An update from the Chief Hydrologist Date: Mon, 13 May 1996 07:59:41 -0500 To: "E - All WRD Employees" From: "Robert M Hirsch, Chief Hydrologist, Reston, VA" (Robert M. Hirsch) Subject: An update from the Chief Hydrologist Cc: "Gordon P Eaton Reston, VA" , "Bonnie McGregor Reston, VA" , "Barbara J Ryan Reston, VA" , "Robert M Hirsch, Chief Hydrologist, Reston, VA" , "P. Patrick Leahy, Chief Geologist, Reston, VA" , "Richard E Witmer Reston, VA" , "William F Gossman Jr. Reston, VA" , "Linda D Stanley Reston, VA" , "Pamela R Malam Reston, VA" It has been several months since I last communicated with all of you on general issues of the status of WRD and the USGS. This continues to be a time of rapid change and unexpected events. I will discuss budget, the NBS, staffing, and some recent accomplishments. Budget After 7 months of operating under continuing resolutions or not operating at all (the furlough) we now have an appropriation to carry us through the end of the fiscal year (FY). It is remarkable to note that after all of the threats of abolishment or severe budget cuts, the Division finds itself with an increased budget ($191 million in FY 96 versus $186 million in FY 95). This change in appropriation, although not sufficient to cover inflation, stands as a clear statement of the Congress' recognition of the value of what we do in a year where budget cuts were widespread. The FY 97 budget is now before the Congress and for the USGS it represents an almost exactly level budget with the FY 96 enacted level. We expect to have the first indications of congressional action on this budget within the next 6 weeks. Given the upcoming Presidential campaign and the fact that many fundamental issues on the budget have yet to be resolved, it is reasonable to expect that we will go into the next fiscal year with our annual appropriation still undecided. However, we feel that another shutdown is unlikely. Overall, our expectations for the foreseeable future are rather level or slightly declining budgets and a good deal of uncertainty. This will necessitate continuing a very cautious approach to staffing. We will continue to need to rely on a significant number of temporary and term employees as well as contract employees. However, the Department of the Interior hiring freeze has now been lifted and we can begin to fill some critical positions that have been vacant. I want to acknowledge Skip Schmidt, Chief of WRD's Branch of Human Resources Management Support, for his work on the Departmental committee that has developed new hiring rules. These new rules will give managers flexibility while maximizing opportunities for employees displaced by downsizing actions around the Department. National Biological Service (NBS) Congressional action on the FY 96 budget set in motion a process that leads to a merger of the USGS and the NBS in October 1996. The NBS has a staff of about 1700 FTE (as compared to WRD with 4300 FTE) and was created about 3 years ago primarily from the biological research staffs of the Fish and Wildlife Service and National Park Service. When this merger takes place, the NBS will be a fourth program division of the USGS, known as the Biological Resources Division (BRD), which will be led by a Chief Biologist (somehow this has a familiar ring to it). It is the clear intent of the Congress and Secretary Babbitt that the BRD follow the same type of mission that the USGS has -- providing unbiased data, interpretive studies, and research regarding the Nation's natural resources -- and doing so in a manner that is removed from the pressures of regulatory, resource development, or resource protection responsibilities. We already have a number of ongoing and planned collaborations with the NBS and expect that this will continue to increase as we move toward the merger. The merger clearly presents significant challenges and opportunities to us, adding a new dimension to interdivisional collaboration. Staffing I am pleased to note that three senior appointments in our Division have become official in the last few months. Wanda Meeks is now the Regional Hydrologist in the Southeast Region, Tom Yorke is now the Chief of the Office of Surface Water, and Lewis Wade is now the Assistant Chief Hydrologist for Water Information. We still have three people in acting positions in our senior management: Mary Jo Baedecker is Acting Chief of the Office of Hydrologic Research, Dave Lystrom is Acting Regional Hydrologist in the Central Region, and Tim Miller is Acting Chief of the NAWQA Program. Also, Gail Mallard is serving the Division in a critical new role as coordinator of program development and strategic planning for the Division. I feel we have a very able leadership team in the Division and am pleased at everyone's dedication and teamwork as we tackle difficult problems and work towards needed improvements in our programs and Division