydrologic drought prediction products or indices do you currently use to predict water use changes in your area?
  • What improvements to water use information and prediction would help you the most (e.g. timescale, resolution, specific locations, etc.)?

 

Timestamp
38:01

Plenary Report-Out

Speaker: Joel Lisonbee, NOAA/NIDIS, Cooperative Institute for Research in Environmental Sciences (CIRES)

All participants briefly rejoined the larger session after the breakouts to look at takeaways from the last topic of improvements to water use information and prediction. A quick poll was taken of key ideas; these provide a preliminary sense of priorities from the session, to be further analyzed over time. These very preliminary results are provided below.

Preliminary results from breakout poll, asking "what improvements to water use information would help you the most?" The highest ranking result was "consistent water use data reporting."

Timestamp
54:18

End of Plenary Recording

This series of listening sessions will continue over the next several months. Links and registration information can be found below: 

Register for the upcoming listening sessions.