Geoscience Reference
In-Depth Information
deliver tailored, science-based knowledge to farmers, ranchers, and forest
landowners. These hubs will work with universities and other partners,
including the Department of the Interior and the National Oceanic and
Atmospheric Administration, to support climate resilience. Its Natural
Resources Conservation Service and the Department of the Interior's Bureau
of Reclamation are also providing grants and technical support to agricultural
water users for more water-efficient practices in the face of drought and long-
term climate change.
Managing Drought:
Leveraging the work of the National Disaster
Recovery Framework for drought, the Administration will launch a cross-
agency National Drought Resilience Partnership as a ―front door‖ for
communities seeking help to prepare for future droughts and reduce drought
impacts. By linking information (monitoring, forecasts, outlooks, and early
warnings) with drought preparedness and longer-term resilience strategies in
critical sectors, this effort will help communities manage drought-related risks.
Reducing Wildfire Risks:
With tribes, states, and local governments as
partners, the Administration has worked to make landscapes more resistant to
wildfires, which are exacerbated by heat and drought conditions resulting from
climate change.
Federal agencies will expand and prioritize forest and rangeland
restoration efforts in order to make natural areas and communities less
vulnerable to catastrophic fire. The Department of the Interior and Department
of Agriculture, for example, are launching a Western Watershed Enhancement
Partnership - a pilot effort in five western states to reduce wildfire risk by
removing extra brush and other flammable vegetation around critical areas
such as water reservoirs.
Preparing for Future Floods:
To ensure that projects funded with
taxpayer dollars last as long as intended, federal agencies will update their
flood-risk reduction standards for federally funded projects to reflect a
consistent approach that accounts for sea-level rise and other factors affecting
flood risks.
This effort will incorporate the most recent science on expected rates of
sea-level rise (which vary by region) and build on work done by the Hurricane
Sandy Rebuilding Task Force, which announced in April 2013 that all
federally funded Sandy-related rebuilding projects must meet a consistent
flood risk reduction standard that takes into account increased risk from
extreme weather events, sea-level rise, and other impacts of climate change.
