Position #536 – Support for Critical Federal Water Data Programs
WHEREAS, the Western States Water Council (WSWC) is a government entity representing eighteen states, with members appointed by their respective governors; and
WHEREAS, the WSWC’s mission is to ensure that the West has an adequate, secure, and sustainable supply of water of suitable quality to meet its diverse economic and environmental needs now and in the future; and
WHEREAS, in the West, water is a critical and vital resource that federal agencies provide essential water data and services to water managers and decision makers across the west; and
WHEREAS, the WSWC recognizes the data and services federal agencies provide are invaluable to state agencies, municipal water providers, agricultural producers, hydropower generation and revenues, water managers, tribal groups and ecological efforts.; and
WHEREAS, the WSWC has long supported federal programs that provide reliable and objective water data that informs administration, improves long term planning and policy and helps prepare western states for flood and drought conditions; and
WHEREAS, the Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS) Snow Survey and Water Supply Forecasting Program manages a comprehensive network of snow monitoring sites that provides weather and snow conditions in mountainous regions throughout the west; and the data collected through these snow monitoring sites provides an understanding of current conditions in historical context, offers ground truthing for more advanced methods to measure snowpack, feeds into forecast models and generates seasonal streamflow and watershed conditions forecasts – all essential to water management and the health and human safety of western citizens; and
WHEREAS, the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) works in partnership with state and local agencies to fund and manage a multipurpose network of streamgages, groundwater monitoring wells and water quality networks; and
WHEREAS, these USGS real-time and historical streamflow measurements are foundational to understanding of current and past hydrology which delivers critical flood warnings to safeguard people and property, signals emerging drought conditions and informs water distribution systems managed by the State Engineer and its importance cannot be overstated; and
WHEREAS, multiple federal agencies provide weather, evapotranspiration, and soil moisture data including U.S. Bureau of Reclamation (USBR) AGRIMET to support efficient irrigation and farming practices; and
WHEREAS, National Oceanic Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) agencies including the National Weather Service, Oceanic and Atmospheric Research, and National Environmental Satellite Data and Information Service, collect, process, and serve weather, climate and drought data to make operational forecasts and outlooks that are indispensable for operating water supply and flood risk management infrastructure and for making water management decisions by federal, state, local, and private agencies and utilities.
WHEREAS, the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) operates earth- observing missions such as Landsat and NISAR that collect information enabling measurement of evapotranspiration and land surface deformation, allowing water agencies to estimate agricultural and landscape water use and land subsidence caused by groundwater extraction. This monitoring assists water agencies in administering water rights and managing water supplies.
NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED, that the WSWC expresses our continuing strong support of the stated critical federal programs; and
BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED, the quality of water resource management, operations and planning would not be what it is today without the valuable contribution of these federal programs and the experts who keep them running; and
BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED, that Western States recognize that too often program authorization and appropriations have not kept up with the need, limiting program benefits; and
BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED, that the WSWC encourages the Administration and Congress to immediately ensure that the listed federal programs receive support and appropriations that are adequate to fulfill their stated purposes, as well as focus existing resources on these important programs.
(See also Position #487 and #488, October 21, 2022)