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National Institutes for Water Resources Convenes in Washington DC in March The National Institutes for Water Resources (NIWR) held its annual meeting in Washington, D.C., March 6 -8, 2005. NIWR is an association of the nation's 54 water resources research institutes created and operated under the Federal Water Resources Research Act. The water institutes connect the water expertise in higher education with the research and education needs of local, state, and regional water managers and users as well as help educate the next generation of water managers. The Colorado Water Resources Research Institute (CWRRI) is Colorado's water institute under the federal legislation. The main topics discussed at the annual NIWR meeting addressed restoring the water institute program's $6.5 million federal funding, eliminated in the President's FY 06 budget. The national institute program must also be reauthorized during 2005. The water institute program is administered through the USGS and each federal dollar must be matched by two non - federal dollars. During the meeting, the water institute directors met with Congressional staff to update them on current water research projects and request support for restoring federal funding for the national water institute program. Another major topic of discussion was formulating a NIWR response to the 2004 National Research Council's report on the role of federally funded water research — a report that addressed the need to better coordinate the nation's water resources research enterprise and examined alternative institutional options for providing improved coordination, prioritization and implement of research on water resources. NIWR is responding to the NRC report by developing a strategic plan that includes three key elements: 1. Periodic, systematic, state -based formulations of the nation's water research needs and priorities; 2. Periodic inventories of the nation's water re- search portfolio which can be compared to the nation's needs in order to identify gaps in water knowledge; and, 3. Expand NIWR's annual national water research competition to address the knowledge gaps iden- tified above. NIWR proposes to adapt its current internet -based water research administration software system to accomplish the above tasks in an efficient and effective manner. The goal is to create an enhanced federal -state partnership that rec- 22 ..- ognizes the lead role states play in managing water resources while, at the same time, acknowledging and addressing the impact federal mandates have on the need for new water information. A panel during the meeting presented several new water ini- tiatives on campuses across the country. Several examples are: The University of Arizona is implementing a new $3.5 million Water Sustainability Program, utilizing funds from a new state tax, to strengthen water research, outreach, and education efforts at the University of Arizona. The goal of the program is to ensure a sustainable, high -qual- ity water supply for economic development and enhanced quality of life for all of Arizona. For more information on this water initiative, see: http: //www.uawater.arizona.edu/about/desc.htmI The Idaho Water Center has moved from Moscow, Idaho, (University of Idaho) to Boise State Univer- sity as part of a state initiative to house the Idaho Water Center, the Idaho State Engineer's Office, a new geospatial center, a US Forest Service research station, the Ecohydraulics Research Center, and CH2MHill in the same building. The goal is to provide a state focus on water via development of new partnerships that are greatly facilitated by co- location. The University of Nebraska, has a $1.4 million initiative underway that involves hiring seven new faculty and improving the Water Sciences Labora- tory on campus. For more information, see http: //wrri.unl.edu/story.htm Will Focht (OK) outlines the research prioritization process that is a part of the new NIWR strategic plan.