2019 U.S. Drought Monitor Forum Alabama Drought Planning and Response Program

1. 2019 U.S. Drought Monitor ForumAlabama Drought Planning and Response Program Tom Littlepage Alabama Office of Water Resources September 18, 2019

2. History of OWR • Droughts of 1986 and 1988 presented previously unexperienced impacts • In both Alabama and Georgia • Actions by Georgia and the Corps of Engineers caused serious concerns in Alabama • Executive Order 44 created OWR in 1991 • The Alabama Water Resources Act of 1993 • Charge is laid out in the Code of Alabama (§9-10B) • Bottom Line: To protect Alabama’s interests against actions from other states and the Fed gov’t we had to better understand and manage our water resources inside the state.

3. Mission Statement “The Office of Water Resources willplan, coordinate, develop, and manage Alabama’s water resources, both ground and surface water in a manner that is in the best interest of the State of Alabama. This includes recommending policies and legislation, conducting technical studies, implementing and participating in programs and projects, and actively representing Alabama’s intra and interstate water resource interests.”

4. Alabama Annual Average Rainfall

5. Alabama River Basins

6. Alabama Aquifers

7. Alabama Population Trends Source: 2018 Woods & Poole

8. Current Pressures • Historically blessed with a general abundance of water resources • Prior to 1990, limited conflicts over water use • However, significant issues have since surfaced: • Interstate tensions (“Water Wars”) • Drought Impacts (1986-88, 2000, 2007, 2011-2012, 2016) • Intrastate concerns • Future growth and economic development

9. Bottom Line • Based on any number of issues including: • Population growth • Drought conditions • Economic and industrial recruiting • External pressures • Competition for water will increase the need for adequate water resource planning and flexible water management policies • We need to understand both the capabilities and limits on our water resources to meet these needs

10. Drought Planning History • First Executive Order for the modern Alabama drought planning and management approach issued in 2002 • Created Alabama Drought Assessment and Planning Team (ADAPT) • Created Monitoring and Assessment Group (MAG) and Drought Impact Group (DIG) technical subcommittees • Revised and reissued in 2011 • Incorporated lessons from 2007 drought • Retained ADAPT but expanded membership • Combined MAG and DIG into Monitoring and Impact Group (MIG)

11. Alabama Average Annual Rainfall(1895 – 2018) 1986-1988 1981 2016 2000 1954 2007

12. Drought Response Concepts • Coordination • Communication • Transparency • Intent is to build a flexible process that can be easily integrated into any water management enhancements

13. Alabama Drought Management Approach • Drought Act provides broad overview of drought management policies, priorities, structures, processes, and agency responsibilities • Drought regulations provide more detailed information on specific procedures and responsibilities for drought reporting and publication of Alabama Drought Plan • Alabama Drought Plan provides specific criteria on drought declarations, drought reporting information and format, and meeting procedures Level of Procedural Detail

14. Alabama Drought Planning & Response Act (2014 – 400) • Signed on April 9, 2014 • Codified in Code of Alabama as §§ 9-10C-1, et seq.

15. Basic Provisions • Maintains focus of coordination and communication • Incorporates key aspects of Executive Order 19 • Requirement for State Drought Plan • Role of the Office of Water Resources • Drought organizational structure

16. Alabama Drought Planning Structure Governor Kay Ivey Alabama Drought Assessment and Planning Team (ADAPT) • Senior advisory body to the Governor and OWR • Composed of key state and federal agencies and Governor’s appointees • Receive inputs from OWR, MIG, and others • Focal point for coordination of governmental drought responses Monitoring and Impact Group (MIG) • Develop triggers and indicators of drought • Collect climatic, meteorological, stream flow, groundwater, reservoir, soil moisture, and impact data • Perform data analysis • Make recommendations based on data analysis • Assess the potential and real impacts of drought • Develop mitigation recommendations

17. Basic Provisions (Cont’d) • Formalizes process for Alabama input into National Drought Monitor map • Establishes role of State Climatologist in drought response processes • Improves reporting by public water systems on the status of local conditions and water sources

20. Basic Provisions (Cont’d) • Formalizes the state’s drought declaration process • Goal is to ensure drought planning and procedures can easily be incorporated into comprehensive statewide water resources planning process • Clarifies process for state level restrictions on water use for potential utilization under the most extreme drought conditions

21. Current Drought Declaration

22. Drought Planning and Response Regulations • Implementation of Drought Planning & Response Act • Focus: • State drought plan criteria • ADAPT/MIG operating procedures • State drought declaration process • Establishes requirement for drought conservation plan but allows for use of existing plans if they address drought response • Establishes reporting requirements for public water systems

