Newsletter of the Subcommittee on Hydrology

available on-line at: http://acwi.gov/hydrology/index.html

Volume 3 Issue 1 March 2011 Welcome from the Chair

2010 has been a somewhat Work Group has been work- Work Group is working on difficult year for the SOH, ing on a proposal to how the a summary report summa- Inside this issue: particularly following the PMP studies could effi- rizing their activities in untimely death of Chair, ciently be updated. The helping with the creation of Welcome from 1 the Chair Mary Greene, in June. In design SOH looks forward a hydrologic modeling in- October, I took over the to hearing from the Extreme ventory web-site hosted by position of Chair to com- Event Work Group Texas A&M University. About the 2 plete Mary’s term which with their recommenda- They will also include rec- Subcommittee On Hydrology ends in October of 2011. tions. ommendations on future When I stepped into this Work Group activities. Water Data Work Group. Highlights from 2 role it felt a little over- While not yet an officially Satellite Telemetry Inter- the whelming and I felt quite October 2010 established Work Group, agency Work Group. The Meeting unprepared. It is only with members continue their STIWG continues to work the help of all member rep- Highlights from 2 great efforts at coordinating to advise managers of the the resentatives that I have been January 2011 with the Hydrology Domain Satellite Data Collection able to step into this role Meeting Working Group a working System on matters concern- and I want to thank each DOI’s with the Work Group Chairs ing satellite relay user re- 3 and every one of you for WaterSMART and all member representa- quirements related to hydro- Implementation your support and encour- Plan tives of the Subcommittee logic, meteorologic, oce- agement. as we work to accomplish anic, and other environ- Work Group 3 Contacts As we move into 2011, I the goals and objectives of mental data. In recent look ahead to maintain SOH as set out years, SOH has not had SOH’s focus on the work much contact with STIWG News from Joint Working Group of the 4 carried out by the SOH and looks to better facilitate Member World Meteorological Or- Organizations Work Groups: communications with the ganization (WMO) and the Work Group in order that Hydrologic Frequency Open Geospatial Consor- Upcoming 5 SOH can better support Conferences and Analysis Work Group. The tium (OGC). their activities. Calls for Papers HFAWG continues to make Hydrologic Modeling Work progress in its update of I look forward to serving Group. The members of the For Your 6 Bulletin 17B. However the out the remainder of my Information Hydrologic Modeling Work importance of this activity is term as Chair and Group are taking a short becoming more important break this year as they cele- in our terms of reference. Student’s Corner 8 as all Federal agencies work brate the success of the Again, thank you all for to address stationarity and 2010 Joint Federal Inter- your encouragement and climate change in planning agency Conference. They support. and design. Upcoming 9 won’t be resting on their Meetings Claudia C. Hoeft Extreme Storm Event Work laurels for long; however, as Chair, SOH Group. Updated precipita- planning for the 2014 con- Editor’s Corner 9 tion frequency data, includ- ference begins later in 2011. ing probable maximum pre- Hydrologic and Hydraulic cipitation data essential. GIS Applications Work The Extreme Storm Event Group. The H&H GIS Volume 3, Issue 1 Page 2

