USGS to Develp Indicators to Better Measure Nation's H2O Supply: Greenwire

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Plan for National Assessment of Water Availability and Use Executive Summary "What made the deepest impression upon you? " inquired a friend one day of Lincoln, "when you stood in the presence of the Falls of Niagara, the greatest of natural wonders? " - - -- "The thing that stuck me most forcibly when I saw the Falls, " Lincoln responded with characteristic deliberation, "was where in the world did all that water come from ?" -- Author Unknown Humans, their food, their systems, their machines and their economies all depend on a tiny molecule made from two hydrogen atoms and a single oxygen atom. At once simple and yet so very complex and vital to our well being and prosperity, the availability of useable water is becoming one mark by which economic health and national security will be measured in the future. As the need for a safe, usable and reliable water supply becomes more and more crucial, reliable and impartial information about our Nation's water resources is vital. At the behest of the House Appropriations Committee, the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) prepared the report, "Concepts for National Assessment of Water Availability and Use" (http: / /water.usgs.gov /pubs /cire /circl223 /), which proposed a National program to provide comprehensive and timely information on existing conditions and historical trends in surface -water flows and storage, ground -water storage and depletion, and water withdrawals and uses. This report provides further details on the steps which need to be taken to develop and report on the status and trends in storage volumes, flow rates and uses of water nationwide. The program we propose would provide the Nation with an overview of the status and future of one of its vital National treasures — its water resources. It answers the question Congressman Ralph Regula posed to the Survey: "What is the availability of water resources in the Nation and how does this availability relate to demand, source, and geographic location ?" Those who need this information include policy makers and public officials in Federal agencies, the Congress, non - governmental organizations with an interest in natural resources, and the general public. The program also will provide water - resource engineers and planners at the State and local level with a uniform set of information about the resource that will provide a context for their detailed planning of water - related projects and water - resource allocations. The assessment would use existing data collected by USGS and by others to create the water supply barometer, with some supplemental data collection at sentinel sites. In places where the program identifies data gaps, USGS will coordinate improvements in data collection networks for surface water and ground water.