ALEXANDRIA, VA—October 18, 2010. The Western Governors' Association and Western States Water Council hosted a workshop entitled Drought, Water and Climate: Using Today's Information to Design Tomorrow's Services. This workshop was held in Washington, DC, on September 14–15, 2010. Approximately 100 policy makers, agency leaders and water managers attended the meeting, representing a variety of agencies and organizations including the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, Department of Interior, Environmental Protection Agency, universities, tribes and non-governmental organizations.
IWR Director Robert Pietrowsky represented the Corps on a panel session discussing the coordination of Federal climate services for drought and water. His presentation addressed the Corps role in interagency climate change efforts, such as the Climate Change and Water Working Group (C-CAWWG), Global Change Sustainability Program, and the National Integrated Drought Information System (NIDIS) Pilot Study of the Apalachicola-Chattahoochee-Flint basin. IWR personnel from the USACE Responses to Climate Change Program also attended and participated in the workshop.
The goal of the workshop was to develop a set of recommendations to improve drought information coordination, delivery and response in a changing climate. Throughout the workshop, participants emphasized the importance of pilot projects or early warning systems; the need for data collection; and the value of interagency collaboration to develop and deliver climate services.
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