(October 9, 2019) – NACWA staff participated last week in a workshop with the National Oceanic Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) titled Filling the Gaps: Climate and Weather Information for Small- and Medium-size Water Utilities.

This planning workshop was conducted to help guide a NOAA initiative getting underway to better understand the weather and climate information needs of small and medium size water and wastewater utilities, and grow awareness of existing NOAA tools and resources such as the Water Resources Dashboard and National Water Model (NWM). NOAA is also interested in utility perspectives on how to improve and enhance the usefulness of these tools to local utilities.

NOAA has secured funding to host seven hands-on workshops around the country over the next year to help familiarize local utilities with its resources, including the NWM and Dashboard, and learn about local utility needs. If your utility is interested in participating in a training (NOAA is currently selecting dates/locations) or if you have experience/input regarding these NOAA resources you would like to share, please contact Kristina Surfus, NACWA’s Legislative Director, and we will ensure the organizers get in touch.