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Alabama Water Institute

DevCon 2026 Strengthens Partnerships Advancing Operational Water Prediction

SALT LAKE CITY – With 232 registered attendees, 64 research posters and 25 lightning talks, the 2026 CIROH Developers Conference, or DevCon, highlighted the growing national community working to advance operational water prediction and decision support.

Held May 27–29 at the University of Utah, DevCon 2026 brought together researchers, students, forecasters, emergency managers and industry professionals from across North America. Through plenary sessions, technical workshops, poster presentations and networking events, participants explored how scientific advances can be translated into operational tools that improve forecasting, decision-making and community resilience.

From Research to Operational Decision-Making

This year’s plenary sessions emphasized the growing importance of trusted operational forecasting and the partnerships required to deliver actionable water intelligence. Speakers from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s Office of Water Prediction, National Weather Service, National Ocean Service and National Integrated Drought Information System joined representatives from the U.S. Geological Survey, U.S. Bureau of Reclamation, Public Safety Canada, Google and leading academic institutions to discuss current challenges and future priorities in water prediction.

Topics ranged from flood services modernization and drought early warning systems to emergency management decision support, large-scale flood inundation mapping and artificial intelligence applications in hydrology. Collectively, the presentations underscored a common theme: advancing water prediction requires close collaboration among researchers, operational agencies and end users to build trust in forecasts and ensure scientific innovations can support real-world decisions.

Photograph of a conference room presentation showing two large screens with a slide titled "How CIROH Supports the Enterprise," featuring multiple labeled icons
Photograph of a presentation slide titled "4212 to 4188 The Lake in My Lifetime" by Robert B. Sowby from Brigham Young University, showing a person standing on a rocky shore with a calm lake reflecting the sky.
Photograph of a conference presentation showing two large screens with slides titled "R2O Research to Operations Colorado River Climate and Hydrology Workgroup," detailing group formation, goals, and tools used.
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Keynote speakers challenged attendees to think beyond disciplinary boundaries, offering perspectives on the future of water prediction, community modeling and the partnerships needed to turn research into impact

Hands-On Training for the Water Prediction Community

At the heart of DevCon were five specialized training tracks designed to provide participants with practical skills and direct experience using emerging tools, models and workflows.

Attendees selected from workshops focused on:

  • Community NextGen
  • Flood Inundation Mapping
  • Hydroinformatics and Data Science
  • Social Science and Communication
  • Machine Learning, AI and Remote Sensing in Hydrology

The workshops emphasized applied learning, giving participants opportunities to work directly with operational frameworks, community datasets, machine learning tools and decision-support approaches that are increasingly shaping the future of hydrologic forecasting. Focus was placed on advancing flood inundation mapping capabilities, improving large-domain hydrologic modeling and exploring how AI can enhance forecasting performance and efficiency.

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Photograph of a conference room with a speaker presenting to an audience seated at round tables, many using laptops.
Photograph of a speaker presenting at a conference in a lecture hall, standing next to a podium with "S.J. Quinney College of Law" and a large red "U" emblem.
Photograph of a workshop setting with participants seated at round tables facing a presenter standing at a podium in front of a projection screen.
Photograph of a conference presentation showing a speaker standing behind a podium with a large screen displaying maps and diagrams.
Photograph of a conference room with attendees seated around tables, listening to a presenter standing near two projection screens displaying maps and data.
Interactive workshops provided hands-on opportunities for participants to explore new tools, share expertise and contribute directly to the advancement of community water modeling capabilities.

Information Exchange Across Sectors

A defining feature of DevCon is the opportunity for participants from different disciplines and organizations to learn from one another.

Beyond formal presentations, DevCon fostered the exchange of ideas through 64 research posters and 25 lightning talks that highlighted emerging science, operational challenges and new opportunities for collaboration. Together, these presentations created opportunities for researchers, hydrologists, emergency managers and industry partners to share perspectives and identify pathways for advancing water prediction capabilities.

Photograph of a person presenting a research poster at an academic event, with charts, maps, and flow diagrams displayed on the poster.
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Poster sessions showcased emerging research and innovative applications while creating opportunities for meaningful discussion, feedback and collaboration across the CIROH community.  

Investing in the Next Generation

CIROH’s commitment to workforce development remained a central focus of DevCon 2026.

Students and early-career researchers presented their work, participated in technical workshops and engaged directly with leaders from federal agencies, universities and industry.

This year’s award recipients were recognized during plenary sessions:

  • Student Developer Award: Leo Lonzarich, Pennsylvania State University
  • Early Career Paper Award: Ehsan Ebrahimi, Utah State University

Their presentations highlighted the innovative research and technical contributions emerging from the next generation of water scientists and engineers.

Photograph of three people standing on a stage during an award ceremony, with one person holding a certificate.
Photograph of three people standing on a stage during an award presentation, with one person holding a framed certificate.
CIROH recognized outstanding contributions from emerging leaders in the water sciences, presenting the Student Developer Award to Leo Lonzarich of Pennsylvania State University and the Early Career Paper Award to Ehsan Ebrahimi of Utah State University.

Connecting Science to Place

Prior to the conference, attendees participated in optional educational field experiences that connected hydrologic science with real-world applications.

Participants visited the Colorado Basin River Forecast Center to learn about National Weather Service forecasting operations and collaboration opportunities. Others traveled to Silver Lake in the Wasatch Mountains, where discussions explored snowmelt processes, watershed dynamics, hydrologic connectivity and the role of headwater systems in downstream water supply.

These experiences provided valuable context for many of the conference discussions, illustrating how observations, modeling and forecasting intersect to support operational water management.

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Field experiences provided a firsthand look at the science and operations that underpin water prediction, linking watershed processes, forecasting and water-resource decision making through visits to Silver Lake and the Colorado Basin River Forecast Center.

Looking Ahead

As water-related hazards become increasingly complex, the need for strong partnerships among researchers, operational agencies, emergency managers and decision makers continues to grow.

DevCon 2026 demonstrated the value of bringing these communities together to share knowledge, evaluate emerging technologies and advance the science that supports operational forecasting. The relationships strengthened, ideas exchanged and collaborations formed in Salt Lake City will help accelerate the delivery of actionable water intelligence and support more resilient communities in the years ahead.

Learn more about DevCon by visiting the website.

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