Improving Flood and Agricultural Forecasts Act of 2025
This bill, titled the Improving Flood and Agricultural Forecasts Act of 2025, would require the Under Secretary of Commerce for Oceans and Atmosphere (the NOAA/NOAA National Weather Service leadership) to establish and maintain the National Mesonet Program. The program aims to collect and integrate environmental observations from a broader mix of sources—including private, academic, and other non-Federal networks—in addition to existing federal data, to improve forecasts and warnings for atmospheric events, drought, fire, and water-related events. It emphasizes expanding data density, incorporating soil moisture and other in-situ sensors, and coordinating with satellite data. The bill also directs the Under Secretary to form memoranda of understanding with outside networks, provide financial assistance to non-federal mesonet partners (with conditions on data sharing and maintenance), establish an advisory committee that includes academic expertise, and provide regular congressional briefings through 2035. It authorizes specific annual funding levels from 2025 through 2029 (ranging from $50 million to $70 million) to carry out these activities. In short, the bill would formalize and fund a nationwide, expanded mesonet system that leverages non-federal data sources to improve weather, flood, drought, and related forecasts and warnings, with a strong emphasis on data sharing, regional expansion (including remote areas), and ongoing congressional oversight.
Key Points
- 1National Mesonet Program mandate: The Under Secretary must maintain a program to improve understanding and forecasting of atmospheric, drought, fire, and water events, prioritizing collaboration with commercial, academic, and other non-Federal data sources to strengthen coordination across weather actors in the United States.
- 2Data density and network expansion: The program should increase the density and variety of environmental observations annually, encouraging participation from local and regional mesonet networks, soil moisture sensors, ground-based profilers, and other in situ networks.
- 3External partnerships and coordination: The program can enter memoranda of understanding with networks outside the program’s scope and must coordinate with satellite data and services, including those under the Weather Research and Forecasting Innovation Act of 2017.
- 4Financial assistance to non-federal partners: At least 15% of the annual program appropriation may be used to provide financial assistance to State, Tribal, private, and academic entities to build, expand, or upgrade mesonet capabilities. Recipients must provide data to the Program under agreed terms and quality standards, for a minimum of 5 years, and to maintain data quality commensurate with program requirements.
- 5Advisory committee: The Under Secretary must maintain an active advisory committee of subject matter experts (which can be a designated existing federal committee) to advise on data needs, acquisitions, and program improvements, with inclusion of academic expertise to broaden partnerships and data volume.
- 6Regular congressional briefings: The Under Secretary must brief Senate and House committees at least annually through 2035 on program activities, funding, advisory recommendations, data gaps, and potential needs for a coastal/ocean mesonet or other new data areas.
- 7Funding authorization: The bill sets specific annual funding ceilings for the Program from 2025 through 2029, starting at $50 million in FY2025 and rising to $70 million in FY2029, to carry out the program.