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. . . Western States Water Council Water Resources Committee Minutes Santa Ana Pueblo, New Mexico October 28, 2004 Kevin Ward - Texas has allocated $10 million for Agricultural Watc::r Conservation Demonstration projects ($6 million in the Ogallala area). Thesl~ are very large-scale, producer oriented long-term (7-10 years) endeavors that are designed to transfer the latest technology into the field so that producers will adopt the methods in a way that will reduce watl~r consumptbn, instead of the historical result of just increasing their acreage, profit and water use. Kevin also noted the need for development of a national hydrography GIS layer. He stated that the National Hydrography Data set being compiled by the U.S. Geological Survey has not been fully funded. Tony reported that one issue raised from our workshops on Water Information Management Systems (WIMS) relates to Landsat 5 and the future loss of a thermal band (which NASA doesn't want to fund) and the ability to make infrared measurements used by some states to study vegetation, cropping and water use remotely. Jack said that one of the purposes of NIDIS is to highlight existing abilities, such as the use of Landsat. Pat stated, "Basic data isn't sexy in Washington." Dave asked to move on to a discussion of the water conservation topic. He noted that discussions had begun to extend the Bridging-the-Headgate partnership agreement, working with NRCS and the Bureau of Reclamation. Hal Simpson suggested that during the half-day workshop planned for the next meeting, in April, that we try to get more USDA participation. Tony mentioned the working with NRCS state conservationists and state technical committees is one way to raise awareness of water conservation and related issues. Dave asked, "What are we trying to accomplish with conservation?" In part, it is a matter of institutional culture [and a need to recognize using water more efficiently may not achieve real reductions in water use from a basin or aquifer]. Norm Semanko suggested the Council use reauthorization, through the 2007 Farm Bill, as an opportunity to work with USDA and NRCS to review appropriate water conservation priorities. Stephen Bernath with the Washington Department of Ecology's Water Quality Program, suggested we try to link water quality and water quantity in the April workshop. "We fight some of the same battles. At NRCS, water quality isn't certainly at the top of their list of priorities." 5