pkg_resources deprecation warning at import

[ritvje]

Hi! I'm getting the following warning when importing pysteps (version 1.18.0):

Python 3.12.11 | packaged by conda-forge | (main, Jun  4 2025, 14:45:31) [GCC 13.3.0] on linux
Type "help", "copyright", "credits" or "license" for more information.
>>> import pysteps
Pysteps configuration file found at: /.pystepsrc

/usr/local/envs/fmippn_dbzhtorate/lib/python3.12/site-packages/pysteps/io/interface.py:52: UserWarning: pkg_resources is deprecated as an API. See https://setuptools.pypa.io/en/latest/pkg_resources.html. The pkg_resources package is slated for removal as early as 2025-11-30. Refrain from using this package or pin to Setuptools<81.
  import pkg_resources
/usr/local/envs/fmippn_dbzhtorate/lib/python3.12/importlib/__init__.py:131: UserWarning: pkg_resources is deprecated as an API. See https://setuptools.pypa.io/en/latest/pkg_resources.html. The pkg_resources package is slated for removal as early as 2025-11-30. Refrain from using this package or pin to Setuptools<81.
  _bootstrap._exec(spec, module)
/usr/local/envs/fmippn_dbzhtorate/lib/python3.12/importlib/__init__.py:131: UserWarning: pkg_resources is deprecated as an API. See https://setuptools.pypa.io/en/latest/pkg_resources.html. The pkg_resources package is slated for removal as early as 2025-11-30. Refrain from using this package or pin to Setuptools<81.
  _bootstrap._exec(spec, module)

This seems to be related to the admonition in setuptools documentation about using importlib instead of pkg_resources. I could find this issue by @dnerini from December that probably would fix the warning, but the changes from that seem to have been overwritten at some point?

---

Conda package version are listed here (the env is quite large)
pysteps_env.txt

[dnerini]

yeah, looks like the fix done in #446 was reverted by #405. I can have a look and see if we can simply reimplement the same fix.

Thanks for notifying this issue!