Management and Oversight of NOAA’s Service Delivery and Social Science Projects Associated with the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law

Floods are one of the deadliest and costliest weather disasters in the United States each year. Much of the country’s population centers and infrastructure are located on the coasts or in floodplains. Flooding also has major impacts on the environment causing significant erosion, habitat loss, and dispersion of pollutants. Floods are caused by a variety of weather events including hurricanes, strong coastal storms, local extreme precipitation events, wind driven waves, and snow melt.

The threat of flooding is felt from coast to coast, including inland areas that are near large rivers or low lying regions near the Gulf of Mexico. As flood events become more frequent and costly, it becomes particularly critical that resources and research flow to improve coastal and inland flood forecasting and inundation mapping services as well as water model forecast accuracy to help mitigate the loss of life and property.

Recognizing the urgent need for funding in these areas, Congress passed the Infrastructure and Investment and Jobs Act in 2021, which was later renamed the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law (BIL). The law includes $492 million for the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) to improve coastal and inland flood and inundation mapping and forecasting, for improvements to next generation water modeling activities, and to build out sub-seasonal to annual integrated water capabilities. A portion of these funds was allocated to social, behavioral and economic science research to apply and advance NOAA’s Service Delivery Framework.

NOAA is improving Service Delivery through sustained user engagement to improve product and service use and effectiveness. This includes advancing the understanding and application of social and economic impacts of coastal and inland flooding in communities throughout the U.S., especially in historically underserved and socially vulnerable communities, to inform response strategies and resilience and adaptation planning and advancing social science research capacity and infrastructure

NOAA’s Weather Program Office (WPO) Supplemental Program provides oversight for the projects in the Service Delivery/Social, Behavioral, and Economic Sciences research stream. Located in NOAA’s Oceanic and Atmospheric Research (OAR) line office, WPO’s Supplemental Program is responsible for monitoring and reporting on the status of this group of projects. This presentation will highlight the role the Supplemental Program plays in helping to ensure these projects are successful. This includes continuous reporting to monitor the progress of projects and the tracking and reporting of project risks, issues, and challenges. Early project successes will also be covered.