Fiscal Year 2000 Budget Date: Tue, 02 Feb 1999 09:39:37 -0500 To: "DC - All District Chiefs" From: "Robert M. Hirsch" (by way of Jan Arneson ) Subject: Fiscal Year 2000 Budget Cc: "A - Division Chief and Staff", "B - Branch Chiefs and Offices", "Charles G Groat, Reston, VA ", "Thomas J Casadevall, Reston, VA ", "Bonnie A Mcgregor, Reston, VA ", "Barbara J Ryan, Reston, VA ", "Pamela R Malam, Reston, VA ", "Timothy J West, Reston, VA ", "Glenn G Patterson, Hydrologist, Reston, VA ", "Eckes, Martin" , "McDermott, Michael P" February 2, 1999 To: WRD District Chiefs From: Robert M. Hirsch (signed) This message on the FY 2000 budget is in three parts. The first is this brief introduction from me, the second is a letter from the Director to USGS Water program stakeholders (with a list of those stakeholders), and the third is the USGS budget press release. Please feel free to share these with staff and particularly with cooperators and other stakeholders. In addition, Jim Peters or Wendy Norton soon will be sending you the budget numbers and descriptions of the specific program changes. As you know, this budget is complex because of the combination of programmatic changes and restructuring. The largest of the programmatic increases is $3 million for real-time hazards and the largest programmatic decrease is $2.5 million for the Coop Program. The restructuring, if viewed superficially, would suggest serious consequences for water programs. However, as we discussed last week, the consequences of restructuring are actually small for most of our programs and may even be positive for the Cooperative Program in some Districts because of lower assessments for our cooperators. In explaining the budget it is critically important for you to be supportive of the restructuring that has been done. Making these changes will contribute to our future success in the appropriation process and should be helpful with our reimbursable customers as well. In discussing these changes with our reimbursable customers, it is important to point out that the effects of restructuring are separate from the effects of the programmatic increases and decreases in the budget. I trust that you will emphasize the benefits that restructuring provides -- more open budget presentation, closer alignment with other division business-practices, and lower costs to our customers. Over the next few days, my staff, working with the Regional Program Officers, will provide you with specific guidance on how to proceed with your program planning discussions with cooperators for FY 2000. I appreciate that these changes will present you with short-term challenges as you attempt to understand and explain them to your staff and cooperators. But in the long run, I believe that restructuring, as presented in the FY 2000 budget request, will provide important benefits to the division and the bureau. We will do our best to try to provide you with the information and guidance that you need during this time of transition. *************************************************************************** In Reply Refer To: Mail Stop 409 February 1, 1999 Dear USGS Water Program Stakeholder: The presentation this week of the President's proposed Fiscal Year (FY) 2000 budget gives me a welcome opportunity to communicate with the State and local agencies who participate in the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) Federal-State Cooperative Water Program. These 1,200 agencies represent a large and important sector of the USGS customer community. The FY 2000 budget that the President has proposed for the USGS will increase funds for research to provide crucial scientific information for natural resource managers at the Department of the Interior (DOI) and other Federal, State, and local agencies, and for disaster managers in government and private sector organizations. The proposed budget includes funding to upgrade USGS streamflow gaging stations and enhance the means by which real-time water data are delivered to States and local governments and other users. This enhancement represents a real increase of $3 million to help States and communities ensure public safety and reduce property loss. Another increase supports work by USGS water, biology, and mapping scientists on the troubling environmental phenomena of amphibian die-offs and deformities, which will bring an increase of $5.6 million in total USGS funds for research in the States and communities affected. Coupled with these proposed increases are significant steps in the complex process of restructuring the USGS budget to develop common business practices that make us a more partner-friendly organization. The new budget structure is a more open way for the USGS to present costs to our State and local cooperators and to the Congress. As customers, you will be able to more clearly see the costs directed toward science and the associated administrative costs. The promise of the proposed FY 2000 budget in the long run is tempered by a few challenges in the short run. We want to discuss these impacts openly with you as long-term partners of the USGS, in partnerships that have been built on a spirit of trust and honest cooperation. Therefore, we are sharing with you both the opportunities and challenges of the FY 