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. . . Western States Water Council Water Resources Committee Minutes Washington, D.C. March 28, 2006 Costs have caused some hindrance and hesitation. The bill is intended to take a proactive approach to preparedness and mitigation over drought relief, so it has been hard to sell. The numbers are now beginning to be understood, so we are improving the outlook all the time. The National Integrated Drought Information System (NIDIS) part of the bill has had a lot of success and support. The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) has taken the lead in this effort, and they are committed. A bill authorizing funding has been put forward this year. Better products have come forward. Right now, we are decoupling the NIDIS section from the rest of the act as a separate bill, so that it is clear it is an authorizing program. NOAA is committed to being the lead. There is a Senate bill, and sponsors have been identified in the House. With regard to the larger bill, Rep. Hastings and his staff have worked themselves to exhaustion. THE FUTURE OF LANDSAT AND THE IMPORTANCE OF THERMAL DATA Karl Dreher and Gene Whitney, White House Office of Science and Technology Policy (OSTP) addressed this issue. Karl observed that we all use Landsat data to various extents. In Idaho, we are not only interested in the photography portion, but in the thermal band portion as well. In the late 1990s, the Department of Water Resources came across a technique used in Europe called Surface Energy Balance Algorithm (SEBAL). The Bear River Basin was chosen to get a good data set, so they tried the SEBAL model and it worked very well. It was with alarm that we heard that NASA was going to discontinue the thermal band. Idaho is working with Washington, and we are working on running scenarios for future water availability. It is critical that the models are calibrated. We also use this to gather information on depletions on sub-reaches ofthe Snake River Basin. Weare very concerned about the loss of Landsat. Climate change is a wildcard in the sustainability of water for the future, and the loss of Landsat data would be a great detriment. Gene Whitney stated they have received many letters from Idaho on this issue. We are receiving other letters of support. I understand the utility of the thermal band. As many of you know, Landsat has been around since 1972. In recent years, there have been some stumbles. Landsat 5 continues to produce data. It is now in its 22nd year. Landsat 7 was launched in 1999. It has had some problems. In December 2005, Dr. John Marburger, OSTP's head, issued a memo to NASA and USGS to immediately move forward with Landsat 8. NASA is in the process of securing proposals to build Landsat 8. It requires all vendors interested in the Landsat design to include the thermal band in their design. The earliest possible launch date will be 2009 or 2010. There is a high probability that Landsat 7 will fail prior to the time Landsat 8 is launched. We are looking at other space platforms internationally that produce this data. 15