Templates for "Relevance and Benefits"


In Reply Refer To:
ACH/Program Operations
Mail Stop 441

                                        MEMORANDUM

                                                                January 
10, 2000

To:             District Chiefs
                        Administrative Officers

From:           Catherine L. Hill /signed/
                        Associate Chief Hydrologist for Program Operations

Subject:        Templates for "Relevance and Benefits"

Water Resources Division Policy Memorandum No. 2000.04 describes the 
requirement for a section called "Relevance and Benefits" in all new 
project proposals, and in the Management Information System part of the 
Administrative Information System. As mentioned in that memorandum, 
standard templates for district use have been developed that describe 
the relevance and benefits for Programs 001, 002, 003, 004, 005, 006, 
007, and 008, and Federal Programs including NAWQA and Toxics 
Substances Hydrology from a national perspective. Districts are 
encouraged to include additional district-specific information to the 
"Relevance and Benefits" section for these programs, as appropriate.

Copy to:        WRD Senior Staff
                        Regional Program Analysts
                        Regional Program Officers




Project 001 - Surface water data collection

An important part of the USGS mission is to provide scientific information 
to manage the water resources of the Nation. To effectively assess the 
Nation's surface-water resources, the USGS operates more than 7,000 
streamgaging stations, monitors lakes and reservoirs, makes periodic flow 
measurements on rivers and streams using standardized methods, and 
maintains the data from these stations in a national data base. The data 
are made available on the World Wide Web (WWW), and are published for each 
State annually. Much of the data also is available on a near real-time 
basis to cooperators, customers and the public on the WWW, which is 
critical for the effective management of the Nation's water resources. 
Surface-water data are needed to develop information about flow and stage 
that can be used by a variety of individuals and agencies for the planning 
and management of diverse water-resources projects and programs including 
flood warning; flood assessment; reservoir operations; monitoring 
water-quality and setting water-quality standards; designing 
infrastructure such as bridges, culverts, and dams; evaluating the effects 
of changing land use; detecting long-term changes in climate; and 
administering compacts, decrees, and (or) treaties on interstate and 
international bodies of water. The streamgaging stations, and lake and 
reservoir monitoring stations operated in this State are an integral part 
of the nationwide surface-water data program.

Project 002 - Ground-water data collection

An important part of the USGS mission is to provide scientific information 
to manage the water resources of the Nation. To effectively assess the 
Nation's ground-water resources, the USGS monitors water levels in 
thousands of wells, determines aquifer characteristics in principal 
aquifers, and monitors the quality of water in wells and springs using 
standardized methods. The data are published in annual data reports, 
reports on specific aquifers, modeling reports, and are made available on 
the World Wide Web. These data are used in determining long-term trends in 
water levels by aquifer, sustainable yields by aquifer, climatic effects 
on water levels, and in development of flow and transport models that 
allow prediction of future conditions and detection and 
definition of contaminant and water-supply problems. The data are critical 
to local, state, and regional water managers for broad-based planning and 
managing of water-resources projects concerning drought warning and 
assessment, subsurface water storage, the effects of changing land use, 
and interstate water-rights agreements. The ground-water data collected in 
this State are an integral part of the nationwide ground-water data 
program. 
Project 003 - Water-quality data collection.

An important part of the USGS mission is to provide scientific information 
to manage the water resources of the Nation. To effectively assess the 
quality of the Nation's surface-water and ground-water resources, the USGS 
collects water-quality data from rivers, lakes, estuaries, and 
ground-water aquifers. Water-quality data are published in annual data 
reports, and an increasing amount of real-time and historical 
water-quality data are available on the World Wide Web. The data, 
collected using standardized instruments and procedures, contribute to a 
nationally consistent data set for assessment of the water quality of the 
Nation. Long-term water-quality data characterize the physical, chemical, 
and biological changes in our water resources in response to natural 
processes including climatic variations, storms, floods, droughts, 
volcanic eruptions, and a variety of human activities that exert an 
influence on water-quality conditions. The data are useful in designing 
programs to protect watersheds, sensitive aquatic habitats, biota, and 
drinking water sources from urban and agricultural runoff, sewage, and 
industrial and mining wastes. The data are also useful in designing 
programs to maintain waterways for other designated beneficial uses such 
as navigation, aesthetics, contact recreation, and to meet national and 
international treaty obligations. The water-quality data collected in this 
State are an integral part of the nationwide water-quality data program.

