Delft-FEWS import of Google Flood Hub forecasts

Delft-FEWS, Deltares' real-time water forecasting system, is used mostly for floods and in nearly seventy countries.² Since version 2026.02 it imports Google Flood Hub data directly from the Google Flood Forecasting API: flood status, river forecast hydrographs (graphs of river flow over time) and their timing.¹ Flood Hub is Google Research's public flood service, with riverine forecasts up to seven days ahead, updated daily, covering river basins in more than 150 countries.³

Google's forecasts then appear in the displays a forecasting centre already uses, next to local observations, local model results and other forecasts.¹ Deltares' Erik Pelgrim led the implementation.¹ An earlier prototype by the Czech Hydrometeorological Institute (Jakub Krejčí and Jan Daňhelka) showed it could be done.¹ The announcement shows flood status for the Netherlands on 4 September 2026 and the Ganges on 9 September 2026.¹

Running it needs a Delft-FEWS 2026.02 installation and a Flood Forecasting API key from Google's key programme.¹ Deltares says the key can take about two weeks to obtain.¹

Jan Verkade of Deltares announced the release on 5 October 2026, and a presentation is planned for the Delft-FEWS User Days in November 2026.^1,2 Deltares is also working on a model adapter to run Google's open-sourced hydrological model inside Delft-FEWS.¹