Snow Water Supply Forecasting

The Department of the Interior Bureau of Reclamation funds cooperative agreements under CFDA 15.078 to deploy emerging snow-monitoring technologies and enhance water supply forecasting in snow-driven Western river basins, with the most recent award issued April 28, 2025, and a FY 2026 opportunity due May 5, 2026.

The program funds concrete projects that acquire and fuse high-resolution snow data—chiefly airborne LiDAR, unmanned aerial vehicle surveys, cosmic ray neutron sensors, and satellite imagery—and integrate those datasets into streamflow and reservoir-inflow forecasting models to improve seasonal water availability predictions. Recent awards demonstrate the portfolio's operational focus: the Cooperative Agreement R25AC00121 paired airborne snow observatory flights with real-time simulation and assimilation into the Weather Research and Forecasting Hydro model for the Weber River watershed in Utah; Cooperative Agreement R25AC00123 used aerial LiDAR across 33 Western basins to identify snow monitoring gaps and evaluate forecast improvements; and Cooperative Agreement R24AC00022 quantified the impact of integrating airborne snow observatory data into the California-Nevada River Forecast Center's seasonal water supply forecast for the Truckee and Carson basins. The program also funds emerging-technology demonstrations, including cosmic ray rovers for snow water equivalent estimation and snow temperature profilers deployed with cooperative snow survey networks across California, Nevada, Colorado, and Montana.

All 20 awards in the recent portfolio are Cooperative Agreements. The Bureau of Reclamation is the sole funder. Combined federal dollars obligated total $16 million across 20 awards; the combined federal and non-federal obligated total is $27.5 million, reflecting substantial cost-share from recipients. Award velocity increased sharply from two awards in 2023 to 13 in 2024, then moderated to five in 2025 (through April). Award magnitudes range from approximately $603 thousand to $3.8 million, with mid-range awards in the $1–2 million band.

The FY 2026 opportunity (R25AS00210, due May 5, 2026) solicits proposals for aerial LiDAR snow surveys to improve water supply forecasting, with emphasis on partnerships with water management and forecasting agencies to evaluate data utility for operational decision-making. Eligible applicants include state and local governments, tribal governments (federally and non-federally recognized), universities (public and private), water districts, nonprofits, and private companies. Projects are awarded for one to five years depending on funding availability.