Advances Toward FIRO Objectives Supported by Observations - Progress and Future Directions

Enhanced monitoring is an essential component of Forecast Informed Reservoir Operations (FIRO). Each reservoir assessing FIRO viability has different operating constraints, management priorities, and existing observation networks. FIRO working groups identifying monitoring priorities essential to achieving FIRO objectives in a given watershed must take all of these considerations into account. Accomplishments in implementing FIRO observation networks thus far include installation of numerous stations continuously measuring atmospheric and hydrologic variables, which report in near real time via pathways allowing information to be most easily utilized by operational partners. There are also additional stations activated during impactful atmospheric river storms. Observations from these stations are used in forecast improvement and decision support efforts and to improve understanding of physical processes (e.g., defining runoff thresholds, or understanding melting level variability at the watershed scale). There are significant co-benefits to the enhanced monitoring provided by FIRO, and the additional stations have presented multiple collaborative opportunities, including interactions with community members, other agencies, educational institutions, and more. This presentation will provide a brief update of observations added in FIRO pilot watersheds and how they have supported FIRO implementation or viability assessment.