As society shifts towards more proactive methods of coping with the impacts of climate extremes, the importance of leveraging existing programs and infrastructure, such as those administered by the U.S. government, has significantly grown.  An example of this is the groundswell of support for the U.S. Drought Monitor (USDM), which began as an experimental product in 1999 and quickly became the gold standard for identifying and quantifying drought in the United States and its territories.  Originally a partnership between the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), along with the National Drought Mitigation Center, the number of individuals and agencies contributing to the product has risen in recent years in proportion to the importance of the USDM to decision makers and the public at large.

Drought, like other climate extremes, does not follow geopolitical or programmatic boundaries. Federal climate services providers, such as NOAA Regional Integrated Sciences and Assessments (RISA) programs, USDA Climate Hubs, and Department of Interior (DOI) Climate Adaptation Science Centers (CASCs), must therefore work in a coordinated and partnered manner to prioritize service delivery, avoid duplication of efforts, and best serve the public and steward taxpayer resources. 

This session highlights examples of NOAA, USDA, and DOI programs working together on a regional basis to address climate services challenges, using drought as a framing topic. Success stories will be presented where Federal resources were leveraged to deliver drought early warning, impact, and recovery information efficiently and effectively at the landscape level. The challenges of such partnered efforts will also be addressed, and opportunities and solutions for the next decade of Federal climate services program activities articulated.

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