15 U.S.C. § 313d — NIDIS program

(a) In general. Through the National Weather Service and other appropriate weather and climate programs, the Under Secretary must set up a National Integrated Drought Information System, to better inform and speed up decisions that reduce drought-related harm and costs. (b) System functions. The System must: (1) provide an effective drought early-warning system that (A) collects and combines key drought indicators — like rainfall, soil moisture, and evaporative demand — to make usable, reliable, timely drought forecasts and severity assessments, and (B) provides that information both nationally and regionally; (2) regularly communicate drought forecasts, conditions, and impacts to public and private groups involved in drought planning and preparedness, including (A) federal, regional, state, tribal, and local decisionmakers, (B) the private sector, and (C) the public; (3) provide timely data, information, and products reflecting local, regional, watershed, and state differences in drought conditions; (4) coordinate and combine federal drought research and monitoring, through interagency agreements where practical; (5) use existing forecasting and assessment programs and partnerships — including forecast communication coordinators and cooperative institutes — and improve seasonal and subseasonal rainfall and temperature predictions and low-flow water predictions; and (6) continue ongoing drought research and monitoring, including on how drought is predicted, how long and severe it is, and how extreme weather and climate variability affect it. (c) Partnerships. The System may: (1) work with the private sector to improve drought monitoring, forecasting, and communication, if the Under Secretary decides the partnership is appropriate, cost-effective, and useful for the public and decisionmakers described in (b)(2)(A); (2) help develop academic partnerships to support the System's work; and (3) use and support citizen-scientist monitoring, including developing best practices to combine that data with other data. (d) Consultation. The Under Secretary must consult relevant federal, regional, state, tribal, and local government agencies, research institutions, and the private sector while developing and running the System. (e) Cooperation from other Federal agencies. Every federal agency must cooperate as appropriate with the Under Secretary in carrying out this section. (f) Soil moisture. Within 1 year of January 7, 2019, the Under Secretary, acting through the System, must develop a strategy for a national, coordinated soil moisture monitoring network.