Florida Water & Climate Alliance Webinar
Statewide Drought Response and Coordination
Thursday, May 30, 2024, 1:00 pm – 3:00 pm
Drought is a normal climate pattern that has occurred in varying degrees of length, severity, and size throughout history. The compounding effects of climate change and escalating demands for water resources exacerbate droughts, leading to increased frequency, duration, and severity. During drought periods, the flow of streams and rivers diminishes, water levels in lakes and reservoirs decline, and well levels recede. Federal and state agencies are tasked with understanding, preparing for and mitigating impacts to droughts now and for forecasted future scenarios and changing conditions.
Over 175 participants joined the webinar from water management districts, government agencies, utilities, academic institutions, private industry, and non-government organizations. The webinar summarized statewide drought concepts and coordinated response strategies, forecasting groundwater highs and lows under future climate scenarios, and discuss approaches to assessing water supply vulnerability and saltwater intrusion.
View Webinar Recording View Poll and Pop Quiz
Invited Speakers Include:
- Kristine Morris, J.D., Assistant Deputy Secretary, Ecosystem Restoration Florida Department of Environmental Protection, Defining Drought: Statewide Water Management Coordination
- Fatih Gordu, Ph.D. P.E., Bureau Chief, Groundwater Modeling and Assessment, St. John’s River Water Management District, Can We Reliably Forecast the Future Without Knowing the Past? UFA Level Predictions in North Florida
- Michelle Irizarry-Ortiz, P.E., Hydrologist, Caribbean-Florida Water Science Center United States Geological Survey, Characterizing Historical and Projected Future Droughts for South Florida
- Pete Kwiatkowski, P.G., Manager, Resource Evaluation Section, South Florida Water Management District, Saltwater Intrusion Monitoring and Modeling and Water Supply Vulnerability Assessment in South Florida
Facilitator: Darlene Velez, Research Coordinator, University of Florida Water Institute; Coordinator, Florida Water and Climate Alliance
Word cloud of responses for the prompt “List three things that come to mind when you hear the word ‘drought'”.
