Today, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (USACE), the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), and the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) signed an agreement to work together to develop more integrated and adaptive water resources management information and service for the nation. Each agency has a complementary mission regarding the nation’s water resources and management needs. This collaboration aims to address the growing need to address uncertainty of future climate, land-use changes, an aging water delivery infrastructure, and an increasing demand on limited resources.
Some of the joint initiatives will include high-resolution forecasts of water resources for different purposes such as drinking water, industry and ecosystem services. There is also a plan to provide a one-stop database portal for data on water resource management. The agreement will also facilitate more accurate flood predictions that expand river and flood maps showing forecasted spatial extent and depth of flooding.
Eliminating redundancies and streamlining this forecasting and communication function will be extremely helpful in light of the pressures on water resources. The flood predicting capability is of particular interest right now in a time when floods are sweeping across the country due to unusual weather patterns.
