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USGS National Water Information System (NWIS) database, which provides historical <br />and current data from individual measurement sites such as streamgages and observation <br />wells. The information warehouse described here will provide quantitative regional <br />summaries of flow and storage. It will be based on data from NWIS and other sources, <br />but will utilize statistical and deterministic data analysis tools to provide spatially and <br />temporally aggregated summary information. Information will be retrievable as a file or <br />mapped on a web browser by county, basin, State, or for all of the U.S. These data will be <br />readily available to government agencies, universities and the general public to address <br />critical questions about the Nation's water availability and use. Ultimately, the data <br />warehouse could serve gridded data; summary data by aquifer, hydrologic unit, or <br />Region; and national coverages developed by the program. <br />An enhanced national water -use database will be developed and maintained to provide <br />ready access to water - withdrawal, conveyance, and return -flow information. The <br />database also will store ancillary data sets on the related water -use indicators. Some of <br />the data sets for these related indicators are available from State agencies and other <br />Federal agencies, such as the Department of Agriculture, Department of Energy, Bureau <br />of Economic Analysis, and Bureau of the Census. Consistent and accessible water -use <br />data made available through a national water -use database will serve as a foundation for <br />integrating water -use data with water -flow and water - quality data. <br />Methods Development <br />Although it is clear that water - availability indicators should be built from basic <br />hydrologic data, the transformation of the raw hydrologic and water -use data into a <br />meaningful set of indicators that shed light on changing conditions of water availability <br />and use and that contribute to a more comprehensive set of environmental indicators for <br />the Nation, will require significant development effort. Furthermore, some of the water - <br />cycle components, such as evapotranspiration, have proved difficult to estimate <br />accurately using existing measurement techniques. Thus, an important component of the <br />program will involve development and testing of water availability indicators and <br />improved methods for quantifying water -cycle components. New and emerging <br />technologies also will be tested and applied, such as microgravity techniques to measure <br />aquifer storage change and satellite imagery to quantify agricultural water use. <br />Budget <br />To refine the design, we plan to focus initially on two areas —the Great Lakes and the <br />Lower Colorado River Basins. The annual cost of the pilot studies and preliminary <br />development of methods of analysis, database development, and synthesis of information <br />is $5.2 million. The program would be positioned to begin studies in other areas after the <br />first 2 years, leading to the initial stages of a comprehensive and continuously updated <br />national assessment within 5 -7 years and initial national products within 2 -3 years of <br />implementation. The annual budget for full -scale implementation that encompasses all <br />aspects described in this report is projected to be about $48 million, comprising: <br />13 <br />