infrastructure. As you know, Jack Fischer, the Associate Chief Hydrologist has just started a 1-year detail to the National Mapping Division. I am confident that Jack will bring many good ideas from WRD to NMD and ,in turn, will return to WRD with new ideas for us and a significant number of new opportunities for working together. We will all miss Jack's spirit and excellent advice, but he won't be far away. As Jack rotates out of WRD we are joined by Dave Russ of the Geologic Division. Dave's training in fluvial geomorphology means that our work is not at all foreign to him. He has excellent experience dealing with program planning and development as well as experience with USGS hazard programs (earthquakes, volcanoes, and landslides) that will have considerable transfer value to our work in floods. I would like to make special mention of Alice Sabatini, our Division Administrative Officer. Alice will spend the next year co-chairing the USGS effort to develop a common assessment (overhead) system. This is an ideal opportunity for Alice to provide to the entire USGS some of what we in WRD have had the good fortune to benefit from in the last couple of years. Alice has provided WRD with leadership in the our business practices. She has been a teacher to all managers and administrative staff in the Division. I thank Alice for this past service and for the outstanding service she will provide to the whole USGS in the coming year. She will still be overseeing our Federal-State Cooperative Program audit and will be available to advise us over the coming year. Recent Accomplishments I would like to highlight a few outstanding WRD accomplishments from the past few months. Bob Meade and a group of WRD scientists produced an outstanding compendium of results regarding the movement of water, sediment, and contaminants in the Mississippi River. Their summary report (USGS Circular1133), and the data reports and other papers that support it, will stand for decades as the definitive work on the Nation's most important river. A group in the South Carolina District led by Frank Chapelle, Jim Landmeyer and Paul Bradley, were winners of the "Hazardous Waste Management Award" of the "Renew America Awards" program. The award was for their studies of the processes controlling intrinsic bioremediation done in support of the Beaufort South Carolina Marine Corps Air Station. Our ability to couple hydrogeology, ground-water flow, geochemistry, and microbiology in field studies of contamination problems is a unique capability of the USGS that we are demonstrating over and over in different settings around the Nation. A group of WRD and GD scientists played pivotal roles in the development, justification, design, and execution of the controlled flood experiment in the Grand Canyon. This experiment represents the beginning of a new era in river management for the Nation -- using process-based models and field data to develop and test hypotheses about geomorphic and biotic change in a river corridor. This work is designed to lead to new insights about how controlled river systems can best be managed to balance a diverse set of operational and environmental objectives. Without the leadership of Ned Andrews, Jim Smith, Julia Graf, Dick Marzolf, Jack Schmidt, Mark Anderson, John Klein and others over many years, this historic experiment might never have happened. I also want to recognize the hydrologic technicians such as Bob Gauger and Greg Fisk of the Flagstaff Office who have worked year in and year out to collect the basic data in the Grand Canyon that was necessary to lay the foundation for this experiment. I also want to acknowledge the many people in virtually every WRD office who are helping to get our data out to users in a timely manner in both traditional and modern ways. Our printed data reports remain an important product, valued by our many data users. Even in this difficult year many districts met the usual April 1 deadline. Thank you all. Our provision of data on the World Wide Web is drawing a lot of praise to the USGS. Through this media we are finding whole new groups of users who benefit from our data. This is what we should always strive for -- to use the public's funds to provide an ever increasing level of service to everyone. This new service demands an increased degree of accountability and responsiveness. What I see as I visit our offices across the country is an excitement over this new way of reaching the public and a recognition of the responsibility that this entails. Thank you all for your hard work and continuing dedication to earth science in the public service. ************************************************************* Robert M. Hirsch Phone: 703/648-5215 Chief Hydrologist Fax: 703/648-5002 409 National Center Internet: rhirsch@usgs.gov U.S. Geological Survey Reston, VA 22092 *************************************************************