Transmittal of Coop briefing sheet to District Chiefs Date: Wed, 4 Feb 1998 08:36:20 -0500 To: "DC - All District Chiefs" From: "Robert M. Hirsch, Chief Hydrologist, USGS" Subject: Transmittal of Coop briefing sheet to District Chiefs Cc: "A - Division Chief and Staff", "B - Branch Chiefs and Offices", "Barbara J Ryan Reston, VA" , "Bonnie M Mcgregor Reston, VA" , "Timothy J West Reston, VA" , "Michael P McDermott Reston, VA" , "Martin Eckes Reston, VA" , "Wendy E Norton, Program Analyst, Reston, VA" , "Katherine F Lins, Regional Director, Eastern Region, Reston, VA" , "Douglas R Posson Denver, CO" , "Thomas J Casadevall Menlo Park, CA" Here is a copy of the "Coop Program briefing sheet" mentioned in my two recent E-mail messages on the FY99 President's budget. We will also be sending you a hard copy of it today. We trust that the briefing sheet, along with information in the previous messages will be helpful in understanding and explaining the present status of our FY99 budget. Clearly, the main message is that the Administration's budget is supporting improvements in the Nation's water quality and they see a major role for the USGS role in collecting, interpreting, and delivering the information to those who need it. For the first time in several years, the Administration has provided us with an opportunity to significantly enhance water quality activities that provide direct support to some of our most valued customers. There is much in the USGS budget request - in the Federal Program, the Coop Program, and the Institute Program - that will be of great help to our cooperating agencies in administering provisions of the Clean Water Act and Safe Drinking Water Act. We will also have opportunities to improve important infrastructure needs such as database enhancements and instrument development. But I should also point out that the future of this budget request and how it will be received in Congress is largely unknown. I am asking you to begin sharing this information with your current and potential cooperators, especially those with a strong interest in water quality. You may want to use the briefing sheet as a basis for a meeting with an existing major cooperator and also do a mailing with a cover letter from you to many smaller cooperators. I hope it will provide a useful means for entering into discussion with these cooperators about a wide range of topics of mutual interest. Here at Headquarters, we will be providing this same briefing sheet to a number of national water organizations and asking them to communicate about it to their membership. Your cooperators may hear about it through that route as well, but it would be best for them to hear it from you first. After reading and digesting all of the information we have sent in the last few days, you might want to touch base with your Regional Program Officer to clear up any questions you may have. Then begin contacting cooperators, state water resource organizations, staff of elected officials that you interact with, and others you know that may have an interest in our programs and budget. If you have additional questions, please feel free to contact Jim Peters (jgpeters 703-648-6843) or myself. ******************** text of briefing sheet ******************************* PROPOSED FISCAL YEAR 1999 INCREASE FOR WATER-QUALITY EFFORTS IN THE USGS FEDERAL-STATE COOPERATIVE WATER PROGRAM Nation's Water Quality--Good Progress; Challenges Ahead Over the past 25 years, the Nation has made good progress in controlling pollution that originates from point sources such as factories and sewage treatment plants. Pollution of ground and surface water from more diffuse non-point sources, however, remains a problem in numerous urban and rural watersheds. Many watersheds have problems associated with excessive nutrients, disease-causing micro-organisms, and toxic chemicals originating from industrial activity and pesticide use. These pollutants can make drinking waters difficult to treat, degrade habitat for fish and other wildlife, make beaches unsuitable for swimming, and contaminate fish. The Clean Water initiative included in the Administration's proposed Fiscal Year 1999 budget is aimed at reaching the goal of healthy aquatic systems in all of the Nation's watersheds. The U. S. Geological Survey (USGS) has an important role to play in reaching that goal by developing and disseminating vital information on water-quality. This information is needed by many customers--from State agencies to local watershed councils to the general public--as they make crucial and scientifically informed decisions about managing and protecting their water resources. USGS Federal-State Cooperative Program--An Opportunity One of the major responses planned by the USGS toward meeting the goals of the Clean Water initiative is through the USGS Federal-State Cooperative Water Program. The Cooperative Program is a unique cost-sharing partnership between the USGS and State and local agencies. The Program enables the USGS to fulfill its mission of continually assessing the Nation's water resources while providing cooperating agencies in all 50 States, Puerto Rico, and U. S. territories with hydrologic data and interpretations needed for developing and implementing water-resource management policies. It is a partnership that has existed for 103 years and currently involves cost-sharing agreements between the USGS and over 1,200 State and local agencies. In this program, the State and local agencies share in the cost of data collection and studies conducted by the USGS. The results of these efforts then add to the information base used by Federal, State, and local governments and the private sector as they plan for and design water- management actions and policies. How Would the Increase Be Directed Toward Water