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effort, Another option would be to require such an inventory as a condition of community participation in the National Flood Insurance Program, with a reasonable period allowed for accomplishing it. Ideally, all such data should be digitized, River Discharge A key piece of data needed at all levels of govemment for aCClll1lte flood mapping, prediction of flood flows, flood warning, and other activities is river discharge from an adequate network of stream gages throughout the nation, Historically, the most comprehensive and reliable data has been the strearn gage network of the U,S, Geological Survey. Unfortunately, this network has slowly been shrinking as federal funding to the U,S, Geological Survey itself decreases, and the budgets of other federal agencies, states, and localities (who COllectively maintain about half of the gages) are reduced, Thus we are losing-where not already lacking-the basic data from which to develop flood level and risk calculations as well as flood warnings to prevent loss of life and protect communities. · A critical national network of stream gages must be specified and federally funded through the U,S, Geological Survey's budget. The information from these gages, along with associated data, is baseline information that should be collected and maintained by the federal government, because the whole nation uses it for warrllngs and risk identification and all taxpayers benefit. States and other organizations that use the data should help secure this funding, · The U,S, Geological Survey, working with the states, should identify the critical network of index gages. · Information collected by local governments through their flood warning systems should be considered as supplemental, rather than inferior, data, Flood warning technology has advanced significantly in the last 10-15 years, and we no longer have the luxury of collecting data as an " , exerCise m pure SCience, WATERSHED STUDIES OF RANCHING Farming and ranching can have serious impacts on watersheds and rivers, particularly in the western United States, where much of the ranching is done on leased federal land, · The federal govemment should undertake systematic studies of the impact of fanning and ranching on watersheds and rivers. All such studies should be done on a watershed basis and include private and state lands, and all land uses. They should include water production and storage for farming and ranching use, and the effects of farming and ranching techniques on flooding, stormwater runoff, sediment production, and water quality, · Federal policies on leasing land for agricultural uses should be adjusted according to these studies, and incentives should be developed as needed for non- federal lands. Association of State Floodplain Managers -23- National Flood Programs in Review 2000