FINAL/Corrected Partner Ltr To: "A - Division Chief and Staff", "B - Branch Chiefs and Offices", "DC - All District Chiefs" From: rhirsch@usgs.gov (Robert Hirsch) Subject: FINAL/Corrected Partner Ltr -- Thank you for the edits. Joanne Cc: "Joanne C Taylor, Secretary (Typing), Reston, VA" , "Janet N Arneson, Secretary (Typing), Reston, VA" January 10, 1996 Dear USGS partner: We are proud of the long U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) tradition of serving the water resources information needs of State, local, and Federal partners such as yourself. We believe these partnerships are examples of effective leveraging of scarce resources. To be unable to make progress on our obligations to you during the two recent shutdowns of the Federal government was a trying experience for all of us. We recognize that it was disquieting and, perhaps, aggravating for you as well. We are most appreciative of your patience and support. The USGS did not shut down completely. We maintained minimum staff in each State to respond to immediate threats to life and property, such as floods. Moreover, we recalled staff when necessary to repair stream gages that are part of the National Flood Forecasting Network and that, therefore, might have been needed in case of flooding. Also, we brought back employees from time to time to perform station maintenance in order to preserve the integrity of our long-term hydrologic data networks. Nevertheless, we clearly have a lot of catching up to do. I want to assure you personally that we are fully committed to completing the products that we have agreed to produce for you. We will accomplish this by deferring work funded by our appropriated monies in order to devote additional time and effort to fulfilling our obligations to partners. If you have concerns about specific projects, please discuss them with our managers and project staffs. We are proud of our 1100 partnerships and are dedicated to making up the time lost in meeting our commitments to you. Thank you again for your support. Sincerely yours, Robert M. Hirsch Chief Hydrologist U.S. Geological Survey ************************************************************* 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 *************************************************************