2000 budget. For example, a simple comparison of the FY 1999 enacted funding for the Federal-State Cooperative Water Resources Program to the proposed funding in the FY 2000 budget appears to show a 17 percent decrease in Federal matching funds from about $70 million to just over $58 million. This change reflects a combination of the effects of budget restructuring and a programmatic decrease of $2.5 million associated with the Clean Water Action Plan. However, a number of factors must be considered in viewing those numbers. The USGS budget restructuring will now fund a significant part of facilities costs at the bureau level and lower the indirect costscharged to all customers and programs. The long-term result is that the USGS District Office will be able to accomplish more science for a given State contribution. Our preliminary calculations show that if the total contributions of the States and localities continue at their current level, the funds available at the USGS District level to carry out the work would be no different than in the current year. While not a direct infusion of Federal funds, these better business practices will have real and practical benefit to the States, particularly in the long run. Future increases in appropriations or in State and local contributions will yield more direct funding to USGS science. We are committed to seeking these increases and encourage you to continue your support at current levels as we work together to enhance our water programs. We will also continue to strengthen internal collaboration and seek new opportunities with other USGS programs to identify additional matching funds to bring to the table with cooperators, which will broaden State-based efforts and, again, lessen the impact of the decline in Federal matching dollars. We are indeed "united by waters" as Secretary Babbitt has said. The watersheds in which we live are truly the lifeblood of our communities and commerce. We are mindful of the somewhat mixed message that the proposed budget may send to our State and local stakeholders. We are confident that over the next 2 to 5 years, our stakeholders will find themselves in a more productive relationship with the USGS that will mean lower administrative costs and an enhanced ability for the USGS to work with the States. We will work with you to pursue our mutual scientific interests and ensure that timely, high quality information is available to address your needs and facilitate your decisionmaking. Enclosed you will find the press release describing the major features of the proposed FY 2000 USGS budget. For more detail on the specific changes in the budget please feel free to contact the Water Resources Division (WRD) Chief Hydrologist (Robert Hirsch, rhirsch@usgs.gov, 703-648-5215) or WRD District Chiefs. We hope we can count on you to support the FY 2000 USGS budget as we move forward towards improved business practices and a more integrated approach to science. Sincerely yours, (signed) Charles G. Groat Director Enclosure *************************************************************************** Stakeholder list: Interstate Conference on Water Policy, Rick Kropp, Susan Gilson, Freddy Vang, Henry Dean American Water Works Association, Jack Hoffbur American Society of Civil Engineers, Elizabeth Clarke American Association of State Geologists, Emery Cleaves Association of State and Interstate Water Pollution Control Administrators, Roberta Savage Association of State Drinking Water Administrators, Vanessa Leiby Association of State Flood Plain Managers, Larry Larson Assoc. of Western State Engineers, Jeff Facett Ground Water Protection Council, Rodney DeHan National Ground Water Association, Dennis Goldman Water Environment Federation, Quincalee Brown (exec. dir.), Tim Williams (gov. aff.) Western States Water Council, Craig Bell Environmental Council of States, Robert Roberts COOP Review Task Force list Mr. Craig H. Albertsen Mr. Thomas F. Baumgardner Mr. Tom Bruns Mr. Edmund B. Burkett Mr. Richard S. Burton Mr. Randall C. Duncan Mr. James E. Enote Federal Emergency Mgmt. Agency, Wash. D.C. (Vacant) Mr. Frederick G. Lissner Mr. Peter J. Mack Dr. Fred L. Ogden Mr. Donald M. Phelps Mr. David L. Pope Dr. Jonathan G. Price Mr. Robert E. Roberts Mr. Larry W. Rowe, P.E. Mr. James D. Shotwell Mr. Earl T. Smith Mr. Charles S. Spooner Mr. Alan H. Vicory Dr. Leslie A. Wedderburn Mr. Donald E. Woodward *************************************************************************** News Release Address: Email: Office of Outreach rphipps@usgs.gov kwood@usgs.gov U.S. Department of the Interior 119 National Center U.S. Geological Survey Reston, VA 20192 Release Contact: Phone: Fax: Embargoed Until 1 p.m. Rebecca Phipps 703-648-4414 703-648-4466 February 1, 1999 Karen Wood 703-648-4447 USGS FY 2000 BUDGET EMPHASIZES INTEGRATED SCIENCE, PARTNERSHIPS The President has proposed a budget of $838.5 million for the Interior Department's U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) in Fiscal Year 2000. The proposed budget will fund research to provide crucial scientific information for natural resource managers at Interior and other federal, state and local government agencies, and for disaster management decisionmakers in government and private sector