Project 004 - Sediment data collection

An important part of the USGS mission is to provide scientific information 
to manage the water resources of the Nation. As part of its efforts to 
effectively assess the Nation's surface-water resources, the USGS collects 
sediment data at a network of about 700 stations on major rivers and 
streams. Sediment data are collected daily at about 150 of these stations; 
monthly and high-flow samples are collected at other stations. Sediment 
data are published in annual data reports, and increasingly are available 
on the World Wide Web. The data, collected using standardized instruments 
and procedures, contribute to a nationally consistent data set for the 
assessment of selected water resources of the Nation. Long-term sediment 
records help to characterize geomorphological and physical channel changes 
in watersheds, evaluate the effects of best management practices, and 
predict filling rates of reservoirs used for flood control, irrigation, 
and water supply. Sediment data are also critical to the evaluation of 
physical habitat for aquatic life in our Nation's waterways. Sediment is a 
principal carrier of pesticides, heavy metals, bacteria, viruses, and 
other contaminants in streams. The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency 
has reported that sediment in its various forms is the single, most-cited 
reason for streams not meeting their designated use criteria and 
consequently being placed on the 303(d) list. The sediment data collected 
in this State are an integral part of a continuing assessment of the 
sediment transport characteristics of the Nation's rivers.

Project 005 - Atmospheric deposition data collection

An important part of the USGS mission is to provide scientific information 
to manage the water resources of the Nation, and to enhance and protect 
our quality of life. The USGS is the lead Federal agency for monitoring 
wet atmospheric deposition (chemical constituents deposited from the 
atmosphere via rain, sleet, and snow) in the United States. In cooperation 
with more than 100 Federal, State, and local organizations, the USGS 
provides long-term atmospheric deposition data from a national-scale 
network of more than 200 sites. All data from this network are made 
available on the World Wide Web. The network provides data in support of 
research on air quality, water quality, forest productivity, materials 
effects, ecosystem studies, watershed studies and human health, and a 
national baseline with which to evaluate the effectiveness of ongoing and 
future regulations intended to reduce atmospheric emissions and subsequent 
impacts to terrestrial and aquatic ecosystems. The atmospheric deposition 
data collected in this State are an integral part the nationwide 
atmospheric deposition network. 

Project 006 - Flood-plain mapping

An important part of the USGS mission is to provide scientific information 
to minimize the loss of life and property from natural disasters. To 
effectively accomplish this mission, the USGS provides reliable, 
impartial, and timely information needed for understanding flood hazards. 
The information enables the Federal Emergency Management Agency to 
prepare, modify, or verify its Flood Insurance Rate Maps. These maps are 
used by other governmental agencies, lending institutions, businesses and 
industry, and the public for making informed decisions about land use in 
areas potentially subject to flood hazards. The USGS works to improve 
field and analytical flood-plain mapping methodologies and uses the 
information generated by flood-plain mapping activities to advance the 
scientific understanding of hydrologic processes related to flood hazards. 
The information is also used for planning, for resolving potentially 
contentious situations, and for protecting life and property. The 
flood-plain mapping done in this State is an integral part of the 
nationwide flood-plain mapping network. 

