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. . . Western States Water Council Water Resources Committee Minutes Washington, D.C. March 28, 2006 Someone referred to a recent article about satellite data. Does your organization use any of the data from Mr. Cooper? Werner: We use satellite data to a fair extent. We are trying to enhance the use of remote sensing to help determine soil moisture and deep snowpack water content. CLIMATE CHANGE AND CLIMATE VARIABILITY ISSUES - Dave Pope Yesterday the Council sponsored a discussion on climate in preparation for our report to the governors. Virtually all of you participated in one ofthe breakout sessions on different topics for the report. We have not had an opportunity to meet as the full Council since the drafting process began for the report. If anyone on the committee has special interests related to climate, please get your comments to Craig or Shaun. USGS STREAM GAGING PROGRAM (CWP/NSIP) - Bob Hirsch, USGS Associate Director and Glenn Patterson, National Coordinator, Cooperative Water Program A. FY 2007 Funding Bob mentioned the timing of a stakeholder letter regarding increased funding for the streamgaging network which was sent last August. That letter was soon followed by a similar letter from Senator Pete Domenici (R-NM) to Department of Interior Secretary Gale Norton. A face to face meeting with Mark Limbaugh, Assistant Secretary of Interior for Water and Science followed. Tony attended representing the Council. Mark once served as the watermaster of an irrigation district in Idaho and understands there is good data (and bad data as well). All of these factors resulted in a series of actions that occurred in which more money just kept popping into USGS streamgaging programs - going from a flat budget to a 20% increase for the National Stream Information Program. The State of Texas has been particularly helpful. We appreciate their and your effort in talking to folks at Interior and the Congress. Your involvement has been instrumental in increasing the streamgaging budget. In terms of streamgaging, we have been seeing cycles. Some gages have been lost. Congress asked for a streamgaging plan in 1998. In 2001, USGS got a substantial budget increase - "totally unexpected on our part." Prior to the increase in 2001, USGS had to discontinue about 120 stream gages per year, many that had long-tenn records, due to a lack of funding. The money in 2001 helped us to reactivate and modernize some of those gages. Since that time, the budgets have been rock steady. However, salary increases for federal employees have been mandated by the Congress, but not fully funded, so the agency has had to come to the cooperators and ask for a little more funding just to maintain the current system. "The West has remained strong in this effort, and we appreciate it." Some Corps districts have stuck with us as well. Others have pulled out. We are now again in the unpleasant situation they were in the late 1990s, and are losing about 120 streamgages per year nationwide. Again, there is a need to increase federal spending to keep up with inflation. "We need to provide a backbone of very critical 5