changes in their variability? This creates an opportunity for furthering cooperative research among the GEWEX, Climate Variability and Prediction Program (CLIVAR), and PACS communities.

Foster an Interactive Dialogue with Water Resources Management Agencies in the Mississippi River Basin

GCIP's research priorities and focus are geared toward improving the front-end hydrologic models and data bases used for water resources management purposes. However, to ensure that GCIP's modeling improvements and data products are useful to the water resources management community, it is important that a dialogue be established. Besides numerous local and state agencies, there are several large institutions and federal agencies with direct involvement in water resources decisions in the Mississippi River basin. Among these are the Army Corps of Engineers, the Tennessee Valley Authority, the Federal Emergency Management Agency, the Environmental Protection Agency, and so forth. It is not unusual to discover that some of these agencies are unfamiliar with GCIP and the potential benefits of GCIP research for their purposes. It is highly recommended that the GCIP program develop a strategy for (1) familiarizing the water resources management entities in the Mississippi River basin with the program and (2) seeking their input and advice on GCIP modeling and data activities and how these could be made more useful for their purposes.