The Contra Costa County Flood Control and Water Conservation District has been coordinating with other agencies to install a new radar on Rocky Ridge in San Ramon. The radar is located on Rocky Ridge, west of the Town of Danville, and has been operating since September 7, 2023. It covers a 25-mile radius that includes nearly all of Contra Costa County. The Colorado State Univ. Cooperative Institute for Research in the Atmosphere (CIRA) is working to mesh the radar data with other Advance Quantitative Precipitation Information (AQPI) System radars in the Bay Area.
The AQPI system includes a combination of rainfall and radar observations as well as forecast models to improve rainfall depth and timing predictions, streamflow, coastal flooding and riverine flooding. The AQPI includes five (5) new state-of-the-art radars to provide high-resolution precipitation monitoring of offshore atmospheric rivers (ARs) and rainfall within the Bay region. The AQPI system will also enhance forecasts of storm surge, streamflow, water supply reliability, prevention of sanitary sewer overflows and many other benefits.
The AQPI project is funded by a $19M Integrated Regional Water Management (IRWM) grant from the State Department of Water Recourses. The Center for Western Weather and Water Extremes (CW3E) of the Scripps Institution of Oceanography - University of California, San Diego will lead the next phase of the AQPI development, with the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration Physical Sciences Laboratory and CIRA as partners.
The project has required the coordination with the Department of Information Technology (DoIT), the Sherriff’s Office IT staff, Public Works (PW) Facilities, PW Environmental, and the Department of Conservation and Development (DCD). Information on the project including Federal, State, and local partners can be found at https://psl.noaa.gov/aqpi/.