Smarter Weather Forecasting for Water Management, Farming, and Ranching Act of 2025

The bill mandates the Under Secretary of Commerce for Oceans and Atmosphere to establish at least two pilot projects within the U.S. Weather Research Program. These projects aim to significantly improve subseasonal to seasonal precipitation forecasts for critical sectors. Specifically, one project will address water management challenges in the western United States , while the other will focus on enhancing agricultural forecasting across the entire nation. The objectives for the western U.S. water management project include improving operational model resolution for mountainous terrain, enhancing atmospheric boundary layer modeling, and better predicting atmospheric rivers. For agriculture, the project will focus on improving land surface and hydrologic cycle observations, modeling warm season precipitation, and understanding large-scale upper-level dynamical flow anomalies. These pilot projects must implement recommendations from a 2020 National Weather Service report, engage with higher education institutions, and coordinate with relevant NOAA offices. The authority for these projects will terminate after five years, with an authorization of $45,000,000 annually for fiscal years 2025 through 2029.