Highlights from October 2010 Meeting A major topic of discus- mary and Brian as alter- Kenneth Kay as their pri- sion at the October 2010 nate. mary and alternate repre- About the meeting was membership sentatives, both of whom Subcommittee on and during this meeting, GEC operated for over 20 represented the Urban For- Hydrology one new member represen- years as the Urban Forest est Center previously. The Purpose of the tative and one new mem- Center which was part of Subcommittee on ber organization were wel- the American Forests na- Minutes from the October Hydrology is “To comed to the SOH tional non-profit organiza- 2010 meeting of SOH are improve the tion. This past year Ameri- available on the SOH web- availability and reliability of surface- Brian Beucler announced can Forests reorganized site at: http://acwi.gov/ water quantity that he will serve as the and dissolved the Urban hydrology/index.html information needed primary representative to Forest Center. The GEC for hazard mitigation, SOH for the Federal High- formed and the staff from water supply and way Administration and the Urban Forest Center demand management, and that Joe Krolak will serve transferred to the new or- environmental as the alternate. Previ- ganization. GEC nomi- protection." All ously, Joe served as pri- nated Don Woodward and members who join the SOH share in and support this common purpose as a network to fulfill our mission as Highlights from January 2011 Meeting defined in the Terms The January 2011 meeting sion items focused primar- of Reference. focused on business of the ily on follow-ups to previ- The subcommittee SOH especially related to ous discussions on items Vice-chair and issues of membership and such as the Hydrological current contact is Claudia Hoeft of the terms of reference. Operational Multipurpose Natural Resources System (HOMS) and Risk Conservation Richard Raione with the Based Assessment and Service. Claudia U.S. Nuclear Regulatory can be reached by Event Severity classifica- Commission was elected phone at tions (202) 720-0772 or by as the Vice Chair for the e-mail at: [email protected] SOH. Additional discus-

Detailed information about the subcommittee can be found at: http://acwi.gov/hydrology/

The Subcommittee on Hydrology reports to the Advisory Committee on Water Information that operates under the Federal Advisory Committee Act.

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SOH Work Group Contacts DOI’s WaterSMART Extreme Storm Events Work Group Program News http://acwi.gov/hydrology/extreme-storm/index.html The Department of Information on the activities of the Extreme Storm Events Work Group can be Interior WaterSMART obtained from Tom Nicholson. He can be reached by email at: Program (Sustain and [email protected]. Manage America’s Resources for Tomorrow) Hydrologic Frequency Analysis Work Group has issued a preliminary http://acwi.gov/hydrology/Frequency/index.html outline on their Strategic Implementation Plan. The plan will establish the Information on the activities of the Work Group can be obtained from Will Thomas. framework to provide He can be reached by e-mail at: [email protected]. federal leadership and assistance on efficient Satellite Telemetry Interagency Work Group use of water, focus on http://acwi.gov/hydrology/stiwg/index.html the integration of water and energy policies for Meeting minutes and information on the activities of this Work Group can be sustainable natural obtained from Richard T Engstrom. He can be reached by phone at: (309) 794-5408 resources use, and or by e-mail at: [email protected] coordinate water conservation activities Hydrologic and Hydraulic GIS Applications Work Group across federal agencies. http://acwi.gov/hydrology/h2gisa/ The DOI is coordinating with the Fish and Wildlife For information on the Work Group or to become a member please contact Bill Service, the Bureau of Merkel by phone at (301)-504-3956 or by e-mail at: [email protected]. Indian Affairs, the Bureau of Land Management, the Hydrologic Modeling Work Group National Park Service, http://acwi.gov/hydrology/Hydro-Modeling/index.html the Bureau of Reclamation, and the Teleconference minutes and additional information on the activities of the Work Group U.S. Geological Survey. can be obtained from Jerry Webb. He can be reached by phone at (202) 761-0673 or by Each agency has offered e-mail at: [email protected] unique and independent goals to study the current water usage with the best available science and implement their own “Water Footprint Reduction Plan.”

In addition, the DOI has launched the WaterSMART Clearinghouse, a forum ACWI members can “contribute case studies, best practices, conservation activities and other information.”

