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. . . Western States Water Council Water Resources Committee Minutes Washington, D.C. March 28, 2006 APPROVAL OF MINUTES The minutes of the meeting held on October 20, 2005 in San Antonio, Texas were moved for approval by Larry Anderson. Weir seconded the motion, which passed unanimously. SUNSETTING POSITION A. FERC Hydropower Licensing The existing position is under Tab C in the briefing books. A suggested revised edition was passed around the room. At the time the position was adopted, the language for a new rule had not yet been promulgated. Thus, it needs to be updated. The back page shows the changes to delete the language regarding the rulemaking process, and recognize that the rule is responsive to some of the states' concerns. Tony WiIlardson shared views from discussions with the California State Water Resources Control Board in support of the revised position. A motion from Hal Simpson to adopt the revised position was seconded by Ann Bleed. The motion was carried unanimously. NRCS WATER SUPPLY OUTLOOK - Jon Werner, Director, National Water & Climate Center A. Climate Variability and Recent Snow Survey Observations Jon expressed appreciation for the invitation to speak, and for the Council's support for the program. He also thanked those that provide resources and local support for data collection and forecasting. He gave a Powerpoint presentation. At the National Water and Climate Center (NWCC), they provide climate services. We also monitor soil moisture. He discussed snowpack conditions in the West as of this year as compared to last year. The streamflow forecasts show the inverse of the situation from last year, with more precipitation in the Northwest and less in the Southwest. There is some change in reservoir storage. Some progress has been made since last year toward improving water supply. The NWCC uses meteor burst communications. Radio signals are transmitted from two central points, one through Boise, Idaho and the other through Ogden, Utah. The technology has been expanded to cover eastern regions of the U.S. also. During 2005, the NWCC produced forecasts of water supply, through web service in Portland, which generated about two million reports. Forecasts cannot be generated too far into the future. There are about 715 remote snow stations at the present time. The sites are being upgraded to include soil moisture. There are also about 1200 snow courses. They have traditionally provided statistical forecasts for flow. They are beginning to apply simulation models to that. They are moving from monolithic models to object models. Likewise they are adding this to streamflow forecasting. 3