NOAA released on December 21 a vision and five-year plan for its Water Initiative, an effort to provide better access to water information that is relevant to each unique stakeholder need and context. In the introduction to the NOAA Water Initiative (NWI) and Five-Year Plan, NOAA underscores that the agency must work closely with other federal agencies as well as with partners and stakeholders outside of the government. The overarching goal of the NWI is “to transform water information service delivery to better meet and support evolving societal needs.”
To accomplish this goal, the agency will pursue five specific objectives:
- Build strategic partnerships for water information services;
- Strengthen water decision support tools and networks;
- Revolutionize water modeling, forecasting and precipitation prediction;
- Accelerate water information research and development; and
- Enhance and sustain water-related observations.
NOAA will build on existing programs and use the National Water Center (NWC) in Tuscaloosa, Alabama to facilitate the partnerships and collaboration needed to realize its NWI goals and objectives. The NWC continues to develop and implement NOAA’s National Water Model. Version 1 of the model was released as a prototype in August. Future versions of the model will include information to help with prediction of water quality risks.