2010 ICWP/WSWC Washington Roundtable

90 people attended our Washington Roundtable meetings this year, making it the largest so far, without reducing the effective opportunity for members to engage leading experts from most of the key federal agencies in a substantive discussion.  We orchestrated this meeting in collaboration with the Western States Water Council, as we did in 2008; this is a valuable partnership, as our members share many similar concerns and approach them with a variety of perspectives and solutions.

Links are provided below to many of the meeting materials and here is a list of follow-up action items that we will prioritize and incorporate into our work plans and committee efforts:

• Water Data & Science –enhance our streamgage support strategy: clarify the connection between lost streamgages (also shifting cost to Cooperators) with community impacts; enlist more partners in delivering that message; promote further coordination between USGS and agencies that decide to collect more of their own data, in order to maintain as much compatibility among datasets as possible;
• Principles & Standards development –meet with Corps, EPA Reclamation, and USDA to discuss next steps and promote the recommendations submitted March 5, 2010; monitor NAS review and recommendations;
• CEQ Climate Change Adaptation Task Force –monitor progress through USGS and Corps participants in the water working group; submit comments via the CEQ website prior to May 15, 2010;
• NOAA Integrated Water Resource Science and Services (IWRSS) –assure the Administrator is aware of our interest and support for non-federal agency participation in the design and development, especially if IWRSS could serve as the platform for substantial improvements in the “federal toolbox” involving the USGS, Corps and other federal agencies;
• USDA water council and programs –pursue the invitation to discuss plans and priorities for the council, especially as USDA programs may provide best options for reducing non-point sources of pollution;
• Sustainable Watershed Planning legislation –monitor probability this may become part of a 2010 WRDA.

Following our usual Washington Roundtable meeting and reception, we collaborated with USGS in the production of a Stakeholders’ Strategy Conference to enrich the overall benefits deriving from 9 Regional CWP Roundtables.  The results from that conference will be found on our Streamgages page!

We appreciate the WSWC support in developing the program and participation in these meetings and the enthusiasm, camaraderie and great ideas that all the participants helped develop!  If you have questions or suggestions concerning any of the following information included in the meeting books, please contact This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it or any of the ICWP board of Directors.

• Meeting Program
• List of Participants
• Speaker Bios
• CEQ Interagency Climate Change Progress Report
• Interior Department information
• Recommendations from Previous CWP Cooperator Roundtable
• Corps of Engineers information
• NOAA’s IWRSS Roadmap
• ICWP’s draft Ideas for the Federal Toolbox
• ICWP’s outline for a proposed Water Policy FACA