S 324119th CongressIn Committee

Smarter Weather Forecasting for Water Management, Farming, and Ranching Act of 2025

Introduced: Jan 29, 2025

Standard Summary

Comprehensive overview in 1-2 paragraphs

Smarter Weather Forecasting for Water Management, Farming, and Ranching Act of 2025 would require NOAA to run at least two pilot projects aimed at improving subseasonal to seasonal weather forecasts (roughly forecasting from a couple of weeks up to a few months ahead). The pilots would operate within NOAA’s U.S. Weather Research Program and focus on two domains: (A) water management in the western United States and (B) agriculture nationwide. The bill lays out detailed scientific challenges to address (e.g., better mountain-region precipitation modeling, air-sea interactions, atmospheric rivers, soil moisture, and warm-season rainfall processes) and requires programs to build on and implement recommendations from a 2020 National Weather Service report. It mandates collaboration with universities, regional climate centers, and NOAA offices, and specifies coordination with senior NOAA leadership. The program would sunset five years after enactment and would be funded at $45 million per year from 2025 through 2029 (a total potential of $225 million). The intended outcome is more accurate, higher-resolution forecasts to support water resource planning, irrigation decisions, and agricultural planning.

Key Points

1Establishment of not fewer than two pilot projects within NOAA’s U.S. Weather Research Program to improve subseasonal to seasonal precipitation forecasts for water management in the western United States and for agriculture nationwide.
2The pilot projects must tackle specific scientific challenges, including improved model resolution, boundary-layer physics in mountains, storm tracks and atmospheric rivers, air-sea interactions, soil moisture, and warm-season precipitation processes.
3Activities must include implementing recommendations from the 2020 National Weather Service report on subseasonal and seasonal forecasting, aiming for measurable forecast improvements, and engaging with universities and consortia as well as existing NOAA partners (Regional Climate Centers and the National Centers for Environmental Information). Coordination with NOAA’s Office of Oceanic and Atmospheric Research and the National Weather Service is required.
4Sunset provision: authority ends five years after enactment, ensuring a finite period for pilot testing and evaluation.
5Authorization of appropriations: $45,000,000 for each fiscal year 2025 through 2029 to carry out the pilot-project activities.

Impact Areas

Primary: Water managers in the western United States and farmers/ranchers across the United States. These groups stand to gain more reliable and timely forecasts for reservoir operations, irrigation planning, drought mitigation, and crop scheduling.Secondary: Federal and academic researchers, regional climate centers, the National Centers for Environmental Information, and other NOAA programs. This includes universities and consortia that partner with NOAA, and the broader agricultural and water-resource policy community that uses forecast information for planning and risk management.Additional impacts: Potential improvements in drought resilience, flood preparedness, and agricultural decision-making; enhanced use of high-resolution, land-surface and hydrologic-cycle data; and a finite, grant-like funding window (five years) that could influence longer-term weather forecasting initiatives or inspire future authorizations. The bill represents an authorization of funds rather than a new tax or broad regulatory requirement.Subseasonal to seasonal forecasting refers to forecast horizons roughly from about 2 weeks up to a few months ahead.The West-specific focus targets mountainous terrain effects, snow vs. rain processes, and atmospheric rivers, all of which influence water supply and flood risk in that region.

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