1. The Drought Impact Reporter
Raleigh, North Carolina
April 1, 2010
Tonya Bernadt
Research and Outreach Specialist

2. Are you familiar with the Drought Impact Reporter?
Yes No

3. Why Record Drought Impacts?
NDMC mission: To reduce vulnerability to drought before the next one happens
Impacts point to vulnerability
Mitigation and response

4. Drought Impact Reporter Statistics
On-line since July 2005
DIR 2.0 to be released in 2010
9,572 impacts since 2006
92% are from media reports

5. What’s in the Current DIR?

6. What’s in the Current DIR?
Impacts extracted from the Media
Drought Impact Event The city manager stated that Raleigh's water rates must be increased by 17 % to compensate for lower revenues as people continue to conserve water. Revenue for Raleigh's water system is projected to fall 10 % below the budgeted amounted for the fiscal year, which ends June 30. The rate increase has not yet been approved. Categories: Water/Energy   Source: Media Dates of Impact: to External URL:
Drought Impact Event Red oaks in North Carolina have produced an exceptionally large number of acorns this year, partly in response to last year's drought. Categories: Environment   Source: Media Dates of Impact: to External URL:

7. Who Uses This Information?
The Public
As a voice in the policy process
Decision makers / resource managers
Drought Monitor
Early indicator of drought conditions
Ground truthing the Drought Monitor

8. DIR 2.0 Enhancements More user-friendly design
Improved searching and mapping

10. How the DIR is Incorporated into the Drought Monitor
February 24, 2009
April 28, 2009

12. DIR 2.0 Enhancements More user-friendly design
Improved searching and mapping
Change in category names

13. Impact Categories Current Planned Report Categories Agriculture
Business & Industry
Energy
Fire
Plants & Wildlife
Relief, Response, & Restrictions
Society & Public Health
Tourism & Recreation
Water Supply & Quality
Report Categories

14. DIR 2.0 Enhancements More user-friendly design
More efficient use of screen space
Improved searching and mapping
Change in category names
Distinguishes between reports and impacts
Current one impact is one article in the table
New one reports which is news articles about drought and an impact is collection of reports. Aggregation of reports to highlight a specific drought impact.

15. Reports vs. Impacts
Report: News article that might not have specific impact details Impact: Discusses a specific drought impact (i.e. specific result of drought; example mandatory water restrictions)
In the new DIR we will be collecting a wider range of information than just strictly impacts. As I’ll describe in more detail in a few minutes, we’ll be collecting base-line information, which describes conditions during non-drought periods. Also, we’ll begin tracking information that is more speculative (i.e. the impacts haven't actually occurred yet, but are predicted to occur in the future) and info that doesn’t yet contain the level of detail we require to be considered a “drought impact”. Over the past several years we’ve found that this very early, speculative information is an excellent indicator of problems to come, and tracking this wider range of information increases our awareness of emerging drought conditions and hardships.
So by design, everything that comes into the DIR, all media and non-media (i.e. public, gov’t, etc.) submitted information, becomes a report. Once this information is submitted, staff at the NDMC reviews the information and flags certain reports as also containing “impact” information. What is their criteria? In the DIR an “impact” is non-base-line information that is quantifiable, observable, and happens in a defined place at a specific time.

16. DIR 2.0 Enhancements More user-friendly design
More efficient use of screen space
Improved searching and mapping
Change in category names
Distinguishes between reports and impacts
New “submit a report” form
Ability to add photos

17. Who should enter impacts into the Drought Impact Reporter?
General Public (i.e. individual ag producers, business owners and citizens)
County FSA and / or Extension representatives
Ag producer organizations
All of the above
Other

18. Anyone Can Submit On The Drought Impact Reporter
We would like to increase non-media reports

19. Submit a Report

20. Submit a Report http://torka.unl.edu/DIR2/SubmitReport.aspx
What are Baseline reports??
The Drought Impact Reporter offers the option to become a regular “drought spotter.” This includes providing baseline information that will allow others to understand the difference between what you see or experience in times of drought and in times of normal or plentiful water supply. Please check “Baseline Report” to submit a report that will serve as a basis for comparison but that does not reflect current drought.
We recommend that drought spotters report at regular intervals, perhaps quarterly, when they are not experiencing a drought, and more frequently, perhaps monthly, when there is a drought.
We recommend choosing from one to three key characteristics that are vulnerable to drought, such as the condition of a particular type of vegetation, the need to irrigate, or river or reservoir levels.

21. Submit a Report

22. Submit a Report

23. Submit a Report

24. Add Drought Impact Photos
Photographer
Date
Place
What does it show? How would it look in a non-drought year?
Permission to use?
Allows up to 5 photos per submission
October 2006
October 2007
Photos of Morgan Creek, North Carolina, from Jody Seim Timmins

25. Submit a Report

27. Potential Networks to Add
NWS Drought Reports
CoCoRaHS
State reports: water systems, wildfire, burn bans
Extension Agents
State agencies, organizations, researchers
Any others?

28. What might motivate people to submit information to the Drought Impact Reporter?
Employment related or part of job duties
Organization related (i.e. family business or church)
Personal (i.e. a need to communicate or another reason)
All of the above
Other

29. Thank you! Tonya Bernadt tbernadt5@unl.edu DIR URL: