UTA hosted the second Joint Texas FIRO workshop in September 21-22 of 2023 in collaboration with Texas Water Development Board (TWDB), and National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA). The workshop was a follow-up to the first Texas FIRO workshop held in 2019 with the aims of reviewing progresses made in facilitating FIRO adoption in the state of Texas, building synergy among stakeholders, and determining future steps.
The workshop featured presentations and discussions among state policy makers, reservoir operators, forecasters from the National Weather Service, scientists from NOAA and regional institutions, and program managers from federal agencies.
Slides for the workshop are temporarily posted on this website.
Session 1: Opening Remarks and Background
Challenges to water supply in Texas and Potential Role of FIRO presented by Matt Nelson, Office of Planning, TWDB
Update on Texas Legislation on items related to water presented by Sarah Kirkle, Texas Water Conservation Association
Keynote address by TWDB Board member presented by L’Oreal Stepney, Board Member, TWDB
Session 2: Status of FIRO on a National Level and Lessons Learned
Use of forecasts in water supply operations at New York City presented by Jerry Mead, New York City Department of Environment
USACE National FIRO Program presented by Cary Talbot, US Army Corps of Engineers, Engineer Research and Development Center
FIRO application in recent CA floods presented by Christopher Delaney, Center for Western Weather and Water Extremes, Scripps Institution of Oceanography
FIRO in California-overview presented by Marty Ralph, Center for Western Weather and Water Extremes, Scripps Institution of Oceanography
Session 3: NOAA’s support of FIRO
NIDIS and drought early warning system presented by Joel Lisenbee, National Integrated Drought
NWS WPC product suites and decision support presented by David Novak, NWS Weather Prediction Center
NWS OWP support for FIRO presented by Edward Clark, NWS National Water Center
NWS CPC product suites and decision support presented by David Dewitt, NWS Climate Prediction Center
Session 4: Texas FIRO Initiatives
West Gulf River Forecast Center FIRO decision support presented by Kris Lander, NWS West Gulf River Forecast Center
Texas FIRO Pilot, overview and lessons learned presented by Yu Zhang, UTA
Vision of Texas FIRO by USACE Fort Worth District presented by Jerry Cotter/John Hunter, US Army Corps of Engineers-Fort Worth District
Incorporation forecasts into the Brazos River Authority’s (BRA’s) operational model presented by John Malito, U of Texas Austin Bureau of Economic Geology
TWDB Lake Conroe Pilot presented by John Zhu, TWDB
Session 5: FIRO From Operation to Research
HEFS and FIRO-what needs to be done presented by Yu Zhang, UTA
NASA Applied Science program and its role in facilitating FIRO presented by Chris Hain, NASA SPoRT/Applied Science Program
PSL forecast improvement initiatives presented by Mimi Hughes/Nachiketa Acharya, NOAA Physical Science Lab
OAR WPO initiatives and FIRO presented by Jessie Carman, NOAA Weather Program Office
FIRO-related projects at Climate Testbed presented by Matthew Rosencrans, NWS Climate Prediction Center
Session 6: Texas FIRO Synergistic Activities and Emerging Themes
Introduction to session and speakers presented by Sarah Fakhreddine, Carnegie Mellon University
FIRO and flood resilience presented by Jonathan Quebbeman, RTI
USACE-SWF precipitation climatology and trends presented by Diana Hanbali and Eric Van Vleet, US Army Corps of Engineers
Soil moisture conditions and uncertainties in inflow prediction presented by Farhad Hassani, UTA
Conjunctive use of FIRO and ASR presented by Bridget Scanlon/John Malito, UT BEG
Water supply and flood planning; walking a tightrope presented by Denis Qualls, Dallas Water Utilities
FIRO and lake evaporation presented by Hulin Gao, Texas A&M University