organizations. The FY 2000 budget reflects a $40.6 million net increase over FY 1999 enacted funding. The increases reflect a commitment to integrating USGS' scientific disciplines - geology, biology, hydrology and geography - into a more unified approach to research and information gathering and analysis. The USGS is refocusing $15 million in base funding and requesting a $15 million increase to focus science resources on the most urgent research priorities of Interior land management agencies. These increases bring the total USGS funding directed toward Interior science needs to well over $150 million. "As the science agency for the Interior Department, USGS is working directly with the management of the National Park Service, Fish and Wildlife Service, Bureau of Land Management and other agencies to address their highest priority research needs," said Dr. Charles Groat, USGS Director. "At the same time, we are taking the first step in the complex process of restructuring our budget to develop common business practices that make us a more partner-friendly organization." This restructuring is reflected in the consolidation of appropriated facilities costs into an expanded Facilities line item, and all bureau level administration costs into a new category called Science Support. A new budget activity, Integrated Science, was created as well; this change will help to effectively integrate different scientific disciplines' programs to bring a more unified response to critical and emerging resource management issues and challenges. "While at first glance it may appear that some programs have received a decrease in funding through this budget restructuring," Groat noted, "in most cases, programs simply have had their administrative costs re-categorized, leaving the research funding intact." Increases include $8 million to improve the integration and coordination of disaster information between the many sources and users of this information through a disaster information network. "The USGS provided crucial scientific data for the nation's response to three devastating hurricanes this year - Bonnie, Georges and Mitch. We continue to do so for coastal erosion affecting communities in the Pacific Northwest and flooding throughout the country," said Dr. Groat. "These experiences have demonstrated time and again the urgent need for data standards and protocols, plus source lists for information and materials providers, to get early information to agencies responding to natural disasters in the U.S. and abroad. The right scientific information, made available in a timely way, can help relief organizations and local governments save lives and reduce the costs of natural disasters. "At the same time, Interior is the manager of a natural hazards monitoring infrastructure that is critically important to America. These stream gages, earthquake and volcano monitors, and other natural hazards warning equipment are badly in need of attention," Groat stated. "The President has requested a $5.5 million increase to accelerate the modernization of natural hazard detection sensors and networks, and expand the use of telemetry for real-time warning capabilities." Other increases include $10 million to expand the National Spatial Data Infrastructure through the Community-Federal Information Partnership. This supports the President's Livable Communities Initiative. The proposal, which includes a $6.7 million community grant component, will help local communities develop the geospatial ability to create and use these data and technologies to make informed land use decisions. Amphibian research and monitoring has been slated for a $5.6 million increase. "Understanding complex ecological problems, like that of severely declining amphibian populations across our country, requires long-term data," Groat said. The new funding would enable an aggressive monitoring and research program to determine the scope and causes of the amphibian population decline. "Because amphibians are considered good indicators of ecosystem health due to their sensitivity to many kinds of environmental stress, there is an urgent need to evaluate the scope and severity of their decline. USGS has the unique ability to bring an integrated science approach to address this problem," Groat noted. As the nation's natural science agency, the USGS has 10,000 employees at work in every state, Puerto Rico and the U.S. territories, investigating issues of concern to every American. In cooperation with more than 2,000 local, state, regional and national organizations, USGS activities include managing 45,000 water measuring stations crucial to making flood and water-supply forecasts; providing 80,000 different maps of the country; managing front-line earthquake and volcano monitoring networks; and conducting wildlife research at parks and refuges. USGS is a leader in the development of scientific information technologies and applications in support of natural resource management and disaster response. # # # USGS # # # *************************************************************** * Robert M. Hirsch rhirsch@usgs.gov * * 409 National Center 703-648-5215 * * U.S. Geological Survey fax 703-648-5002 * * Reston, VA 20192 * ***************************************************************