1. Summary: Drought, Forecasts, and Energy in the Colorado River W. Paul Miller Senior Hydrologist March, 2014 NOAA’s National Weather Service Colorado Basin River Forecast Center NOAA’s National Weather Service

2. Summary NOAA convened a workshop in response to drought conditions within the Colorado River Basin at the CBRFC on February 27 th. The CBRFC partnered with NIDIS to develop the agenda and coordinate efforts with leading stakeholders in the region. Draft recommendations from the meeting are currently being finalized, but focus primarily on CBRFC and Reclamation collaboration to identify sources of uncertainty.

3. Who Attended Major municipal water users in attendance:Major municipal water users in attendance: MWD of Southern CaliforniaMWD of Southern California CAPCAP SNWASNWA Denver WaterDenver Water Salt Lake City Public UtilitiesSalt Lake City Public Utilities Colorado River DistrictColorado River District Bureau of ReclamationBureau of Reclamation Colorado River CommissionColorado River Commission CBRFC and NIDIS representativesCBRFC and NIDIS representatives UniversitiesUniversities University of ArizonaUniversity of Arizona Colorado Mesa UniversityColorado Mesa University

4. Major Topics Discussed Current use of forecasts in reservoir operations.Current use of forecasts in reservoir operations. Current state of the regionCurrent state of the region NIDIS investmentsNIDIS investments Drought mitigation effortsDrought mitigation efforts State of the Climate ScienceState of the Climate Science Advances in Long Term Decision Support to Address Drought ImpactsAdvances in Long Term Decision Support to Address Drought Impacts

5. Recommendations NOAA and USBR should collaborate to identify sources of uncertainty and error in forecasting and modeling effortsNOAA and USBR should collaborate to identify sources of uncertainty and error in forecasting and modeling efforts Increase frequency of water year updatesIncrease frequency of water year updates Incorporate climate change informationIncorporate climate change information Increase forecast lead timeIncrease forecast lead time Provide earlier projections of seasonal streamflowProvide earlier projections of seasonal streamflow Improve communication and educational effortsImprove communication and educational efforts Other efforts to improve forecast skillOther efforts to improve forecast skill

6. Next steps NOAA and Reclamation will meet to scope out the path forward on collaborative efforts and report on them at future Basin States Technical Committee Meetings. Kevin/Paul will be reaching out to Reclamation to form this group Current CBRFC practices will be examined to see how we can best meet the recommendations of this group. Some efforts are already underway. Draft report available soon!