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003JJ7 Background With co-sponsorship from the U.S, Geological Survey, and support from a number of national organizations with an interest in the USGS stream gaging network, the Interstate Council on Water Policy held four regional workshops in 200 I, focused on USGS streamgaging issues, The workshops were held over a four-month period, Two of these workshops were co-sponsored with other organizations. The western workshop held on March 13-14 was co-sponsored by the Western States Water Council. The final workshop, held on May 24 in Orlando, Florida, was co,sponsored by the American Society of Civil Engineers and was held in conjunction with ASCE's Environmental Water Resources Congress, Designed to bring together cooperators and users of USGS stream gaging information to examine the existing and potential gaging station network, the workshops critiqued the goals that this network seeks to address, Input was also provided on delineation of the appropriate responsibility for financially supporting components of this network, Serving as a backdrop for these workshops was a USGS report issued in 1999 outlining a plan to develop a National Streamflow Information Program (NSIP), which would halt the decade- long trend of the loss in streamgaging stations on streams across the county, Recently, Congress appropriated increases of $2 million and $3.1 million in fiscal years 2000 and 200 I, respectively for real-time hazards monitoring, including additional streamgaging. An additional $5 million for furthering the goals of the NSIP (adding gaging stations to the existing network) was also appropriated in 2001. Facilitated Discussions Played Key Role in Workshops All four regional workshops were professionally facilitated by Gail Bingham, President of RESOL VB. RESOLVE, Inc, is a non-profit organization specializing in environmental dispute resolution, environmental mediation, consensus building, facilitation, conflict resolution and policy dialogue and broadening the techniques for consensus building on public policy issues, The 2001 Regional Stream gaging Workshops were held as follows: February 14: Northeast, Washington, DC (in conjunction with ICWP Washington Roundtable) March 13 - 14: Western, Scottsdale, AZ (in conjunction with Western States Water Council) May II: Midwest, St. Louis, MO May 24: Orlando, FL (in conjunction with the ASCE Environmental Water Resources Congress) Workshop Participation ICWP was very pleased with the participation in the streamgaging workshops, Overall, more than 200 individuals participated in the workshops, 26 states were represented in the workshops, with 40 state representatives participating in the workshops.