This bill updates the Snow Water Supply Forecasting Program Authorization Act (43 U.S.C. 1477). It shifts the program toward deployment of technologies that combine snowpack measurement and modeling. The bill replaces a prior report requirement, lists commercially available tools to include airborne laser altimetry, airborne imaging spectroscopy, and integrated physics-based snowpack and hydrologic modeling, and allows other technologies the Secretary finds useful. The bill refocuses program activities on maintaining, expanding, and advancing snow measurement and integrated modeling, adding emphasis on real-time integration with water supply forecasts, work in river basins that inform water management (including interstate decisions), and building partners' capacity. It also updates language about technology applications and data resources and changes the funding authorization timing from an aggregate amount for 2022–2026 to an authorization for each fiscal year 2027 through 2031.
If you work in water management, the bill encourages more use of combined sensors and models to produce timely snow and water forecasts. Federal and partner agencies would be directed to focus on tools that provide accurate, spatially complete snowpack data and on real-time links between measurements and forecasts. The program would prioritize river basins where forecasts inform water-management decisions and would support training and capacity building for partners.
The bill text does not state dollar amounts. It does change the timing of the program's authorization from an aggregate statement covering fiscal years 2022–2026 to authorizations for each fiscal year 2027 through 2031. No publicly available information on total or annual costs is included in the provided text.
Proponents would say the bill modernizes the program by prioritizing integrated measurement and modeling tools, supports real-time forecast integration with water management, targets river basins where data will inform decisions, and builds partner capacity to use new technologies.
No publicly available information.