Darlene Velez has been appointed as the Florida Water & Climate Alliance (FloridaWCA) Coordinator. The FloridaWCA is excited to welcome Darlene, who will leverage her diverse background to advance the organization’s mission.

The Florida Water & Climate Alliance (FloridaWCA) welcomes Dr. Jasmeet Judge as a new member of its Steering Committee. Dr. Judge is Professor of Microwave Remote Sensing at the Agricultural and Biological Engineering Department of the University of Florida and Director of the Center for Remote Sensing. The Steering Committee is excited to have Dr. Judge as they work towards fostering partnerships in the water sector.

Since 2019, Karen Schlatter has coordinated the FloridaWCA, working to expand membership and apply climate related data and tools to water resource decision-making in Florida.

The Florida Water & Climate Alliance (FloridaWCA) hosted a webinar with the UF Water Institute on October 27, 2022 on the Impacts of Extreme Weather and Climate Events on Florida’s Water Agencies. The webinar featured presentations on Florida’s climate variability and trends, impacts on water resource management, and various agencies’ strategies for planning and adaptation, with a focus on recent impacts of Hurricane Ian.

Daniel Roberts, an Environmental Specialist with the Peace River Manasota Regional Water Supply Authority and Steering Committee member of the Florida Water & Climate Alliance, has been selected to participate in the Florida Natural Resources Leadership Institute (NRLI) Class 22. He was awarded a partial scholarship from the University of Florida Water Institute to participate. […]

Utilities in the state of Florida use hydrologic, climate, and water supply and demand models to different degrees and with different purposes; however, they share similar constraints on, and needs for, improved seasonal climate forecasts. While seasonal climate forecasts have been available for many years, their utility to the water management community has been relatively modest to date. This webinar featured presentations on the development of improved seasonal forecasts using NASA products, their integration into Tampa Bay Water supply and demand forecasting, and a better understanding of the decision-making processes of utilities and the benefits/risks of integrating different climate-related tools into those processes.

The American Academy of Water Resources Engineers (AAWRE) proudly announce Tirusew Asefa, Ph.D., P.E., D.WRE, F.ASCE as the recipient of the AAWRE 2022 Outstanding Practitioner in Water Resources Engineering Award, for his outstanding contributions in bridging the gap between research and practice to produce innovative, actionable knowledge and tools that advance the resilience of urban water resources. Specifically, Dr. Asefa’s leadership and application of applied research in solving real-life problems are exemplary in the water industry.

Florida has a distinct wet season, which serves the annual water needs of the State and beyond. Our earlier studies have indicated that in addition to the seasonal rainfall anomalies, the variations of the length of the season also contribute significantly to variability of the wet season over Florida. Furthermore, the variations of the onset date of the rainy season relate significantly to the seasonal anomalies of length of the season and rainfall. In this study, we have used the National Aeronautics and Space Administration’s (NASA’s) Integrated Multi-Satellite Retrievals for Global Precipitation Mission version 6 (IMERG) rainfall dataset to monitor the rainy season over the five Water Management Districts of Florida for 2021.