Project 007 - Water-use data collection and compilation

An important part of the USGS mission is to provide scientific information 
to manage the water resources of the Nation, and to enhance and protect 
our quality of life. The future health and welfare of the Nation's 
population is dependent upon a continuing supply of uncontaminated fresh 
water. Increasing withdrawals and increasing demands for instream flows 
are limiting the water available for future use. More comprehensive 
water-use data and analysis of water-use information are needed to 
quantify the stress on existing supplies and to better model and evaluate 
possible water-supply management options to supplement traditional 
water-supply approaches. By compiling water-use data from numerous sources 
and reporting it in a common format for all parts of the country, the USGS 
provides resource managers at all levels of government with vital 
information needed to make informed decisions about managing their water 
resources. The results of such efforts provide benefits to our Nation's 
sustainable health, welfare, and prosperity. The water-use data collected 
and compiled in this State are an integral part of the nationwide 
assessment of water supply and demand.

Project 008 - Flood damage and data collection

An important part of the USGS mission is to provide scientific information 
to manage the water resources of the Nation, and to minimize the loss of 
life and property from natural disasters. Floods are one of the most 
widespread and destructive natural hazards. To better understand the 
locations and risks of flooding, the USGS assesses flooding potential, 
investigates flood occurrences, and collects streamflow information to 
define the magnitude and frequency of flooding and the causative 
meteorological events in a wide variety of environments. From this 
information, more accurate estimates of flood risk are possible. Data are 
collected during the peak-flow of flood events to define river 
stage/stream discharge rating curves at streamgaging stations. Where this 
is not possible, post-flood surveys are conducted to reconstruct peak 
discharge values and characteristics using indirect methods. Where 
possible, flood-inundation areas are obtained at the peak of flow from 
satellite or aircraft images. The data collected during floods and the 
repairs made to the data-collection network following floods in this State 
are vital to maintaining an effective nationwide flood-warning system. 

Project xxx - Toxic Substances Hydrology Program 

An important part of the USGS mission is to provide scientific information 
to manage the water resources of the Nation, and to enhance and protect 
our quality of life. To effectively assess the Nation's surface-water and 
ground-water resources, the USGS provides reliable, unbiased, and timely 
information on the behavior of toxic substances in hydrologic 
environments. Knowledge gained and methods produced through point-source 
investigations of the Toxics Program help improve the effectiveness and 
reduce the cost of characterization and remediation at contaminant sites 
across the Nation. The Toxics Program's regional and ecosystem 
investigations provide information to resource managers and regulators 
that is used to develop new water-quality standards or register new 
pesticides or industrial chemicals with appropriate agencies. Federal 
land-management agencies use the results from Toxics Program 
investigations to prioritize the cleanup of abandoned mine sites. The 
Toxics Program is designed to focus rapidly on emerging issues and 
contaminants, to identify the processes that affect the scale of 
toxic-substance problems, and to provide results and information to 
achieve practical solutions. Results of investigations are presented on 
the World Wide Web, at professional meetings, in periodicals, and in a 
variety of USGS publications. 

Project xxxx - National Water Quality Assessment Program

An important part of the USGS mission is to provide scientific information 
to manage the water resources of the Nation. To help assess the Nation's 
water resources, the USGS established the National Water-Quality 
Assessment (NAWQA) Program to (1): describe the status and trends in the 
quality of a large, representative part of the Nation's surface-water and 
ground-water resources using nationally consistent methods and approaches; 
(2): provide an improved understanding of the primary natural and human 
factors affecting these conditions; and (3): provide information that 
supports development and evaluation of management, regulatory, and 
monitoring decisions by other federal, state and local agencies. Three 
major program elements contribute to accomplishing the goals of the NAWQA 
Program: (1) investigations of major river basins and aquifer systems, 
referred to as study units; (2) regional and national syntheses of key 
findings from study-unit investigations and existing 
information related to important water-quality topics such as pesticides, 
nutrients, volatile organic compounds, trace elements, and ecology; and 
(3): coordination at local, State, regional, and national levels with 
environmental and natural resource managers and other users of 
water-quality information. The data and information provided by the NAWQA 
Project in this State are vital to the NAWQA Program nationwide.