NIDIS and Partners Launch ACF Basin Drought and Water Dashboard and Story Map

The Apalachicola, Chattahoochee, and Flint (ACF) Rivers, along with the Apalachicola Bay, link the people and natural systems of Alabama, Florida, and Georgia. Balancing the water needs between three states and various sectors creates complex water management challenges, which are further intensified during times of drought. 

In response to a request by regional stakeholders, and in close partnerships with state and regional partners, NOAA’s National Integrated Drought Information System (NIDIS) has launched the new ACF River Basin Drought and Water Dashboard and ACF Drought Story Map. These web resources will improve the public’s ability to view real-time information with interactive, shareable, and easy-to-understand graphics on current and predicted drought conditions, and assist decision-making at the basin and local level.

This ACF Dashboard reflects a partnership of federal, state, and regional stakeholders, and was developed in close collaboration with the states of Alabama, Florida, Georgia, and the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers. The content of this new Dashboard was user-driven from the start, created following extensive iterative feedback from over 100 diverse stakeholders in the basin, and intentionally designed to meet the diverse drought information needs across the region. 

"This is an incredible resource for the ACF basin management for all conditions" – James Hathorn, Chief of Water Management, U.S. Army Corps of Engineers Mobile District

This new Dashboard will help the public, decision makers, and the media answer these questions:

• Why does drought matter to the ACF River Basin? Read through the new ACF Drought Story Map that provides the context to help interpret the data and support public education about drought impacts in the basin. Topics discussed include historical droughts, water management in the basin, drought impacts, and future droughts.
• What are the current drought and water conditions across the basin, but also in my county? Use this one-stop location to quickly explore the carefully curated collection of maps that have been identified by the drought and water management community as reliable and useful sources of information. This includes information on current drought and climate conditions, streamflow and reservoirs, soil moisture, agricultural impacts, and other environmental impacts such as wildfire, coastal salinity, and air quality using interactive maps and data that don’t exist anywhere else. Data can be visualized at basin level or county level.
• What should we expect over the next 3 months? Explore several outlooks and forecast products for climate, drought, and streamflow conditions. These can help identify when the region is approaching drought conditions, and assist in drought response actions.
• How does this drought compare to previous droughts in the basin? Explore historical data and maps, including U.S. Drought Monitor data going back 20 years, standardized precipitation index (SPI) data going back 125 years, and paleoclimate data (e.g., from tree-ring analysis) going back 2,000 years.
• Where can I get additional information? Find direct links to the state and regional experts, and easy access to key water management and drought planning resources for the basin. 

The Dashboard was developed as part of a NIDIS-supported project implemented by Albany State University Water Planning and Policy Center, Auburn University Water Resources Center, and NOAA’s National Centers for Environmental Information (NCEI).

Provide your feedback on how the new ACF Drought and Water Dashboard and ACF Story Map are serving you, how you use drought-related information in decision making or other ways, and/or what other resources you would like to see available by contacting Meredith Muth at meredith.f.muth@noaa.gov.

For technical or other questions about the new ACF Drought and Water Dashboard website, please email drought.portal@noaa.gov.