Priority Issues for the Federal-State Cooperative Program, Fiscal Year 1999 Date: Mon, 27 Apr 1998 16:38:09 -0500 To: "A - Division Chief and Staff", "B - Branch Chiefs and Offices", "S - Special Distribution for Research", "FO - State, District, Subdistrict and other Field Offices", "PO - Project Offices" From: "Robert M. Hirsch, Chief Hydrologist, USGS" (by way of Jan Arneson) Subject: WRD Memo No. 98.21--Priority Issues for the Federal-State Cooperative Program, Fiscal Year 1999 Cc: " , WRD Archive File, Reston, VA " In Reply Refer To: Mail Stop 441 April 27, 1998 WATER RESOURCES DIVISION MEMORANDUM NO. 98.21 Subject: Priority Issues for the Federal-State Cooperative Program, Fiscal Year 1999 This memorandum describes priority water issues to be considered in planning the Water Resources Division's (WRD) fiscal year (FY) 1999 Federal-State Cooperative (Coop) Program. Four major themes that the U.S. Geological Survey should focus on to meet Federal priorities are: (1) Hazards, (2) Resources, (3) Environment, and (4) Information. The President's FY 1999 budget proposes an increase of $5.7 million for the Coop Program which includes an adjustment for uncontrollable costs and an increase for water-quality activities. In consultation with WRD Senior Staff and District managers, the following issues have been identified, to provide a national perspective of those State and local water-related issues which are of the most concern at the Federal level. WATER QUALITY--The need to provide the data to better define and manage the quality of the Nation's water resources remains among the highest Coop Program priorities. The proposed FY 1999 Coop Program increase for water-quality activities supports the need to improve water quality in degraded watersheds across the country and to improve the availability and dissemination of water-quality information to all potential users. Through partnerships with State and local agencies the Coop Program can assist efforts by addressing issues that include: (1) determining the linkage between agricultural practices and pesticides in ground water; (2) providing more quantitative understanding of the sources of nutrients entering streams; (3) determining the effects of land use practices; (4) understanding the relations between water quality and the health of aquatic organisms; (5) assisting States in setting Total Maximum Daily Load (TMDL) requirements of the Clean Water Act; (6) assessing the best approach to monitor water-supply wells; (7) better quantifying the effects of active and abandoned mines on streams and aquifers; (8) evaluating effectiveness of non-point source pollution management practices; (9) improving strategies to identify and protect drinking water sources; and (10) increasing the availability of water-quality information, including real-time data, for rivers and coastal waters near the Nation's largest cities. HYDROLOGIC HAZARDS--Economic losses from hydrologic hazards can amount to several billions of dollars annually. Monitoring the occurrence and magnitude of these extreme events and studying the basic processes underlying these hazards are needed to improve the ability to forecast probability of occurrence and likely magnitudes. Also, increasing real-time access to streamflow data through telemetry at gaging stations and through improved presentation on the Internet remains important for disaster preparedness. HYDROLOGIC DATA NETWORKS--The hydrologic-data program constitutes the foundation for watershed and aquifer management and for many other WRD programs. It continues to be a high priority item. Present and possible future WRD initiatives are expected to require access to a comprehensive, uniform, and accurate foundation of surface-water, ground-water, water-quality, and water-use data of national scope. The Coop Program increase supports additional water-quality monitoring stations, including the collection of streamflow data, to determine pollutant loads. Greater emphasis will be placed on biological monitoring to assess conditions that affect human health and aquatic health. Large amounts of data and specialized interpretation often are required for management of the resource base and for water-rights determination by State and Federal agencies. Enhancement of the hydrologic-data program, improved accessibility to available information (such as an increase in the availability of real-time data), and coordination of program activities with those of other agencies continue to be high-priority activities. WATER SUPPLY AND DEMAND--The future health and economic welfare of the Nation's population is dependent upon a continuing supply of uncontaminated freshwater. Many existing sources of water are being stressed by increasing withdrawals, use, diversion, and increasing demands for instream flow. 