Missouri River BasinInter-Agency Proposal for an Expanded

Plains Snow and Basin Conditions Network

National Water and Climate Center - NRCS

Kevin Stamm, USACEMissouri River Forecaster’s MeetingJan. 28, 2014

Hydrologic Engineering Center

Proposal for a Missouri River Basin Interagency

Expanded Plains Snow and Basin Condition Network

BackgroundIndependent Technical Review (ITR) - (Recommendation #5):• Studies to enhance data collection, forecasting, and resulting runoff from plains

snow. • Establishment of additional permanent plains snow measurement stations,

focused on improved historical record, and research on the effects of prairie soils, geomorphology, and hydrology on snowmelt runoff.

• Improve collaboration with other groups that collect and analyze snow data.

Purpose:• Present a framework for the establishment of an interagency, usable and

sustainable network that will enhance the forecasting of runoff during the plains snowmelt period.

Approach:• Consultation with subject matter experts from various agencies. • Initially, use near real-time, on-the-ground snow depth and SWE measurements

made manually at regular intervals. • Establishment of the plains snow network in the same manner as the

mountain snow network over time.

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2012 Apr-Jul – Development of Initial Proposal/Framework July 25 – Proposal Presented to MRBIR (Omaha, NE) September 20 – Proposal Presented to MoRAST (Bismarck, ND) Sep-Jan - Refinement of Final Proposal

2013 January 24 - Proposal Presented to MRBIR (Kansas City, MO) Jan-Mar – Proposal informally vetted through upper states March 4-5 – Proposal Presented to MoRAST (Rapid City, SD) In WRDA 2013 bill (Section 5008) –passed House and Senate

2014 House and Senate conferees reconciling differences Expected conference version in Spring 2014 If authorized, appropriations bill in FY16 (earliest)

Timeline

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Automated Measurements

Aerial Snow Surveys

Manual Snow Sampling

Monitoring Proposal

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Automated Measurements7

Aerial Snow Surveys

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USACE State of ND

Manual Snow Sampling

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Current Soil

USACE HEC-HMS Snowmelt Runoff Models

USACE Spring Snowmelt/Rainfall Runoff Modeling – End State

NWS NOHRSC Snow Model

USACE CRREL Snow Grid

Forecast Precipitation

Observed Precipitation

Observed Temperature

Forecast Temperature

Current Snow Water

Equivalent

NWS MBRFC Precipitation

NWS/USACE Temperature

NWS/NRCS/State/USACESoil Moisture

Current Soil

Current Soil Moisture

25 cm

50 cm

100 cm

10 cm

10Discussions on-going with HEC and CRREL regarding development of soil moisture grids and integration into HMS.

BudgetPhas

eDescription Capital Annual/

O&M

1 Upgrade Existing AWDN Sites (67) $1,628,100 $301,500

2 Upgrade Existing NRCS SCAN Sites (10)

$56,000 $35,000

3 Upgrade Existing NOAA USCRN Sites (15)

$31,500 $52,500

4 Install New AWDN Sites in SD (3) $88,500 $13,500

5 Install New SCAN Sites in WY and MT (26)

$969,800 $91,000

6 Enhance Aerial Gamma Measurements

$2,550,000 $150,000

7 Add State Manual Snow Sampler Coordinator in WY, MT, SD, ND and NE

$618,750 $618,750

8 Add Collateral Duty Manual Snow Surveyors (5)

$302,500 $193,600

$6,245,150

$1,455,85011

Long-Term Investment

Better understanding of basin … during flood, normal and drought conditions

Consistency throughout the basin regarding instrumentation, standards, QA/QC

Data collected real-time, quality controlled, archived and available to everyone

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Missouri River BasinInter-Agency Proposal for an Expanded

Plains Snow and Basin Conditions Network

National Water and Climate Center - NRCS

Kevin Stamm, USACEMissouri River Forecaster’s MeetingJan. 28, 2014

Hydrologic Engineering Center

Proposal for a Missouri River Basin InteragencyExpanded Plains Snow and Basin Condition

NetworkIndependent Technical Review (ITR) - (Recommendation #5):

Studies to enhance data collection, forecasting, and resulting runoff from plains snow. Suggested activities include establishment of additional permanent plains snow measurement stations (using already established snow measurement standards), focused on the development of improved historical record at permanent stations; and research on the effects of prairie soils, geomorphology, and hydrology on snowmelt runoff. Also, the Corps should work to improve collaboration with other groups that collect and analyze snow data, for example, the Community Collaborative Rain, Hail and Snow (CoCoRaHS) network.

March 2012:

"An expanded Plains snowpack monitoring system needs to be set up while memories of the floods are fresh and everyone is willing to spend the money, (SD Governor) Daugaard told top officials of the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers,"

“(USACE NWD Commander) McMahon said the corps is working with other agencies to determine how to create and fund an expanded plains snowpack monitoring system, one of the recommendations made by an expert panel that studied last summer's flooding. A more extensive system is already in place for monitoring the snowpack in the northern Rocky Mountains, he said." 2

Proposal for a Missouri River Basin Interagency

Expanded Plains Snow and Basin Condition Network

Purpose:The goal of this proposal is to present a framework for the establishment of an interagency, usable and sustainable network that will enhance the forecasting of runoff during the plains snowmelt period. This proposal is not intended to be a final plan, rather a launching point for additional discussion to include appropriate subject matter experts into developing the final plan.

Approach:This proposal involved consultation with subject matter experts from various agencies. Establishment of the plains snow network in the same manner as the mountain snow network could be established over a period of time. Initially, use of near real-time, on-the-ground snow depth and snow water equivalent (SWE) measurements made manually at regular intervals would provide necessary information in the short-term and also be extremely useful in determining long-term, possibly automated, network needs. 3

2012 Mar-Apr– Project Initialization/Team Formation Apr-Jul – Development of Initial Proposal/Framework July 25 – Proposal Presented to MRBIR (Omaha, NE) Jul-Sep – Refinement of Initial Proposal September 18-19 – Face-to-Face Meeting (Bismarck, ND) September 20 – Proposal Presented to MoRAST (Bismarck, ND) Sep-Jan

◦ Formation of Instrumentation and Inventory Sub-Team◦ Development of Instrumentation Recommendation◦ Refinement of Final Proposal

2013 January 24 - Proposal Presented to MRBIR (Kansas City, MO) Jan-Mar – Proposal informally vetted through upper states March 4-5 – Proposal Presented to MoRAST (Rapid City, SD) In WRDA 2013 bill (Section 5008) – awaiting House vote

Timeline

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Inventory of existing federal, state and volunteer networks – climate, snowpack and soil moisture … leverage what is available.

Gap Assessment in monitoring, geographic areas and data acquired … what is missing?

Monitoring Recommendations to identify what will be needed to meet short-term and long-term forecasting and monitoring goals.

Technical Review Process

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Rome, Italy

Managing Expectations

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Moving Forward

Solicit Feedback from Decision-Makers

Evaluate Priorities / Assess

Manage Resources and Needs

Continue Moving Forward …

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