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News from Member Organizations NASA—Water Resources

NASA Sponsoring 2 Water Management Workshops

I. Evapotranspiration: An Essential Ob- II. Global Monitoring Work- servation for Climate Understanding shop, Hilton Washington DC/Silver and Efficient Water Management Spring, 11-12 April, 2011. Workshop. Hilton Washington DC/ Silver Spring, 5-7 April 2011. Workshop Objectives: 1. To review the uses of drought moni- Workshop Objectives: toring products on regional and 1. Define the needs and requirements for global scales. evapotranspiration (ET) data in 2. To assess the specific requirements weather and climate studies, in natural for monitoring agricultural and hy- and agro-ecosystem monitoring, and drological and the capabili- in water resource management. ties of the current suite of NASA 2. To review the methods used to meas- data products to provide that infor- ure and model ET. mation. 3. To assess surface and satellite obser- 3. To develop a set of actions that vation systems required to support ET would enable NASA assets either measurement, modeling and evalua- separately or in collaboration with tion. other agencies such as NOAA, 4. To assess the feasibility of developing USGS, USAID, or USDA to be used a proposal for a task on ET for the for drought monitoring at regional 2012-2015 GEO Work Plan. and global scales. 5. To explore the level of support and 4. To explore ways in which NASA consensus for developing a strategy assets can be used more effectively for establishing ET as an Essential to inform drought planning at na- Climate Variable (CV) within the tional, regional and local scales Global Climate Observing System (GCOS) framework. For more information, including work- shop overview, registration information and logistics, please go to the workshops link (http://watercycleforum.com/ Nambia salt flats. workshops.html).

Please feel free to distribute to others who may be interested in attending. The workshops include a mix of invited and unsolicited papers along with several discussion sessions. Also, please con- sider submitting an abstract for a possi- ble poster or oral presentation. Work- shop agendas will be available soon.

Submitted by: NASA-Water Resources

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Upcoming Conferences and Calls for Papers International Atomic BOKU - University of Energy Agency (IAEA) Natural Resources and 2011 Georgia Water Water Resources Life Sciences, Vienna Resources Conference Programme - Sustaining Georgia's International International Confer- Water Resources - Symposium on ence on the Status and Future of Isotopes in Hydrology, Marine the World’s Large Rivers The University of Georgia Ecoosystems, and Climate Change Athens, Georgia Studies Vienna, Austria April 11 – 13, 2011 11 - 14 April 2011 http://www.gawrc.org/ http://worldslargerivers.boku.ac.at/wlr/ Oceanographic Museum

Monaco

27 March–1 April 2011 Abstract submission closed Accepting abstracts http://www-pub.iaea.org/mtcd/ (December 15, 2010) meetings/Announcements.asp? ConfID=38297

Abstract submission closed (15 December, 2010)

Upcoming Conferences and Calls for Papers

Wessex Institute of Technology, UK

National Hydrologic Warning Council 6th International ASCE-EWRI 2011 Training Conference and Conference on River Basin Exposition Management including all aspects 2011 World Environmental and of Hydrology, Ecology, Water Resources Congress Hilton at Mission Bay Environmental Management, San Diego, Plains and Wetlands Palm Springs, California May 9-12, 2011 Riverside, California, USA May 22-26, 2011 http://www.hydrologicwarning.org/ 25 - 27 May 2011 http://content.asce.org/ content.aspx? http://www.wessex.ac.uk/11- conferences/ewri2011/index.html page_id=22&club_id=617218&module conferences/riverbasinmanagement- _id=77729 2011.html Early bird registration through April 11, 2011 Abstract submission closed Accepting abstracts (November 15, 2010) Please submit information regarding upcoming conferences and/or calls for papers to Richard Raione or Joseph Giacinto.

