PIAHS Proceedings of the International Association of Hydrological Sciences PIAHS Proc. IAHS 2199-899X IAHS Press Göttingen, Germany 10.5194/piahs-364-492-2014 A prototype platform for water resources monitoring and early recognition of critical droughts in Switzerland Zappa M. 1 Bernhard L. 1 Spirig C. 2 Pfaundler M. 2 Stahl K. 3 Kruse S. 1 Seidl I. 1 Stähli M. 1 Swiss Federal Research Institute WSL, Zürcherstrasse 111, 8903 Birmensdorf, Switzerland Federal Office of Meteorology and Climatology MeteoSwiss, Zürich, Switzerland University of Freiburg, Hydrology, Freiburg, Germany 16 09 2014 364 492 498 Copyright: © 2014 M. Zappa et al. 2014 This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 Unported License. To view a copy of this licence, visit https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/ This article is available from https://piahs.copernicus.org/articles/364/492/2014/piahs-364-492-2014.html The full text article is available as a PDF file from https://piahs.copernicus.org/articles/364/492/2014/piahs-364-492-2014.pdf

In recent years Switzerland has experienced some unprecedented drought situations. At a political level solutions have been requested for early recognition of hydrological droughts. A prototype information platform has been developed to guide water resources management during situations where water resources drop below critical levels. The development was steered by stakeholders from national administrations and different economic sectors. Since June 2013 the platform has presented daily updated real-time information on several drought indicators including precipitation, streamflow, lake levels, groundwater levels, soil moisture deficit, snow resources, dryness in forests and stream temperatures. For three basins, ensemble forecasts of runoff, soil moisture, snowpack and groundwater storage have been provided. Furthermore, a nationwide operational hydrological simulation at 600 × 600 m resolution gives indications on local water resources deficits. Information for each variable has been used to create automatic "awareness maps" for nine large regions. Three levels of information with increasing detail and complexity can be accessed by over 180 registered users. The operators of the platform give interpreted comments on the content of the platform each week-day. The test phase of the platform will last until the end of 2014.