23. Alabama Drought Planning Regions

24. Drought Management Plan Revision • Issued: Nov 30, 2018 • Major revision areas: • Changes to ADAPT and MIG processes • PWS Drought Plans • PWS Drought Restriction Reporting • Reservoir system drought operations • US Drought monitor input process • Flexibility in drought declarations • Water conservation and efficiency Available on OWR website

25. PWS Drought Conservation Plans • All public water systems required to have a drought conservation plan • Required components: • Designation of key personnel • Drought response procedures • System information • Enforcement mechanisms • Public notification process • Identification of water conservation initiatives • 5 year review process

26. Drought Impact List (As of September 9, 2019) PWS restrictions reported: Voluntary 0 Mandatory 0 Total 0

27. Public Water System Restrictions2007 ExampleNumber of systems (% Voluntary, %Mandatory) 80 (19%, 1%) 106 (25%, 16%) 62 (32%, 11%) 59 (14%, 3%) 50 (28%, 8%) 51 (8%, 4%) 57 (11%, 11%) 42 (2%, 0%) 40 (5%, 0%)

28. Water System Mapping • Initiative to develop GIS coverage of public water system boundaries and intersystem connections in Alabama • Goal is to work with local systems in updating service areas and system boundaries

29. Reservoir Drought Operations • Corps of Engineers • ACT Master Water Control Manual • ACT Master Water Control Manual • Tennessee Valley Authority • Reservoir Operations System • Alabama Power Company • Alabama Drought Response Operations Proposal (ADROP) • PowerSouth • Conecuh River below Point A Dam

30. Basic Provisions (Cont’d) • Formalizes the state’s drought declaration process • Goal is to ensure drought planning and procedures can easily be incorporated into comprehensive statewide water resources planning process • Clarifies process for state level restrictions on water use for potential utilization under the most extreme drought conditions

31. OWR Drought Web Site(http://water.alabama.gov)

32. OWR GIS Drought Data Portal(http://adecagis.alabama.gov/)

33. OWR GIS Drought Streamflows Portal • Total of 72 gages tracked weekly • Unregulated USGS gages - 47 gages • Regulated USGS gages - 25 gages • 7-, 30-, 60-, and 90-day rear looking average streamflow based on period of record for each gage up to the previous Monday • Shows graphical summary of flows, exceedance statistics, and monthly flow characteristics • Updated weekly

34. OWR GIS Drought Streamflows Portal

35. OWR GIS Drought Data Portal(http://adecagis.alabama.gov/DroughtMap/)

36. Example: USGS # 02465493 – Elliotts Creek at Moundville (Updated 9/8/2019)

37. Alabama Drought Monitor vs. ENSO El Nino La Nina

38. Flash DroughtAn Alabama Perspective • Dr. John R. Christy, PhD • Alabama State Climatologist • The University of Alabama in Huntsville • What is a Flash Drought? • A drought that catches you off guard

39. Southeast Flash Drought(Dr. John Christy – AL State Climatologist) Long-term “normal” is below the quantities now received

40. The context of drought ismulti-faceted • Previous centuries were much drier • 1970s possibly the wettest decade in 2000 years – so society is not aware of long-term, extremely dry periods • Present periods of dryness are well-within the variations seen in the past 2000 years

41. The context of drought ismulti-faceted • Southeast is heavily vegetated due to abundant rainfall on average • Midwest soils are deep and high in water-holding capacity. Most SE soils do not hold water well which is to be expected in a wet environment • As a result of an acceleration in the hydrologic cycle, SE vegetation can dry out soils rapidly in a rainless period of 7-10 days, especially with high temperatures • Most row crops are shallow-rooted so experience the same, rapid on-set stresses because the soil moisture is vigorously extracted to keep the plants alive and cool

42. Summary • Alabama’s drought planning and response process been in place since 2002 • Has operated successfully through numerous and significant droughts • Revision to the Drought Management Plan represents final action to fully coordinate Drought Act, regulations, and planning and response procedures • Plan will be reviewed at least every 5 years • Data assessment is on-going process

43. Questions? Tom Littlepage Alabama Office of Water Resources Email: Tom.Littlepage@adeca.alabama.gov Web: www.water.alabama.gov Phone: Toll Free 1-877-ALAWATER (1-877-252-9283) or (334) 242-5499 FAX: (334) 242-0776