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EXECUTIVE SUMMARY

The Advisory Committee on Water Information (ACWI) established a Task Force to review the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) Federal-State Cooperative Water Program at their August 1998 meeting in Denver, Colorado. The Task Force review is the first external review of the Cooperative Water Program in its more than 100-year history. The purpose of the Task Force is to gather information, assess the effectiveness of the program, and recommended improvements. The ACWI focused the review on the mission of the program, prioritization and funding of work, conduct of work, and products.

The Cooperative Water Program, which was created in 1895, combines the resources of the Federal government with other governmental units to collect and analyze water-resources data. Most of the water-resources data collected in the United States are acquired under the auspices of the Cooperative Water Program.

The Task Force held meetings in USGS offices, met with USGS staff, and held panel discussions with representatives of agencies participating in the Cooperative Water Program, users of the products resulting from the Cooperative Water Program and private-sector consultants. The Task Force reviewed policy statements, financial data, and project-description information relating to the Cooperative Water Program. It also conducted numerical and verbal surveys of agencies participating in the Cooperative Water Program.

The Cooperative Water Program is critical to improving the management of the Nation's water resources. It is important to the Nation in that it acknowledges the keen shared-interest of Federal, State, Tribal, and other government agencies in appraising the Nation's water resources and seeking solutions to water-related problems. In today's climate of growing demands on, and increasing competition for, the Nation's water resources, there is an increased need for all types of water-related data and analyses now and in the future. The Cooperative Water Program offers the highest level of scientific knowledge, objectivity, and technical expertise. The Cooperative Water Program is integral to providing long-term data collection and analysis of water quantity, quality, and use on a national basis. Without the Cooperative Water Program, the Nation would not have information vital to the routine management of the Nation's water resources and critical in the management of water-related emergencies.

The Cooperative Water Program is performing well. However, the Task Force has identified several areas where improvement can be achieved.

• Current funding for the Cooperative Water Program is not adequate to satisfy all the needs identified for additional streamflow data, regional ground-water information, updated hydrologic models, and technical publications. Funding levels have not kept pace with inflation or the increased demand for the services of the program. The funds available for the program should be increased to a level sufficient to achieve a full match for the current and future cooperator offerings and should be indexed for inflation.
• The Task Force recognizes that the streamgaging network supports wide-ranging water-resources investigations. It was found that in 1997, the Cooperative Water Program supported two-thirds of the gages in the network, but this support does not guarantee continuous operation nor prevent the loss of important stations. The Task Force recommends separate Federal funding for a core national streamgaging network outside of the Cooperative Water Program.
• The Cooperative Water Program supports long-term data-collection activities (currently about 55 percent of funds) and interpretive studies (45 percent). The emphasis should be on data collection, which should not be sacrificed for interpretive studies.
• The Task Force found that the USGS has appropriate internal guidance dealing with project selection that facilitates the avoidance of competition with the private sector. The Task Force has made recommendations that will enable the USGS to enhance its project selection criteria and to better communicate with the private sector to avoid the appearance or reality of competition.
• The distribution of Federal funding among USGS Districts and among projects within a District can be improved by setting priorities for individual projects, reviewing the allocation of funds, and developing a system to distribute a small percentage of Cooperative Water Program funds to meet high priority needs.
• Communication with cooperators and stakeholders is essential to effective accomplishment of the Cooperative Water Program mission. The Task Force has recommended several opportunities for improved communication to strengthen coordination between the Cooperative Water Program and cooperators.
• Given the emergence of the internet and the growing interest in water related issues by a diverse public, the Task Force recommends certain initiatives to make Cooperative Water Program products understandable and readily accessible.

Task Force To Review The Federal-State Cooperative Water Program

The Findings and Recommendations presented in this report have the consensus acceptance and support of the entire Task Force.

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