2020 Washington Metropolitan Area Drought Exercise
This report describes activities conducted during the 2020 drought exercise. The exercise was virtual, and took place on Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday, November 16-18, from 7:30 AM to 4:00 PM.
Communications during the exercise were via telephone, email, and Microsoft Teams Meeting, and all
operations were “simulated.” Twice daily email reports were sent out to stakeholders reporting on current flow and demand conditions and on simulated operations. The exercise included two special events:
- An actual test release from Little Seneca Reservoir, which was conducted over an approximately
12-hour period, beginning at 10:00 AM on Tuesday, November 17. - A webinar by Hazen & Sawyer on the use of the Potomac OASIS model to provide probabilistic
information on future streamflows and reservoir storage levels. A PDF of the webinar on forecast informed reservoir operations is available.
Learn more about previous drought exercises and the ICPRB’s Section for Cooperative Water Supply Operations on the Potomac on the Drought Monitoring and Operations page.