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For Your information Modeling Summit 2011 USGS – Overview of ARkStorm Advancing the Science of Scenario and Planning Exercise The report concludes that ARkStorm is Modeling “plausible, and perhaps inevitable.” By March 29-31, 2011 Denver, Colorado understanding the potential risk, Cali- Denver Renaissance Hotel fornia may have the ability to update www.swcs.org/modelingsummit their flood protection and emergency planning structure. This meeting will provide a forum to exchange information, discuss ARkStorm Planning opportunities for collaboration, and learn about the advantages and limitations of In 2008 a number of Federal, State and available data sets for inclusion in local agencies, including the USGS, current and future models. The target held the “Great audience for the meeting is modelers and Shakeout” to simulate the effects of a data stewards from federal and state magnitude 7.8 on California agencies, non-profit organizations, and to test emergency response plans industry, private consulting firms and and capabilities. Millions of Califor- universities. nians participated in the exercise through home, school, and community Overarching goal: To get model drills and other informative events. As practitioners together to talk about the a result, those residents and their leaders best way to utilize and integrate have a much better understanding of the available models and data sets to address level of damages that may be possible specific customer conservation/ and what they can do to lessen vulner- conservation benefit needs. One of the The USGS Multi Hazards Demonstration ability. primary concerns of our customers is Project (MHDP) has published its latest estimating the site-specific benefits of research on a hypothetical mega-storm to Now, a similar exercise, “ARkStorm”, conservation practices. Modelers must hit the West Coast that could leave the has been developed for California consider the level of precision that is region crippled. The storm is named At- . ARkStorm will provide a learn- needed for the intended use which may mospheric River 1000 (ARkStorm) for ing experience to help Californians un- include general conservation planning, the typical weather system that delivers derstand the magnitude of past and pos- program payment support, credit trading major winter to the region. The sible future flooding in the state and the support, reports to congress, inside and only previous storm of similar magnitude inherent vulnerabilities of California outside of USDA requests, and policy occurred in 1861 and 1860 and “left the communities to floods and flood related formulation/regulation. central valley of California impassable.” hazards such as debris flows. The ARk- The postulated ARkStorm would be state- Storm will feature several events that The meeting will be held at the Denver wide and economic catastrophe. will occur throughout 2011. Renaissance Hotel, which provides complementary transportation to and The research, a collaborative project from As the basis for ARkStorm, scientists from DIA. SWCS has arranged a special more than 100 scientists and experts, ex- unveiled a hypothetical California sce- rate and hotel room block: $129/night amines the meteorology, flooding, and nario that describes a storm that could (plus local taxes) wind speed of the ARkStorm, and the produce up to 10 feet of rain, cause ex- Meeting agenda and additional resulting coastal inundation and tensive flooding (in many cases over- information online at www.swcs.org/ potential. To estimate the damage of the whelming the state’s flood-protection theoretical storm, MHDP investigated the system) and result in hundreds of bil- Registration Fees: impacts to the California highway system, lions of dollars in damages. $125.00 on or before March 1, $175.00 power grid, water collection and distribu- after. Student (Full Time) - includes 12- tion system and telecommunications. The ARkStorm is essentially two his- mo. SWCS Student Membership However, the economic effects of the toric storms (January 1969 and February $125.00, RSVP by Tuesday, March 22. storm would also include business inter- 1986) put back to back in a scientifi- ruption costs and agricultural losses. The cally plausible way. "We think this Courtesy of David Wells, EPA report estimates that the disaster could ultimately cost $725 billion (Continued on page 7)

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ARkStorm

(Continued from page 6) The ARkStorm Scenario is the second sce- event happens once every 100 or 200 years nario from the USGS Multi-Hazards Dem- or so, which puts it in the same category as onstration Project led by Jones, which ear- our big San Andreas ,” says lier created the ShakeOut earthquake sce- Lucy Jones, chief scientist of the USGS nario Multi-Hazards Demonstration Project and architect of ARkStorm. “The ARkStorm scenario is a complete picture of what that To see the full report, visit: storm would do to the social and economic http://pubs.usgs.gov/of/2010/1312/ systems of California.” Also, check out the blog: “Maximum prob- To define impacts of the ARkStorm, the able flood considerations for California”? USGS, in partnership with the California http://news.yahoo.com/s/ Geological Survey, created the first state- yblog_thelookout/20110117/ wide landslide susceptibility maps for Cali- us_yblog_thelookout/scientists-warn- fornia that are the most detailed landslide california-could-be-struck-by-winter- susceptibility maps ever created. The pro- superstorm ject also resulted in the first physics-based coastal storm modeling system for analyz- ing severe storm impacts (predicting wave height and coastal ) under present- day scenarios and under various climate- change and sea-level-rise scenarios.