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 demand management options to supplement the traditional supply approaches. Improved watershed characterization and flow-system definition and simulation also are needed for the management of aquifers and streams that serve as important local or regional sources of water supply and for the management and support of watershed ecosystems. Because aquifers and streams often are highly interdependent, improved tools for simulating interactions between ground and surface water that account quantitatively for effects of withdrawals and climate variations also are needed so that watersheds can be managed more readily as systems. Hydrologic systems models that are capable of showing the consequences of various decisions over a wide range of hydrologic and climatic conditions will be very helpful to local water managers. WETLANDS, LAKES, RESERVOIRS, AND ESTUARIES--These valuable ecosystems merit special attention because of their importance as fish and wildlife habitat, recreational areas, and sources of water supply. Wetlands, in particular, are areas where important water treatment and purification processes can occur naturally. In many areas wetlands are being restored or constructed without pre- and past-scientific evaluation. Studies that integrate and contribute to a better understanding of the physical, chemical, and biological processes of these ecosystems and their watersheds are needed to evaluate development and management alternatives. WATER RESOURCES ISSUES IN COASTAL ZONE--Effects of land use and population increases on the water resources in the coastal zone are a major national concern. Hydrologic monitoring and studies are needed to address issues of erosion, loss of wetlands, subsidence, saltwater intrusion, and problems associated with excessive nutrients, disease-causing micro-organisms, and toxic chemicals, originating upstream from industrial activities and agricultural practices. These pollutants can degrade habitat and health of fish and other wildlife and make beaches and other areas unsuitable for recreational use. ENVIRONMENTAL EFFECTS ON HUMAN HEALTH--This priority focuses on understanding the processes and activities leading to the exposure of human disease-causing contaminants. Issues include: (1) waterborne microbiological threats to human health, including bacteria, viruses, protozoa, and potentially toxic algae; (2) bioaccumulation of trace elements in plants and fish that humans eat; (3) naturally-occurring contaminants, such as arsenic, radium, and other trace elements; and (4) occurrence and persistence of toxic organic compounds in ground waters, rivers, and reservoirs. Development of public information products jointly with State and local health or water supply agencies is strongly encouraged. These products should stress source-water conditions and health advice coupled with explanation of sources and levels of key contaminants. In addition to the high-priority technical issues outlined above, special consideration should be given within the Coop Program to conducting hydrologic analyses and data collection that: (1) support the FY 1999 bureau clean water initiatives, (2) support WRD thrust programs, (3) are beneficial to the WRD commitment to other Federal agencies, especially DOI agencies, (4) result in interdivision collaboration, or (5) provide data and information that could be used to develop national synthesis products. And finally, we must always keep in mind that projects undertaken with cooperators must provide an enhancement of knowledge, methodology, or data that is likely to be useful beyond the immediate needs of the cooperator. In general, if the project is driven solely by an operational need of the cooperator to meet some information requirement for a permit or regulation, we should not undertake it. However, if this operational need can be satisfied along with one or more of the following broader USGS goals, then the work may be considered appropriate. These broader goals, as enumerated in WRD Memorandum 95-44 are: (1) advancing knowledge of the regional hydrologic system, (2) advancing field or analytical methodology, (3) advancing understanding of hydrologic processes, (4) providing data or results useful to multiple parties in potentially contentious inter-jurisdictional conflicts over water resources, (5) furnishing hydrologic data required for interstate and international compacts, Federal law, court decrees, and congressionally mandated studies, (6) providing water-resources information that will be used by multiple parties for planning and operational purposes, (7) furnishing hydrologic data or information that contribute to protection of life and property, (8) contributing data to national data bases that will be used to advance the understanding of regional and temporal variations in hydrologic conditions. /signed/ Robert M. Hirsch Chief Hydrologist Distribution: A, B, S, FO, PO This memorandum supersedes WRD Memorandum 96.21 *************************************************************** * Robert M. Hirsch rhirsch@usgs.gov * * 409 National Center 703-648-5215 * * U.S. Geological Survey fax 703-648-5002 * * Reston, VA 20192 * ***************************************************************