Quality? The FY 1999 USGS budget proposes a $4 million increase to the Cooperative Program for work that supports the Clean Water initiative. Increased funding to the Federal-State Cooperative Water Program would be used to: -- increase the number of water-quality monitoring stations, including the collection of streamflow data needed to determine pollutant transport, -- evaluate the relative effects of various pollution sources in critically important watersheds as needed to determine Total Maximum Daily Loads, as required by the Clean Water Act, -- evaluate the effectiveness of non-point source pollution management practices in a variety of watersheds, -- increase the availability of water-quality information, including real-time data for rivers and coastal waters that are significant sources of water for the Nation's largest cities or water-based recreation areas, -- improve information about drinking-water source areas and approaches to protecting water supplies. Increase Supports Clean Water Efforts in Other USGS Programs In order to take full advantage of the multidisciplinary capabilities of the entire USGS, the increased funding planned for the Cooperative Program is coupled with increases in other parts of the USGS budget to support the Clean Water initiative. The USGS would use these additional funds to increase activities in the following areas: -- National Water Quality Assessment (NAWQA) Program would initiate two new study units, expand predictive modeling capability useful at the watershed scale for determining nutrient sources, transport, and effects, and synthesize information on metal contamination and biological issues. -- Water-Information Delivery Program would make real-time and historical water-quality data more accessible over the World Wide Web in the manner that streamflow data have become available from the USGS in recent years. -- Geographic Research and Applications Program, through interaction with regulatory agencies and watershed councils, would develop new data-handling and serving capabilities, including GIS and visualization, and augment the development of modeling and decision support for understanding and managing non-point source influences on watersheds. -- Water-Quality Data Collection Network would add sampling stations on rivers in coastal regions and throughout major urban areas in order to improve understanding of the nutrients and pollutants carried by these waters, and the processes leading to problems such as toxic algal blooms and low dissolved oxygen concentrations. There would also be increased efforts to improve water-sampling and measuring instruments, reducing the cost of data collection and improving the timeliness of information. --Hydrologic Networks and Analysis Program and NAWQA Program would conduct water-quality monitoring and assessments of selected watersheds within National Park lands. -- Water Resources Research Institutes Program would engage the capabilities of the university community in conducting research oriented toward the objectives of reducing non-point source pollution and restoring the health of aquatic systems in degraded watersheds. -- Mineral Resources Program and Biological Research and Monitoring Program would provide land managers with information about the impact of mineral deposits and abandoned mines on watershed conditions and associated biota. -- Biological Research and Monitoring Program would conduct studies to better understand linkages between landscape characteristics, nutrient inputs, and probable impacts on coastal and estuarine ecosystems, such as the hypoxia zone in the Gulf of Mexico and toxic algal blooms in estuaries nationwide. Water-Quality Issues Addressed by Proposed FY 1999 Budget Increase The USGS is confident that the new work proposed for the Clean Water initiative coupled with ongoing programs will greatly enhance the ability of the USGS to support State and local resource management agencies in addressing the following high-priority issues: setting Total Maximum Daily Load (TMDL) allocations required by the Clean Water Act; developing strategies to identify and protect drinking water sources; understanding the sources of nutrients entering aquifers, streams, and estuaries; understanding the relationships between water quality and the health of aquatic organisms; and quantifying the effects of active and abandoned mines on streams and aquifers. __________ FY 1999 Budget--Point of Contact Inquiries about changes in USGS water-quality programs proposed in the Fiscal Year 1999 budget should be directed to the Program Officer, Jim Peters, at 703-648-6843 (e-mail address: jgpeters@usgs.gov). __________ For More Information To learn more about the USGS and its programs and how you may be able to work with the USGS on this initiative, contact the USGS District Chief in your State. The addresses and telephone numbers of all District Chiefs can be obtained by phone from 1-800-USA-MAPS, or from the USGS home pages on the World Wide Web at: /public/staterep.html For more detailed information on USGS water-resources programs and activities, go directly to the water-resources home pages on the World Wide Web at and explore the "Programs" link, especially NAWQA, the Toxic Substances Hydrology Program and the National Research Program. Real-time and historical streamflow data for every State are available at the same url by clicking on the "Water Data" links. For fax-on-demand information on the USGS and its water-resources programs, dial 1-703-648-4888. February 2, 1998 *************************************************************** * Robert M. Hirsch rhirsch@usgs.gov * * 409 National Center 703-648-5215 * * U.S. Geological Survey fax 703-648-5002 * * Reston, VA 20192 * ***************************************************************