The ARkStorm Scenario combines prehis- toric geologic flood history in California with modern flood mapping and climate- change projections to produce a hypotheti- cal, but plausible, scenario aimed at pre- paring the emergency response community for this type of hazard.

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Student’s Corner University of Maryland - College Park

Water and Energy in Maryland 2010 Symposium October 28, 2010 University of Maryland, College Park

The Water and Energy in Maryland Symposium addressed the inherent link between our energy production and use and water consumption. The sympo- sium consisted of numerous regional presenters from private and public in- dustry U.S. Department of Energy Solar Submitted by Margaret Sharkey, senior in Presenters touched on problems of us- Decathlon 2011 Civil and Environmental Engineering, Uni- ing energy for water treatment and dis- versity of Maryland tribution and also using water for en- “WaterShed, the University of Maryland’s ergy generation and cooling. For future entry in the U.S. Department of Energy (source: http://2011.solarteam.org/) practices, best management practices Solar Decathlon 2011, is a solar-powered (BMPs) are offered. house inspired by the rich, complex eco- systems of the Chesapeake Bay watershed, which stretches over 64,000 square miles Maryland users are going further for of Maryland, Delaware, New York, Penn- lower quality water while the regula- sylvania, Virginia, and West Virginia.” tory requirements are also increasing. BMPs suggested include the reuse of This year, 300 UMD students and faculty biogas and biosolids, solar panel instal- will begin building the solar powered lation at treatment sites, and a better home. One of the key design elements is leak detection system. the butterfly roof, one half a solar roof and the other half a green roof. The roof will Conversely, the increased energy de- collect rainwater, filter it, and disperse it to mand has increased the need for water the surrounding constructed wetlands and garden. Another design element is the edi- for generation and cooling purposes. ble green wall. The wall will have some The water sources are dwindling for specialized fruit, such as grapes or kiwi, steam engines, hydroelectric dams, and and will function as a water storage and http://www.waterresources.umd.edu/ more recently, biomass. BMPs sug- filtration system while reducing runoff. gested include the use of dry cooling, wastewater reuse for cooling purposes, The house’s design is meant to focus atten- and the use of non-irrigated crops for tion on threats to the water quality and biomass. ecosystems of the Chesapeake Bay. The UMD team would like to use WaterShed as a model for regional homes. If more homes had similar functions, urban sprawl and inadequate storm water management would have less impact on the Bay. Back to Table of Contents Editor’s Corner

Upcoming Meetings Japanese Earthquake and Subcommittee on Hydrology:

April 21, 2011 9am-noon

USDA – South Building 1400 Independence Ave, SW Room 5140-S Washington, DC 20250

NOAA rendering of tsunami wave height in the Pacific.

The recent events in Japan have humble and inspire us. highlighted the importance for us as hydrologists and engineers to effec- tively communicate and interface To submit items for the newsletter, with our colleagues in the geologi- please contact either or Richard cal, seismic, atmospheric, and oce- Raione, Joseph Giacinto, or Marga- anic sciences. ret Sharkey.

Since the 2004 Indian Ocean earth- Chief Editor: quake and tsunami, the international Richard Raione - NRC and regional tsunami warning sys- [email protected] tem has improved vastly, yet a (301) 415-7190 warning can only do so much if people have but a few minutes to- Associate Editor: evacuate. Joseph Giacinto - NRC [email protected] With federal budgets decreasing (301) 415-0714 and the competition for funding a reality, I hope and anticipate that Margaret Sharkey: the scientific community can main- Student Co-op tain a spirit of cooperation and con- [email protected] tinue to work as a team. The nexus (301) 415-2858 of human health and safety to hy- drology could not have been made clearer during these past events. The implications can serve to both

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