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. . . Western States Water Council Water Resources Committee Minutes Sioux Falls, South Dakota May 3, 2007 been scant. Overall USGS saw a increase. NSIP money and Cooperative Program money is now going out to the managers. The only FY 2007 decrease was for the competitive grant program, which was zeroed out. There is a 14% increase for NSIP in FY 2008 budget request, and they are trying to ensure that the Cooperative Program gains additional funding, so it does not decrease. Streamgages are funded with both NSIP and CWP money. No new CWP investigative studies are planned for FY 2008. Next, Bob discussed the idea of "furnished records," Le., when another entity collects data under a USGS agreement with that other agency. USGS provides them access to their software, and provides quality assurance for the data. Ofthe continuous data records through the year 2000, 8% is furnished records. California has the largest amount of any state. [Some have suggested that furnished record from state water agencies may be one way to reduce streamgaging costs.] Bob has tried to be clearer with USGS staff and others how to go through the process for furnished record, and to provide examples to make it clear what the policies and procedures are. He noted that lake and reservoir stage furnished record account for about one-third of all that USGS record. He also said USGS is open to work sharing and other kinds of cost containment possibilities, but it must meet the USGS work flow plan. He described a "shared effort" agreement with the Lower Colorado River Authority in Texas, where USGS provides "high flow" data and contracts for work during peak load periods. He next addressed the situation of funding of streamgages through the Bureau of Indian Affairs (BIA). Massive budget reductions in recent years forced BIA to cutback funding for gages. Some of these gages had nearly 70 years of record, and some have been rescued. BIA has gone through a lot of changes in their management of water programs, and USGS is seeing tremendous fluctuations in the BIA's contributions to the CWP. So far, for FY 2006 only eight gages were actually lost. Five ofthose were in Wyoming. There is a great deal of uncertainty about BIA gages. Wyoming and Montana are the two states most affected, and you may want to talk to your USGS Water Science Center Directors about the loss of gages. In FY 2008, Wyoming could lose another eight gages and Montana six or seven out of a total number of about 20 gages at risk. Bob also mentioned interest in finding ways to accept money from the private sector for streamgaging activities. A system is already in place. This has been framed under the National Water Information System (NWIS) and began in February 2007. There are a couple of agreements in North Dakota. USGS would appreciate help in finding other opportunities where private entities can help. For example, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers has sought out private power companies for help in addressing project operation and maintenance funding cutbacks. He described the interagency development of the U.S. Drought Monitor, which provides ready access to information online for current water information. It is the work of a consortium that includes USGS, the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation, USDA's Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS), National Weather Service (NWS), and National Drought Mitigation Center at the University of Nebraska. The idea was to create a single portal for climatic and hydrologic data and understanding water resources. He mention some of the work of Dr. David Maidment at the Center for Research in Water Resources at the University of Texas at Austin and the Consortium of Universities for the Advancement of Hydrologic Science, Inc. CUAHSI is a coalition of over one hundred universities with funding from the National Science Foundation (NSF). 5