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The USGS will work with other organizations, Federal and non - Federal agencies, and <br />universities to ensure that the information produced by USGS can be aggregated with <br />other types of water - availability information to capitalize on data collected on all aspects <br />of water resources. To maximize the utility of the information, the USGS will coordinate <br />the design and development of the effort through the Advisory Committee on Water <br />Information. A review of the program by the National Research Council will be <br />requested within its first couple years to refine the program concepts and design. <br />It is important to remember that water availability and use, while a long -time issue in the <br />West, is becoming evermore critical in the East and throughout the country as States <br />struggle to contend with rapid development and scarce resources. In many parts of the <br />country, competition for water to meet the needs of cities, homes, farms and industries is <br />increasing. At the same time, requirements to leave water in streams and rivers for <br />environmental and recreational uses are expanding. <br />The proposed program is analogous to other Federal programs that produce and regularly <br />update indicator variables to describe economic, demographic, and health conditions of <br />the Nation. <br />To refine the design, we plan to focus initially on two areas —the Great Lakes and Lower <br />Colorado River Basins. The annual cost of the pilot studies and preliminary development <br />of methods of analysis, database development, and synthesis of information is $5.2 <br />million. The program would be positioned to begin studies in other areas after the first <br />two years, leading to a comprehensive and continuously updated national assessment <br />within 5 -7 years and initial national products within 2 -3 years of implementation. The <br />annual budget for full -scale implementation that encompasses all aspects described in this <br />report is projected to be about $48 million. The budget for full -scale implementation <br />would be refined early in the pilot effort. <br />OA <br />