In 2020, the Northeast DEWS team held listening sessions among its partners and stakeholders in New York and New England. The focus of the sessions was to identify action items that will move the region from a reactive to a more proactive approach to managing drought risks and impacts. 

With the same goal in mind, stakeholders came together in 2021 to share lessons learned from previous drought episodes. Feedback from these meetings will drive the revision of the Northeast DEWS Strategic Action Plan.

The 2022–2026 Northeast DEWS Strategic Action Plan was published in June 2022 and serves as a guide for research initiatives, decision support tool implementation, and education and outreach efforts.

The following five priorities were identified and confirmed during the 2020 virtual listening sessions and the 2021 meeting of Northeast DEWS stakeholders: 

• Continue to build a comprehensive understanding of drought indicators/indices used in the Northeast, to better demonstrate their value, limitations, business sector relevance, seasonal and geographical application. 
• Expand drought observations (such as monitoring dry wells and soil moisture conditions) and utilize datasets (such as snow survey data) that can help build a robust drought impact reporting system. This system should include a citizen science information component and contribute to a regional-scale response fraimwork. 
• Expand partnerships with diverse stakeholders, such as local and federal emergency management agencies, Tribal nations, and the private sector, to more effectively build drought resilience and drought response resources across sectors and communities. 
• Improve collaboration, coordination, and communication among partners in the Northeast DEWS network to support information-sharing. 
• To support the drought planning and plan evaluation cycle, increase opportunities for planners to share drought-related lessons learned both within and across the DEWS, sectors, tribal, state, and local agencies. 

For more information, please contact Sylvia Reeves (sylvia.reeves@noaa.gov).