In March 2005, a group of 26 representatives of the 1400+ cooperating agencies met with USGS officials to discuss the progress and capabilities of the USGS Cooperative Water Program and National Streamflow Information Program. One result of this groundbreaking meeting was the recognition that the non-federal Cooperators share a strong concern that restoring federal funding to match the non-federal share 50:50 is essential if we are going to assure sufficient science to plan for and avoid the most damaging impacts of future floods, droughts and violent storms and to protect water quality, wildlife and the ecosystems associated with our lakes, rivers, streams and wetlands.

There was a very good turnout for the reception Monday evening, January 30, and for the Roundtable meeting Tuesday, January 31, 2006, including approximately 70 people representing Cooperators from 20 states and 45 people from USGS Headquarters and the Water Science Centers in 18 states.
Our meetings included a useful presentation of CWP and NSIP background, management policy and budget information and lead to a set of RECOMMENDATIONS for improving future support and development of these vital programs, presented to the USGS on behalf of the participating Cooperators based on the presentations and break-out discussions.

In addition to 18 very informative CWP project displays, 5 corporate sponsors (Sutron Corp, YSI Environmental, Hach Environmental, In-Situ and Tyco Environmental-Greenspan) displayed and described monitoring and information management equipment!

In January 2006, 69 Cooperators’ representatives from 20 states met with USGS representatives from 18 states and headquarters and learned that USGS funding for the national base network (NSIP) is sufficient to cover less than 15% of the cost to operate and maintain that network (3,096 active gages).  This leaves the continuity of this backbone dependent upon funds from several other federal agencies, even though Congress agreed that USGS should receive funding for the entire program when it authorized the NSIP in 2001. We also learned that, due to insufficient funding, USGS is loosing 100-120 stations/year!  Approximately 165 Threatened Gages are listed, state-by-state, on the USGS website now.  The non-federal Cooperators (mostly state, tribal and local agencies) are currently paying for almost 70% ($138M in FY-05) of the Cooperative Water Program network (4,204 gages), instead of the 50% they were traditionally expected to support.  The President’s budget for FY-2007 proposes to cut $2M from the CWP and add $2.8M for the NSIP.  Summary: 2nd National Stakeholders’ Roundtable (Jan2006)

PROGRESS FOR FY-07! Congress is working right now on the budget for our government’s next fiscal year (referred to as “FY-07,” which begins in October 2006 and ends in September 2007). The House Appropriations Committee agreed May 10, 2006 with the President’s request to increase federal funding for the National Streamflow Information Program (described below) by $2.82M, an increase of about 20% over the amount enacted for FY-06. At the same time, that Committee rejected the President’s proposal to cut $2M (approximately 3%) from the Cooperative Water Program budget, voting instead to provide $64.171M to sustain this cost-share program at the same level of funding as in the FY-06. The House appropriations bill for the Interior Department, EPA and other agencies is HR-5386 and the House Appropriations Committee report is 109-465 (see pages 55-60, in particular).

Action by the full House of Representatives approved this bill May 18 and it was referred to the Senate on Friday, May 19, 2006. Action in the Senate may be scheduled soon and the Senate Appropriations Committee is developing its own response to the President’s FY-07 budget request. As of June 6, 2006, the Subcommittee on Interior and Related Agencies is waiting for its budget allocation before it can proceed with “mark-up.” Since ten influential Senators asked for significantly greater increases (see below) for these programs last September, there is a chance that the Senate bill will include better funding for these programs.

YOUR INPUT CAN STILL MAKE A DIFFERENCE ! Just to get the two programs back to the levels of capability they had in FY-2003, Congress would need to appropriate about $74M for the CWP (compared to $64.171M included in the House bill and $62.171M included in the President’s budget) and $16.8M for the NSIP, as proposed by the President (compared to $14M for FY-2006). This is a far cry from the commitment Congress made in 2001 to provide full funding for the NSIP: with the increase approved by the House, USGS will not be able to cover even 20% of the cost for that program, requiring the continued diversion of CWP funds and a continued loss of more than 100 gages each year from the network (as described below).

OVERVIEW: Water supply and flood protection issues are becoming increasingly important as pressure on existing supplies and land use along our rivers continues to grow. Increasing population and recurrent drought in many areas, combined with increasing demand for water for recreation, scenic value, and to meet fish and wildlife needs, have resulted in conflicts throughout the country. Streamflow and groundwater measurements are essential to intelligent water resource and community planning decisions, affecting countless lives and the economy in all 50 states.

With the monitoring, prediction and prevention programs that we currently have in place, on average, we suffer between $6B - $8B in damage and loss due to drought every year in the US, primarily in our agriculture, transportation, recreation and tourism, forestry, and energy sectors. Flooding is estimated, on average, to cause another $4B - $6B in damage and loss each year despite our best efforts with the available science. These cost estimates don’t take into account a long list of social and environmental losses, but they demonstrate the importance of maintaining our data collection networks.

The future value of this crucial information, collected at over 7300 streamgaging stations and monitoring wells operated by the US Geological Survey (USGS), is threatened by federal, state and local budget limitations. These measurements are needed for a variety of essential functions, including: