WEBVTT
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(audience chattering)
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All right, good morning folks.
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If everybody wants to take their seats,
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we'll go ahead and get started here
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so we don't keep you longer than we need to.
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My name's Gary Rowe, I'm the program coordinator
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for the USGS Water Quality Program.
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And I want to welcome you all here today.
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Thank you for making it through the rain
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and to our meeting.
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So what we're going to do today
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is tell you about some proposed changes to USGS programs,
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specifically as they relate to water-quality pieces
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that this liaison committee has been dealing with for NAQUA
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and for recently the National Water Quality Program.
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And then talk about some of the exciting
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new science priorities that have been established
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for the Water Missionary act
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and where we're headed with that in its relation
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to future water-quality work,
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as well as broader water resource information.
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So what we'd like to do,
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this is a pretty informal meeting.
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Obviously, we'd like to get a lot of discussion and such.
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And to start off, I think we'll do a round of,
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have everybody introduce themselves,
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where they're from, and that would be a good thing
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to get us going.
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So I guess I'll start over here.
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Elizabeth, would you mind
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kicking it off?
Sure.
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Good morning, everyone.
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I'm Elizabeth Eide,
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and I direct the Water Science and Technology Board
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at the National Academies of Sciences Engineering Medicine.
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I'm Stephanie Johnson.
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I work with Elizabeth at the National Academies.
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Hi, I'm Adrienne Bartlewitz.
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I'm the Chief of Staff of the Water Mission Area
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at the USGS, and also one of the designated officers.
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Good morning, I'm Bob Joseph.
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I'm the Director of Office of Planning and Programming
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for the Water Mission Area.
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I'm Francis Longfellow,
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I'm with the Association of Water Technologies.
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I'm Joe Fillingham,
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I work for Wellntel, water information
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and sensors company based in Wisconsin.
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Hi I'm Lauren Schapker,
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the Government Affairs Director
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for the National Ground Water Association.
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I'm Stephen,
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I lead the Safe Drinking Water Program
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and northeast investment research
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and advanced commissions member.
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I'm Pat Leahy, retired.
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I used to be with USGS, over a decade ago.
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But I was the first Chief
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of the National Water Quality Assessment program.
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And ne thing that struck me as I entered the hotel,
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the very first NAWQA meeting as we used to call it
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occurred in this hotel just down the hall.
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We have used this hotel many times. (laughing)
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Back in the 90s now,
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but frankly, I guess maybe I have that corporate knowledge
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of sort of the aspirations and then the reality.
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I have to say that those of us who were involved
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in the Planning and Implementation Program,
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this program has exceeded our expectations mightily.
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So congratulations to those who have taken
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sort of a fragmented vision, put the flesh on it
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to make it real.
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Thanks, Pat.
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Ayana Jones,
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I'm the Project Coordinator for our Water Program
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at the National Environmental Health Association.
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I'm Ed Thomas of the Fertilizer Institute.
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I'm the Director of Regulatory Affairs.
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I'm Chad Wagner, I'm also with USGS.
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I'm the Coordinator
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of the Groundwater and Streamflow Information Program.
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Danielle Gretsky,
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I work the Quandary Analysis Branch at the US EPA.
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I'm Michael Goff.
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I'm President of Northeast-Midwest Institute in D.C.
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Stephanie Hayes Schlea,
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I'm the Regulatory and Scientific Affairs Manager
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for the Association of Metropolitan Water Agencies.
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I'm Garrett Mason.
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I'm with the Association of Standard and Modern Industries.
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I'm Katie Skalak from USGS.
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I'm the Science Advisor for water prediction.
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I'm David Lesmes,
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it's my first week at the USGS.
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I used to work at the Department of Energy,
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Energy and Water Systems Science Program
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in the Office of Science.
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So I'll be working with Katie and folks,
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managing the Water Prediction part of the program
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that Katie can tell you all about it.
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(audience laughs)
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I'm Mindi Dalton.
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I'm the USGS Program Coordinator
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for our USGS Water Availability and Use Science Program.
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Tony Willards, and I'm the executive director
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of the Western States Water Council,
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we represent 18 western states,
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the 17 western states and Alaska.
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We were created by Western Governors
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to advise in our water policy and our move
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to appoint water owners, offices and send people help.
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Yeah, so Tony was here for water week, right?
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And so we have a lotta water types runnin' around,
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so we tried to schedule this to take advantage
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of some folks being in town.
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Anyway, it's great to have you all here.
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Well, unlike our typical agenda for these meetings
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where we're gonna talk a lot about stuff
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that we've been doing, and some high visibility reports,
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and products, today we're gonna focus
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on some of the changes that are coming to the USGS,
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and in particular to the Water Mission area,
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and how those might impact the water-quality work
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that we've done in the past,
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and some of the new science topics and priorities
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that we've established that I think are pretty exciting,
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and are things that we're pointing towards,
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and as we go forward we're gonna be coming back to you folks
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asking for input on those as the plans mature.
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So just to cover some of the basics.
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What's happening in the USGS?
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Like all federal government organizations,
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we're going through a restructuring effort right now.
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Some at the bureau level for the USGS itself.
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We currently have seven mission areas,
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and there's a proposal to consolidate
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and realign those mission areas down to five.
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With respect to the water resources,
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I'll go into more detail here,
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we're consolidating four of our programs into three.
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In ecosystems, the two mission areas
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that are actually gonna be consolidated
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or sort of dissolved, and their program's
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going to the other mission areas,
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are the environmental health mission area,
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which hosts our toxic substances hydrology program,
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and our contaminants biology program.
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And some of you are probably familiar
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with the research that they have done.
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And the other half of that contaminants biology piece
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will go back to ecosystems.
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The other changes relate to our land resources mission area,
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that's being dissolved, and our land sat piece
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is going back to core systems mission area,
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and the land exchange program also
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is going in the core system.
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So these are the highest level changes
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that are occurring right now.
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These are all proposed changes,
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they've been signed off on by the department
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and are headed to congress.
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Congress will review the proposal and say yay or nay, and.
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That process will occur over the next month or two.
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So for water missionary,
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we've already kinda been moving out on changes.
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These changes have been initiated
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by our new associate director, Don Klein.
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Don comes to the USGS from the Weather Service,
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and he took a look at what we're doing,
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liked a lot what he saw, but figured we needed
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to make some changes to move out on some new topics
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that our stakeholders have been asking us about.
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Some new science priorities,
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and we're gonna hear about those today.
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What the main thrust of where Don is headed
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is he really wants to upgrade our water observing systems,
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and you're gonna hear about our next-gen
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water observing system work program.
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Chad Wagner will speak to you later.
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And then we wanna make strategic investments
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in our research assessment,
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modeling and forecasting capabilities.
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And instead of kinda stovepiping the work that we've done
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by disciplined surface water, groundwater, water-quality,
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integrate that holistically to assess water availability,
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which of course deals with quantity, quality and use.
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And so integrating that and realigning
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of both our funding programs and our science priorities
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is worth those efforts, is where we're headed.
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So we'll talk a little bit more details
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about the budget programs, and new science priorities,
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and then I'm gonna turn it over to our other speakers
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to give you more in-depth information
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on those science priorities.
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So with respect to the Water Mission area,
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what's happening on the left-hand side of the screen,
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you can see the current water resources.
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We have four programs: Water Availability and Use
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science program that Mindi Dalton coordinates.
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This is where the water use work is done.
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We've done groundwater resource assessments,
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and focus area studies as part of the Secure Water act.
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And the next program is the program I currently oversee,
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the National Water Quality program.
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That program, the biggest piece of that of course
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is the NAWQA project, but we also have other pieces
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that are important like the NADP,
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the National Atmospheric Deposition Program,
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looking in precipitation chemistry,
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and then our national park service water-quality partnership
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as well as research components,
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and a component of cooperative matching funds,
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which are funds that we go out
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through our USGS water science centers
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and match that with local tribal or state agencies
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to do local scale investigations.
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Groundwater and streamflow information program,
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those of you that know
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the national streamflow information program,
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previously Chad Wagner oversees that.
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But basically we're gonna consolidate those,
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and bring in the toxic substances hydrology
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into two new programs: a Water Observing Systems program
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and a Water Resources Availability program.
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One program I didn't talk about,
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Water Resources Research Act program,
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that's the program, a grant program
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where we give money to the land grant universities
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through their water resource institutes
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to do research in support of the USGS mission.
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That program is not changing.
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Briefly about the two new programs
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and what they'll be doing.
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The Water Observing Systems program, again,
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is an effort to align and consolidate
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all the observing work the Water Mission area does.
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So that includes stream gaging,
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that includes our groundwater level networks,
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that includes the National Groundwater Monitoring Network,
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which is an act we supported,
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effort through the subcommittee and groundwater
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where we work with the states to bring in water level
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and water-quality information into a database.
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We also will be moving all of the NAWQA-related
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long-term water-quality monitoring networks
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over to the WOSP program,
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and we'll talk about how that's gonna work.
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So again, that will include service water,
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groundwater quality,
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as well as the atmospheric deposition piece.
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So the rest of the work we've done in the past
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related to assessments, research, modeling and forecasting
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will now be in that work done and the other programs,
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like Mindi's program, that's now gonna be rolled in
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to our water resources availability program.
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No apologies for the acronym there,
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I didn't come up with that.
(audience chuckles)
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But anyway, again, this is gonna fulfill goals
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that were established in the Secure Water Act
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and the national water census,
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really to improve our understanding
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of the nation's water availability
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and report out on it on a regular basis.
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And Mindi will touch on this some more.
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But four major goals of the WRAP program.
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They really reflect the long-term goals
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00:11:55.400 --> 00:11:57.230
of the NAWQA program for water-quality
268
00:11:57.230 --> 00:11:59.820
in that we're gonna assess current conditions,
269
00:11:59.820 --> 00:12:02.940
but this time with respect to integrated water availability,
270
00:12:02.940 --> 00:12:06.400
quantity, quality and use, but continue to evaluate
271
00:12:06.400 --> 00:12:08.880
long-term trends in quantity, quality and use,
272
00:12:08.880 --> 00:12:10.223
therefore availability.
273
00:12:11.340 --> 00:12:14.370
An area that NAWQA has started in and is headed into
274
00:12:14.370 --> 00:12:16.240
and will now become a formal work program
275
00:12:16.240 --> 00:12:17.810
that Katie will talk about,
276
00:12:17.810 --> 00:12:20.630
is developing seasonal decadal forecasts
277
00:12:20.630 --> 00:12:22.490
of water availability.
278
00:12:22.490 --> 00:12:24.290
And then a piece that's somewhat new,
279
00:12:24.290 --> 00:12:26.210
at least it's a little bit out of our wheelhouse
280
00:12:26.210 --> 00:12:27.670
compared to what we've done in the past
281
00:12:27.670 --> 00:12:32.250
is developing tools that take into account socioeconomic
282
00:12:32.250 --> 00:12:36.300
and what our resource management policies and issues
283
00:12:36.300 --> 00:12:39.270
to make informed decisions on large sustainability.
284
00:12:39.270 --> 00:12:41.900
So we're gonna need some help from folks
285
00:12:41.900 --> 00:12:45.110
like you in the audience, and your organizations.
286
00:12:45.110 --> 00:12:48.770
So water-quality related research assessment,
287
00:12:48.770 --> 00:12:50.797
modeling that was conducted under NAWQA
288
00:12:50.797 --> 00:12:55.733
and the Toxics program will be in this new WRAP program.
289
00:12:59.310 --> 00:13:02.660
So, these are proposed changes on the books,
290
00:13:02.660 --> 00:13:04.940
I think frankly we expect them to go into effect,
291
00:13:04.940 --> 00:13:07.250
and if congress signs off they would take effect
292
00:13:07.250 --> 00:13:10.414
in the new fiscal year, October 1st.
293
00:13:10.414 --> 00:13:13.390
But in the interim Don and the mission area
294
00:13:13.390 --> 00:13:15.950
have talked to a lot of folks and have established
295
00:13:15.950 --> 00:13:18.150
some new science priorities
296
00:13:18.150 --> 00:13:20.750
that we will be moving out on.
297
00:13:20.750 --> 00:13:22.060
You're gonna hear more about these,
298
00:13:22.060 --> 00:13:24.870
so I'm not gonna spend a lot of time on them now.
299
00:13:24.870 --> 00:13:28.740
But basically to make room for these new science activities,
300
00:13:28.740 --> 00:13:31.470
and start moving out on those,
301
00:13:31.470 --> 00:13:35.480
the decision was made to ramp down the NAWQA program.
302
00:13:35.480 --> 00:13:40.480
So basically we are gonna be moving on from NAWQA,
303
00:13:42.230 --> 00:13:44.770
and it's good that Pat's here, because again,
304
00:13:44.770 --> 00:13:48.700
he was there to help get the program off the ground.
305
00:13:48.700 --> 00:13:50.430
And it looks like I'll have the responsibility
306
00:13:50.430 --> 00:13:53.040
of turning off the lights in a couple fiscal years
307
00:13:53.040 --> 00:13:54.340
for the NAWQA program.
308
00:13:54.340 --> 00:13:56.350
But again, it's been a great program,
309
00:13:56.350 --> 00:13:57.920
and it's been around for a long time.
310
00:13:57.920 --> 00:14:02.180
The history here, we started back in 1986 with pilot studies
311
00:14:02.180 --> 00:14:07.180
that Pat, Bob Hersch and a number of folks helped design.
312
00:14:07.470 --> 00:14:10.570
Bill Ally, et cetera, and got it off the ground,
313
00:14:10.570 --> 00:14:12.420
and got congress interested on the need
314
00:14:12.420 --> 00:14:14.550
for a nationally consistent assessment
315
00:14:14.550 --> 00:14:16.050
on the nation's water-quality.
316
00:14:17.310 --> 00:14:19.810
We were able to get fully ramped up and initiated,
317
00:14:20.785 --> 00:14:23.010
it was always built on a decadal cycle.
318
00:14:23.010 --> 00:14:27.550
And we started in 1991 with cycle one,
319
00:14:27.550 --> 00:14:32.550
we did baseline characterization across 51 large watersheds,
320
00:14:33.020 --> 00:14:35.630
or study units as we used to call them back in the day.
321
00:14:35.630 --> 00:14:38.130
They collected data on a variety of water-quality,
322
00:14:39.200 --> 00:14:43.690
contaminate groups, and baseline logic characterization
323
00:14:43.690 --> 00:14:48.210
at our fixed sites, and the data was fed into teams
324
00:14:48.210 --> 00:14:50.010
that synthesized that data nationally,
325
00:14:50.010 --> 00:14:52.750
so working from sorta that sub-regional
326
00:14:52.750 --> 00:14:56.390
and regional watershed scale to a national scale
327
00:14:56.390 --> 00:14:57.990
was a unique feature of the program,
328
00:14:57.990 --> 00:14:58.920
and I think it's delivered
329
00:14:58.920 --> 00:15:02.563
some of the most important benefits and findings.
330
00:15:03.640 --> 00:15:07.170
Anyway, cycle two we built on baseline characterization
331
00:15:07.170 --> 00:15:10.810
and started really collecting data for trends assessments.
332
00:15:10.810 --> 00:15:13.060
We transitioned from a study unit model,
333
00:15:13.060 --> 00:15:16.400
mainly for cost reasons, to more regional synthesis,
334
00:15:16.400 --> 00:15:19.700
with a principle aquifer or major river basin scale,
335
00:15:19.700 --> 00:15:22.560
and continued our national synthesis work.
336
00:15:22.560 --> 00:15:25.470
We also did a number of topical studies,
337
00:15:25.470 --> 00:15:28.030
and these were driven in large part
338
00:15:28.030 --> 00:15:30.870
by input of what the committee here
339
00:15:30.870 --> 00:15:32.890
felt were the most important topics,
340
00:15:32.890 --> 00:15:34.790
as well as National Academy of Science
341
00:15:34.790 --> 00:15:38.390
reviews of the program that helped drive the work
342
00:15:38.390 --> 00:15:39.420
in the NAWQA program.
343
00:15:39.420 --> 00:15:42.760
So again, another feature of what made NAWQA successful
344
00:15:42.760 --> 00:15:44.060
was in the input from this committee,
345
00:15:44.060 --> 00:15:47.390
as well as the more academic reviews,
346
00:15:47.390 --> 00:15:49.670
if you will, from the academy.
347
00:15:49.670 --> 00:15:51.663
And there we did topical studies,
348
00:15:52.500 --> 00:15:55.550
really case studies across the country in different settings
349
00:15:55.550 --> 00:15:58.360
on agricultural chemical transport,
350
00:15:58.360 --> 00:16:02.800
nutrient enrichment in streams, mercury in streams,
351
00:16:02.800 --> 00:16:06.410
and processing of mercury, the TANC study
352
00:16:06.410 --> 00:16:08.770
was transport of anthropogenic chemicals
353
00:16:08.770 --> 00:16:09.960
to public supply wells,
354
00:16:09.960 --> 00:16:12.000
so that was our groundwater focus study,
355
00:16:12.000 --> 00:16:13.560
and the last one was looking at the effects
356
00:16:13.560 --> 00:16:15.610
of urbanization on stream ecosystem.
357
00:16:15.610 --> 00:16:17.370
And again, each of those studies
358
00:16:17.370 --> 00:16:20.030
produced multiple publications,
359
00:16:20.030 --> 00:16:24.640
really valuable data sets that we built off the program.
360
00:16:24.640 --> 00:16:26.710
So we're currently in about the eighth year
361
00:16:26.710 --> 00:16:29.240
of what would be the third decade of NAWQA,
362
00:16:29.240 --> 00:16:31.640
and with instructions from Don
363
00:16:31.640 --> 00:16:33.073
we're gonna ramp those activities down
364
00:16:33.073 --> 00:16:35.690
over the next couple of years.
365
00:16:35.690 --> 00:16:39.360
But some of the things we did in cycle three, again,
366
00:16:39.360 --> 00:16:40.820
with input from this committee
367
00:16:40.820 --> 00:16:43.530
and from the academy when they reviewed us.
368
00:16:43.530 --> 00:16:44.630
We've reinvested in some
369
00:16:44.630 --> 00:16:46.380
of our long-term monitoring networks.
370
00:16:46.380 --> 00:16:49.830
Again, monitoring over time means increasing costs
371
00:16:49.830 --> 00:16:52.670
and on a flat budget means you do less monitoring
372
00:16:52.670 --> 00:16:54.567
or fewer sites, that sorta thing.
373
00:16:54.567 --> 00:16:57.430
But we reinvested some of our existing resources
374
00:16:57.430 --> 00:16:59.077
and bulking those up.
375
00:16:59.077 --> 00:17:00.670
The current surface water network,
376
00:17:00.670 --> 00:17:02.160
we were on a rotational design.
377
00:17:02.160 --> 00:17:05.710
We're doing it perennially, every year type monitoring now.
378
00:17:05.710 --> 00:17:07.263
We brought water-quality work,
379
00:17:08.560 --> 00:17:10.130
we added a third component there
380
00:17:10.130 --> 00:17:12.580
where we're looking at deep aquifer water-quality,
381
00:17:12.580 --> 00:17:17.290
where public supply wells tend to tap the systems.
382
00:17:17.290 --> 00:17:21.480
And we also kinda riding the wave of technology
383
00:17:21.480 --> 00:17:23.050
that would be part of the science priority
384
00:17:23.050 --> 00:17:25.450
for NGWOS going forward was getting more and more involved
385
00:17:25.450 --> 00:17:28.200
in sensor-based water-quality monitoring,
386
00:17:28.200 --> 00:17:30.100
although at a limited number of sites.
387
00:17:31.370 --> 00:17:33.960
We also heard from stakeholders
388
00:17:33.960 --> 00:17:36.090
that are very interested in the future forecasts
389
00:17:36.090 --> 00:17:38.240
what's gonna happen as a function of climate change,
390
00:17:38.240 --> 00:17:40.630
land use, population growth, et cetera.
391
00:17:40.630 --> 00:17:42.830
So there was a fair bit of work in taking
392
00:17:42.830 --> 00:17:46.340
what had previously been our static water-quality models
393
00:17:46.340 --> 00:17:49.310
that we used to extrapolate monitoring data
394
00:17:49.310 --> 00:17:52.860
to unmonitored areas, things like the SPARROW model.
395
00:17:52.860 --> 00:17:55.390
Building in a temporal or dynamic component of that
396
00:17:55.390 --> 00:17:58.490
so we could both hindcast and potentially forecast.
397
00:17:58.490 --> 00:18:00.000
So some of that work will feed
398
00:18:00.000 --> 00:18:01.590
into the water prediction work program
399
00:18:01.590 --> 00:18:03.253
that Katie's gonna talk about.
400
00:18:04.510 --> 00:18:07.600
So the other big piece there, and this is an area
401
00:18:07.600 --> 00:18:10.120
where we again, driven by stakeholder info,
402
00:18:10.120 --> 00:18:13.460
was understanding relationships between water-quality
403
00:18:13.460 --> 00:18:15.830
and ecosystem health, spring health.
404
00:18:15.830 --> 00:18:18.000
And we have these regional stream quality assessments
405
00:18:18.000 --> 00:18:20.270
where we were really detailed.
406
00:18:20.270 --> 00:18:24.660
Multi-week monitoring, regional basis of 100 or so sites,
407
00:18:24.660 --> 00:18:26.900
and a detailed ecological work.
408
00:18:26.900 --> 00:18:30.160
We partnered with EPA on studies in the Midwest
409
00:18:30.160 --> 00:18:31.220
with their NURSA program,
410
00:18:31.220 --> 00:18:33.330
National Product Resource Surveys,
411
00:18:33.330 --> 00:18:36.030
and to really understand the relationships
412
00:18:36.030 --> 00:18:38.790
between water-quality and the different stressors
413
00:18:38.790 --> 00:18:40.260
that affect stream health.
414
00:18:40.260 --> 00:18:42.700
Things like nutrients, sediment, and contaminants,
415
00:18:42.700 --> 00:18:44.403
and habitat and such, and flow.
416
00:18:45.250 --> 00:18:47.420
So we've got great data sets there
417
00:18:47.420 --> 00:18:49.290
for five regions across the country.
418
00:18:49.290 --> 00:18:52.330
We did the Midwest in partnership with the EPA,
419
00:18:52.330 --> 00:18:55.550
then we moved on to the southeast, northeast,
420
00:18:55.550 --> 00:18:58.130
Pacific Northwest and we wrapped up in California.
421
00:18:58.130 --> 00:19:00.760
So again, there's a legacy of data there
422
00:19:00.760 --> 00:19:02.430
that we'll be trying to wrap up
423
00:19:02.430 --> 00:19:06.720
the synthesis reports on that over the next couple a years,
424
00:19:06.720 --> 00:19:08.580
and report out on that really good information,
425
00:19:08.580 --> 00:19:11.750
and then build off it because it serves as a model
426
00:19:11.750 --> 00:19:12.920
for some of the things we can do
427
00:19:12.920 --> 00:19:16.420
in these integrative water availability assessments
428
00:19:16.420 --> 00:19:18.270
that Mindi will talk about.
429
00:19:18.270 --> 00:19:22.283
So again, details on how we're doin' this.
430
00:19:23.500 --> 00:19:26.450
So again, we'll end the NAWQA project
431
00:19:26.450 --> 00:19:28.573
at the end of fiscal year '21.
432
00:19:29.700 --> 00:19:32.750
We have a budget that is ramping down,
433
00:19:32.750 --> 00:19:33.660
though it is gonna allow us
434
00:19:33.660 --> 00:19:36.430
to maintain most of the monitoring that we're doing,
435
00:19:36.430 --> 00:19:38.490
and finish key reports.
436
00:19:38.490 --> 00:19:40.420
So we're not just cutting it off,
437
00:19:40.420 --> 00:19:43.760
we basically went through an exorcize,
438
00:19:43.760 --> 00:19:46.420
identified the most important report products
439
00:19:46.420 --> 00:19:50.450
we had on the books, and consolidated some of that.
440
00:19:50.450 --> 00:19:53.230
And the type of things you see in the handout there
441
00:19:53.230 --> 00:19:56.240
that come out over the last year that was included there,
442
00:19:56.240 --> 00:19:59.030
you'll see continued those types of requests.
443
00:19:59.030 --> 00:20:01.210
So you'll see a lotta high visibility work
444
00:20:01.210 --> 00:20:04.010
coming out of the work we've done so far in cycle three.
445
00:20:07.610 --> 00:20:09.480
I'm sure people are concerned about what's gonna happen
446
00:20:09.480 --> 00:20:11.163
to our monitoring networks.
447
00:20:12.090 --> 00:20:16.870
On your left here you can see the 114 or 15
448
00:20:16.870 --> 00:20:20.140
long-term fix sites that NAWQA has monitored.
449
00:20:20.140 --> 00:20:22.020
Some of these sites actually are NASQUAN
450
00:20:22.020 --> 00:20:24.990
and hydrologic benchmark sites that go back 40 or 50 years,
451
00:20:24.990 --> 00:20:27.760
where we've been collecting waterfall land flow information.
452
00:20:27.760 --> 00:20:30.110
And so we're gonna continue that effort,
453
00:20:30.110 --> 00:20:32.100
not make major changes to that network
454
00:20:32.100 --> 00:20:34.650
over the next couple fiscal years,
455
00:20:34.650 --> 00:20:36.690
and maintain those data sets.
456
00:20:36.690 --> 00:20:40.740
And again, there's an expectation through the IWAS effort
457
00:20:40.740 --> 00:20:43.300
and the need to monitor long-term trends in water-quality
458
00:20:43.300 --> 00:20:46.490
that we'll maintain this network in some form or another.
459
00:20:46.490 --> 00:20:48.640
There may be a move to modernize it
460
00:20:48.640 --> 00:20:51.660
with more water-quality sensor-based information,
461
00:20:51.660 --> 00:20:53.380
and then fill in parts of the country
462
00:20:53.380 --> 00:20:54.880
with the regional IWAS studies
463
00:20:54.880 --> 00:20:58.050
that Mindi will touch on later.
464
00:20:58.050 --> 00:21:00.880
On the right-hand side are results
465
00:21:00.880 --> 00:21:04.380
from our long-term decadal groundwater quality network.
466
00:21:04.380 --> 00:21:07.740
These are sites or networks of the 30 or so wells
467
00:21:07.740 --> 00:21:10.827
across the country that we started sampling back in the 90s,
468
00:21:10.827 --> 00:21:13.940
and have gone back and resampled those in the 2000s
469
00:21:13.940 --> 00:21:15.930
and through the current cycle.
470
00:21:15.930 --> 00:21:19.520
So now in some cases we have three sets of data
471
00:21:19.520 --> 00:21:21.080
from those 30 or so wells
472
00:21:21.080 --> 00:21:23.100
that we're doing trend analysis on.
473
00:21:23.100 --> 00:21:27.250
And we have an online trends mapper that is showing results,
474
00:21:27.250 --> 00:21:29.860
I think this result here is for chloride.
475
00:21:29.860 --> 00:21:32.040
And not surprisingly, we're seeing increases
476
00:21:32.040 --> 00:21:33.250
in many parts of the country,
477
00:21:33.250 --> 00:21:34.590
particularly the northern tier,
478
00:21:34.590 --> 00:21:36.640
road salt's an important component
479
00:21:36.640 --> 00:21:38.190
of shallow groundwater quality.
480
00:21:41.192 --> 00:21:43.190
So that's the good news piece,
481
00:21:43.190 --> 00:21:44.430
there are some changes though
482
00:21:44.430 --> 00:21:46.040
that we're starting to implement in '20
483
00:21:46.040 --> 00:21:48.580
so we can move some funds around to support work
484
00:21:48.580 --> 00:21:50.713
and pilot efforts for the new priorities.
485
00:21:52.103 --> 00:21:53.680
And that surface water network I showed you
486
00:21:53.680 --> 00:21:56.680
of 100 plus sites, we've been doing ecological sampling
487
00:21:56.680 --> 00:21:59.790
for fish, bugs and algae on an annual basis.
488
00:21:59.790 --> 00:22:02.300
Looking at trends there and relating it to water-quality.
489
00:22:02.300 --> 00:22:05.420
The majority of those 45 sites were small indicator sites
490
00:22:05.420 --> 00:22:07.740
in urban or agricultural watersheds,
491
00:22:07.740 --> 00:22:10.140
and reference sites where we're lookin'
492
00:22:10.140 --> 00:22:12.143
at minimal disturbance on the ecology.
493
00:22:13.110 --> 00:22:14.227
You know, that's not a lotta data,
494
00:22:14.227 --> 00:22:16.120
and it's much less than the states
495
00:22:16.120 --> 00:22:18.620
and EPA collect for their work,
496
00:22:18.620 --> 00:22:20.870
so that's a piece of it that's expensive to collect
497
00:22:20.870 --> 00:22:21.970
that we're gonna drop.
498
00:22:22.830 --> 00:22:24.680
There's some specialized groundwater networks
499
00:22:24.680 --> 00:22:26.170
we've been doing, we had what we call
500
00:22:26.170 --> 00:22:27.610
an extended trends network,
501
00:22:27.610 --> 00:22:29.930
where we were instrumenting wells
502
00:22:29.930 --> 00:22:31.610
with real-time water-quality sensors
503
00:22:31.610 --> 00:22:33.850
in eight locations across the country.
504
00:22:33.850 --> 00:22:35.740
We've collected several years of data there,
505
00:22:35.740 --> 00:22:37.020
and I think we have enough data there
506
00:22:37.020 --> 00:22:39.470
to stop the data collection piece of that
507
00:22:39.470 --> 00:22:41.520
and go on with interpreting what we've found,
508
00:22:41.520 --> 00:22:44.700
and the value of that sensor data
509
00:22:44.700 --> 00:22:47.960
for interpreting short-term trends in water-quality.
510
00:22:47.960 --> 00:22:50.560
So there'll be publications coming out on that.
511
00:22:50.560 --> 00:22:52.950
We also have a sort of regional vertical flow paths
512
00:22:52.950 --> 00:22:55.710
where we have multi-depth well clusters along the flow path
513
00:22:55.710 --> 00:22:57.750
where we're modeling and examining
514
00:22:57.750 --> 00:23:00.737
how groundwater quality changes through those flow paths
515
00:23:00.737 --> 00:23:02.570
and different aquifer systems.
516
00:23:02.570 --> 00:23:05.623
Again, a series of papers will be done on that.
517
00:23:06.700 --> 00:23:08.550
One of the things that cost us a lot of money,
518
00:23:08.550 --> 00:23:11.120
and that it's one of the things that we're known for
519
00:23:11.120 --> 00:23:13.900
is our organic contaminants data sets.
520
00:23:13.900 --> 00:23:15.380
Probably pesticides is the thing
521
00:23:15.380 --> 00:23:18.350
we started with earliest and have been tracking
522
00:23:18.350 --> 00:23:20.300
throughout the lifetime of the program.
523
00:23:21.160 --> 00:23:24.110
Pesticides, if you do a lotta compounds at low levels,
524
00:23:24.110 --> 00:23:25.700
costs a lotta money.
525
00:23:25.700 --> 00:23:27.160
And one area we're looking
526
00:23:27.160 --> 00:23:30.810
to sort of achieve some efficiency and cost reductions,
527
00:23:30.810 --> 00:23:33.380
we started in cycle three with a new analytical schedule,
528
00:23:33.380 --> 00:23:34.790
it was a low-level schedule
529
00:23:34.790 --> 00:23:38.138
that got us over 220 different pesticides compounds
530
00:23:38.138 --> 00:23:39.290
and their degradates.
531
00:23:39.290 --> 00:23:42.560
And it's an expensive analysis, about $900 per.
532
00:23:42.560 --> 00:23:44.610
So we're lookin' to cut that back.
533
00:23:44.610 --> 00:23:47.220
Eliminate a lot of compounds that we either don't see
534
00:23:47.220 --> 00:23:49.540
or rarely see, ones that are not necessarily
535
00:23:49.540 --> 00:23:51.280
as environmentally relevant as we thought,
536
00:23:51.280 --> 00:23:53.040
and maybe scale that analysis back
537
00:23:53.040 --> 00:23:54.923
to 50 or 75 compounds for things
538
00:23:54.923 --> 00:23:57.460
that we think we can do trend analysis on,
539
00:23:57.460 --> 00:23:59.410
based on the currents and relevance
540
00:23:59.410 --> 00:24:01.640
to the environmental ecosystem health.
541
00:24:01.640 --> 00:24:03.317
So we're exploring that right now,
542
00:24:03.317 --> 00:24:06.210
and we're gonna potentially implement that starting in '20
543
00:24:06.210 --> 00:24:08.700
as a mechanism to keep the pesticide piece going.
544
00:24:08.700 --> 00:24:10.720
I think that's a really important part
545
00:24:10.720 --> 00:24:13.220
of the program over time, and nobody else really does it
546
00:24:13.220 --> 00:24:15.130
with the scale we do, with the number of compounds
547
00:24:15.130 --> 00:24:16.844
that we're hopin' to keep that goin'
548
00:24:16.844 --> 00:24:19.333
under the integrated reassessment piece.
549
00:24:23.460 --> 00:24:25.000
Why is this happening?
550
00:24:25.000 --> 00:24:26.190
Well I ask that question a lot
551
00:24:26.190 --> 00:24:28.170
since my program's going away.
552
00:24:28.170 --> 00:24:31.140
But in reality, we're really being driven
553
00:24:31.140 --> 00:24:32.992
by a number of things.
554
00:24:32.992 --> 00:24:35.240
The USGS put out a water science strategy
555
00:24:35.240 --> 00:24:38.463
that emphasized some of these new science priorities.
556
00:24:39.380 --> 00:24:41.130
Elizabeth and her team at the academy,
557
00:24:41.130 --> 00:24:44.610
Don commissioned a report from the academy.
558
00:24:44.610 --> 00:24:47.890
We basically asked them what should the Water Mission area
559
00:24:47.890 --> 00:24:49.750
be doing over the next 25 years
560
00:24:49.750 --> 00:24:53.010
to meet the nation's water information needs.
561
00:24:53.010 --> 00:24:54.620
And some of the recommendations
562
00:24:54.620 --> 00:24:55.770
that came out of that report,
563
00:24:55.770 --> 00:24:57.230
I'm not gonna go into detail on it,
564
00:24:57.230 --> 00:25:00.250
but basically they support these new science directions
565
00:25:00.250 --> 00:25:02.980
that we're headed in and you're gonna hear more about.
566
00:25:02.980 --> 00:25:04.940
There's also a water sub-cabinet
567
00:25:04.940 --> 00:25:06.790
that some of you may or may not be aware of.
568
00:25:06.790 --> 00:25:09.450
But basically it's a group of federal agencies
569
00:25:09.450 --> 00:25:13.100
at the assistant secretary level that have gotten together,
570
00:25:13.100 --> 00:25:15.890
and are also looking at water resource issues
571
00:25:15.890 --> 00:25:19.490
that the federal agencies can better coordinate on.
572
00:25:19.490 --> 00:25:22.510
Tim Petty, the DOI assistant secretary for water and science
573
00:25:22.510 --> 00:25:25.610
is on it, David Ross from EPA is on it,
574
00:25:25.610 --> 00:25:29.780
they have reps from USDA, Noah, Core,
575
00:25:29.780 --> 00:25:32.480
and I can't remember what the sixth one is, do you remember?
576
00:25:32.480 --> 00:25:33.830
DOA.
577
00:25:33.830 --> 00:25:35.780
DOA, right, right.
578
00:25:35.780 --> 00:25:38.320
And anyway, so they also have been driving,
579
00:25:38.320 --> 00:25:40.960
identifying some major areas for federal government
580
00:25:40.960 --> 00:25:44.310
and the agencies to make investments in, kinda divide it up.
581
00:25:44.310 --> 00:25:45.843
Different topics for different agencies.
582
00:25:45.843 --> 00:25:50.400
And the USGS was tasked with advancing water prediction
583
00:25:51.460 --> 00:25:54.360
through enhancing our water observing network
584
00:25:54.360 --> 00:25:58.360
and integrating models that would support such predictions.
585
00:25:58.360 --> 00:26:02.040
And again, that ties into the water prediction work program
586
00:26:02.040 --> 00:26:04.733
that Dave and Katie are overseeing.
587
00:26:05.640 --> 00:26:07.860
We haven't had some input from our, you know,
588
00:26:07.860 --> 00:26:09.680
we talked to our USGS water science centers,
589
00:26:09.680 --> 00:26:11.860
the folks that take our corporate managing funds
590
00:26:11.860 --> 00:26:14.510
and sell programs with their cooperation
591
00:26:14.510 --> 00:26:16.850
at the local state and tribal levels.
592
00:26:16.850 --> 00:26:18.720
They are supportive of these new priorities,
593
00:26:18.720 --> 00:26:22.240
as well as meetings with our missionary stakeholders,
594
00:26:22.240 --> 00:26:25.120
including folks like Western State's Water Council
595
00:26:25.120 --> 00:26:27.070
that Tony oversees.
596
00:26:27.070 --> 00:26:29.380
And frankly, the other reason we're moving out on this,
597
00:26:29.380 --> 00:26:33.270
despite the long-term success of the NAWQA program,
598
00:26:33.270 --> 00:26:34.640
we've had flat funding like a lot
599
00:26:34.640 --> 00:26:37.740
of other federal agencies have over that time period.
600
00:26:37.740 --> 00:26:39.200
And I think Don wants to come in,
601
00:26:39.200 --> 00:26:41.620
identify some new things that people are excited about,
602
00:26:41.620 --> 00:26:43.940
and get some more dollars flowing into the USGS
603
00:26:43.940 --> 00:26:45.330
to support this work.
604
00:26:45.330 --> 00:26:46.380
And he's has some success,
605
00:26:46.380 --> 00:26:50.750
in '19 we saw a seven million dollar increase for NGWOS,
606
00:26:50.750 --> 00:26:52.560
for the water observing system,
607
00:26:52.560 --> 00:26:54.660
and Chad and folks are using those funds
608
00:26:54.660 --> 00:26:55.770
to move out in some pilot work
609
00:26:55.770 --> 00:26:58.070
in the Delaware river basin, among other places.
610
00:26:58.070 --> 00:26:59.570
You'll hear more about that.
611
00:27:01.730 --> 00:27:03.510
Talked a little bit about this, when's it happening?
612
00:27:03.510 --> 00:27:05.560
Again, if it's approved by congress
613
00:27:05.560 --> 00:27:08.350
the new funding program structure would take place
614
00:27:08.350 --> 00:27:10.540
in the new fiscal year.
615
00:27:10.540 --> 00:27:12.440
We discussed the NAWQA transition period,
616
00:27:12.440 --> 00:27:16.100
so we'll wrap NAWQA up in '20 and '21,
617
00:27:16.100 --> 00:27:18.974
at least with respects to the reports work.
618
00:27:18.974 --> 00:27:22.800
Planning for the new Water Mission area work programs
619
00:27:22.800 --> 00:27:25.910
that you'll hear more about is ongoing,
620
00:27:25.910 --> 00:27:28.160
and will be continuing into '20
621
00:27:28.160 --> 00:27:29.990
with a goal of really ramping up
622
00:27:29.990 --> 00:27:32.110
and kicking this stuff off in a coherent manner
623
00:27:32.110 --> 00:27:34.310
in fiscal year '21.
624
00:27:34.310 --> 00:27:36.760
We have, as I mentioned, already started some pilot studies
625
00:27:36.760 --> 00:27:40.320
for NGWOS and the integrated water availability assessments.
626
00:27:40.320 --> 00:27:42.360
This is the initial basin we're focusing on
627
00:27:42.360 --> 00:27:44.260
at the regional level is the Delaware.
628
00:27:46.100 --> 00:27:48.160
And then really again, we'll kick this stuff off
629
00:27:48.160 --> 00:27:49.980
in a more formal manner in '21.
630
00:27:49.980 --> 00:27:52.630
But you're gonna be hearing from us along the way
631
00:27:52.630 --> 00:27:55.890
in various forums, excuse me,
632
00:27:55.890 --> 00:27:59.793
and do other opportunities for us to speak on these topics.
633
00:28:02.760 --> 00:28:04.130
So it's a lotta change,
634
00:28:04.130 --> 00:28:05.910
so what are some of the potential impacts
635
00:28:05.910 --> 00:28:08.423
with respect to the USGS water-quality work?
636
00:28:09.990 --> 00:28:13.410
Certainly, as we transition and move to the new priorities,
637
00:28:13.410 --> 00:28:15.010
some of the monitoring and assessment work
638
00:28:15.010 --> 00:28:17.610
that was done by NAWQA and the Toxics program
639
00:28:17.610 --> 00:28:21.020
will be reduced or eliminated over the next two fiscal years
640
00:28:21.020 --> 00:28:24.230
as we ramp those activities down, particularly NAWQA.
641
00:28:24.230 --> 00:28:26.150
Toxics is just coming over to us
642
00:28:26.150 --> 00:28:29.900
if the transition or the restructuring goes through.
643
00:28:29.900 --> 00:28:32.560
I believe that we're gonna keep them,
644
00:28:32.560 --> 00:28:34.260
let them finish some stuff up in '20,
645
00:28:34.260 --> 00:28:35.890
and then we'll see how they fit
646
00:28:35.890 --> 00:28:38.210
into the new priorities, and then what research
647
00:28:38.210 --> 00:28:40.423
they'll be carrying forward from there.
648
00:28:41.940 --> 00:28:44.810
You'll hear from Chad that they're, again,
649
00:28:44.810 --> 00:28:46.710
a goal of the next-gen water observing system
650
00:28:46.710 --> 00:28:49.650
is to really upgrade the technologies we're using,
651
00:28:49.650 --> 00:28:52.510
and move away to some extent from discrete sampling
652
00:28:52.510 --> 00:28:56.320
and discrete observations, into more in-situ sensors
653
00:28:56.320 --> 00:28:57.840
and remote sensing platforms
654
00:28:57.840 --> 00:29:00.183
that range from drones to satellites.
655
00:29:01.310 --> 00:29:03.510
That will be happening with water-quality as well,
656
00:29:03.510 --> 00:29:06.607
there's a lot of good sensors that get us basic parameters
657
00:29:06.607 --> 00:29:09.870
and some key constituents like nitrate,
658
00:29:09.870 --> 00:29:11.320
alka pigments, et cetera.
659
00:29:11.320 --> 00:29:14.490
That type of information, combined with flow data
660
00:29:14.490 --> 00:29:15.990
can be used to build surrogate models
661
00:29:15.990 --> 00:29:20.180
that can lead to short-term nowcast and forecast
662
00:29:20.180 --> 00:29:21.520
of water-quality conditions
663
00:29:21.520 --> 00:29:23.970
that are of great interest to our stakeholders.
664
00:29:23.970 --> 00:29:26.550
Things like potential for HAPS formation,
665
00:29:26.550 --> 00:29:28.440
those sorts of things.
666
00:29:28.440 --> 00:29:29.580
There will be a shift again
667
00:29:29.580 --> 00:29:31.800
towards these integrated water availability assessments,
668
00:29:31.800 --> 00:29:34.230
not stovepipe by discipline.
669
00:29:34.230 --> 00:29:35.930
And really I think as I just mentioned
670
00:29:35.930 --> 00:29:36.960
the impacts on the research
671
00:29:36.960 --> 00:29:39.030
that the Toxics program is doing
672
00:29:39.030 --> 00:29:42.070
on things like the contaminants through emerging concern,
673
00:29:42.070 --> 00:29:45.350
fate and transport studies, HAVS, aquatic ecosystems health,
674
00:29:45.350 --> 00:29:47.950
et cetera, fluorinated compounds.
675
00:29:47.950 --> 00:29:50.973
Those impacts are to be determined at this point.
676
00:29:54.530 --> 00:29:57.950
So, just to set up our next few speakers.
677
00:29:57.950 --> 00:30:01.110
Again, we'll revisit, these are the new priorities.
678
00:30:01.110 --> 00:30:02.630
Following me you're gonna hear Chad
679
00:30:02.630 --> 00:30:04.800
talk about the water observing system,
680
00:30:04.800 --> 00:30:05.700
and then Katie will talk
681
00:30:05.700 --> 00:30:08.100
about the water prediction work program,
682
00:30:08.100 --> 00:30:11.323
and then the integrated water availability assessments,
683
00:30:11.323 --> 00:30:14.080
Mindi will wrap up with that.
684
00:30:14.080 --> 00:30:16.030
One of the first things we're investing
685
00:30:16.030 --> 00:30:16.880
some of the new funding
686
00:30:16.880 --> 00:30:19.050
that we've gotten in this fiscal year
687
00:30:19.050 --> 00:30:21.450
is on what we're calling NWIS modernization.
688
00:30:21.450 --> 00:30:22.910
NWIS is our National Water Information System,
689
00:30:22.910 --> 00:30:26.360
it's the USGS database for flow,
690
00:30:26.360 --> 00:30:30.940
groundwater and water-quality, and some biology data.
691
00:30:30.940 --> 00:30:35.040
And we just went through a multi-year effort a few years ago
692
00:30:35.040 --> 00:30:37.190
to get our continuous time series data set
693
00:30:37.190 --> 00:30:40.170
on handled flow and other continuous measurements
694
00:30:40.170 --> 00:30:42.970
up to snuff, and now we're turning our attention
695
00:30:42.970 --> 00:30:45.690
to upgrading the discrete piece of that.
696
00:30:45.690 --> 00:30:49.670
But it really got a lot more beyond what we're doing
697
00:30:49.670 --> 00:30:51.090
just with the database piece.
698
00:30:51.090 --> 00:30:53.740
It's really the idea here is to support
699
00:30:53.740 --> 00:30:54.980
some of the concepts that are coming
700
00:30:54.980 --> 00:30:55.990
out of the internet on water,
701
00:30:55.990 --> 00:30:59.500
to really rapidly and efficiently deliver our water data
702
00:30:59.500 --> 00:31:03.418
on a variety of platforms, particularly mobile platforms.
703
00:31:03.418 --> 00:31:04.950
'Cause this and and age, if you don't get your data
704
00:31:04.950 --> 00:31:07.200
out the door as soon as you have it,
705
00:31:07.200 --> 00:31:08.450
people aren't interested.
706
00:31:09.600 --> 00:31:12.790
But also include delivering models,
707
00:31:12.790 --> 00:31:14.550
developing a welding framework
708
00:31:14.550 --> 00:31:16.960
where people can come in, and collect,
709
00:31:16.960 --> 00:31:19.470
and easily discover our data, and plug it into models.
710
00:31:19.470 --> 00:31:21.580
Either our models or their models.
711
00:31:21.580 --> 00:31:24.310
And then get the information out to the public,
712
00:31:24.310 --> 00:31:27.260
using visualizations and other tools
713
00:31:27.260 --> 00:31:29.870
that make it easy to understand and digest.
714
00:31:29.870 --> 00:31:33.790
So we're not gonna go into a lot of detail on that,
715
00:31:33.790 --> 00:31:36.600
but that gives you an idea of what we're doing
716
00:31:36.600 --> 00:31:38.120
with that particular priority.
717
00:31:38.120 --> 00:31:40.410
In some respects it's new enterprise IT,
718
00:31:40.410 --> 00:31:42.920
and we gotta get it done if we're gonna be able to support
719
00:31:42.920 --> 00:31:45.453
all this other work, so that's an important piece.
720
00:31:47.340 --> 00:31:49.983
So I kinda covered that right there.
721
00:31:51.610 --> 00:31:54.260
Again, the idea of having rapid accessible data
722
00:31:54.260 --> 00:31:57.380
really supports our mission related to water hazards
723
00:31:57.380 --> 00:31:58.790
and water availability.
724
00:31:58.790 --> 00:32:00.560
Again, another piece of this will be developing
725
00:32:00.560 --> 00:32:03.800
decision support tools that can aid managers
726
00:32:03.800 --> 00:32:07.030
on a variety of settings: drinking water, recreational,
727
00:32:07.030 --> 00:32:09.270
long-term sustainability, et cetera.
728
00:32:09.270 --> 00:32:12.460
Responses to extreme events and hazards.
729
00:32:12.460 --> 00:32:15.390
And again, consolidate our portfolios.
730
00:32:15.390 --> 00:32:17.068
One of the first things Don did when he came in
731
00:32:17.068 --> 00:32:19.080
was looked at our USGS water missionary website,
732
00:32:19.080 --> 00:32:21.280
and he saw a bunch of really good websites
733
00:32:21.280 --> 00:32:24.700
that were specific to NAWQA Groundwater Resources program,
734
00:32:24.700 --> 00:32:27.560
water use, et cetera, so if you wanted to consolidate data
735
00:32:27.560 --> 00:32:30.480
across those disciplines it was not an easy thing to do.
736
00:32:30.480 --> 00:32:33.110
So we're in the process of redesigning the web presence
737
00:32:33.110 --> 00:32:36.713
to provide integrated information going forward.
738
00:32:39.630 --> 00:32:42.390
So, I'll wrap up here with some take home messages.
739
00:32:42.390 --> 00:32:45.810
I mean basically, budget restructures happen all the time.
740
00:32:45.810 --> 00:32:47.830
We're not anticipating significant impacts
741
00:32:47.830 --> 00:32:50.300
on the amount of funding that will be spent
742
00:32:50.300 --> 00:32:53.590
on our water-quality and monitoring research assessment
743
00:32:53.590 --> 00:32:55.140
as we go forward.
744
00:32:55.140 --> 00:32:56.750
But certainly, under the new priorities,
745
00:32:56.750 --> 00:32:59.260
as the planning and the reach of those mature,
746
00:32:59.260 --> 00:33:01.920
the what, the when and the where,
747
00:33:01.920 --> 00:33:03.800
and the type of work we'll be conducting,
748
00:33:03.800 --> 00:33:05.570
it's gonna be shaped by these new priorities.
749
00:33:05.570 --> 00:33:08.240
And there will be changes compared to what you're used to
750
00:33:08.240 --> 00:33:09.740
coming out of the NAWQA program,
751
00:33:09.740 --> 00:33:10.573
and some of the other parts
752
00:33:10.573 --> 00:33:12.620
of the National Water Quality program.
753
00:33:12.620 --> 00:33:15.963
That said, you're gonna hear some really exciting stuff,
754
00:33:16.890 --> 00:33:19.840
and we think there's great opportunities for collaboration,
755
00:33:19.840 --> 00:33:21.270
and there'll be more details
756
00:33:21.270 --> 00:33:23.270
as the planning efforts on these mature.
757
00:33:24.300 --> 00:33:26.776
This particular AQUI subcommittee was formed
758
00:33:26.776 --> 00:33:29.710
back in the day, as Pat mentioned,
759
00:33:29.710 --> 00:33:32.110
for the NAWQA program, and it was a program.
760
00:33:32.110 --> 00:33:35.260
And it's been supporting that program ever since,
761
00:33:35.260 --> 00:33:37.010
until the more recent consolidation
762
00:33:37.010 --> 00:33:38.230
and kinda NAWQA coming in
763
00:33:38.230 --> 00:33:40.670
under the National Water Quality Program.
764
00:33:40.670 --> 00:33:43.010
Your voices are gonna continue to need to be heard
765
00:33:43.010 --> 00:33:46.390
as we take these new efforts forward.
766
00:33:46.390 --> 00:33:50.360
And I'm not sure what the future
767
00:33:50.360 --> 00:33:52.280
of this particular committee will be.
768
00:33:52.280 --> 00:33:56.580
AQUI itself is being reformed by Don and Tim Petty,
769
00:33:56.580 --> 00:33:57.960
and once they get up and running
770
00:33:57.960 --> 00:33:58.793
and I'm sure they'll take a look
771
00:33:58.793 --> 00:34:01.500
at all of our subcommittees and let us know
772
00:34:01.500 --> 00:34:03.300
how they want us to proceed with stuff.
773
00:34:03.300 --> 00:34:05.543
So we'll keep you posted on that.
774
00:34:06.910 --> 00:34:11.010
I guess I'll bookend the comments that Pat made earlier,
775
00:34:11.010 --> 00:34:14.230
and NAWQA really has been one of the most successful
776
00:34:14.230 --> 00:34:16.980
and significant programs for the USGS.
777
00:34:16.980 --> 00:34:19.090
It's been around a long time and brought in a lot of money,
778
00:34:19.090 --> 00:34:20.810
but I think really what it did
779
00:34:20.810 --> 00:34:22.930
was integrate what our quality of work
780
00:34:22.930 --> 00:34:24.910
that we were doing, and really provided
781
00:34:24.910 --> 00:34:28.210
some nationally significant success stories
782
00:34:28.210 --> 00:34:30.610
in terms of what the current quality
783
00:34:30.610 --> 00:34:33.133
of the nation's water resources were,
784
00:34:34.060 --> 00:34:36.020
how it's changing over time,
785
00:34:36.020 --> 00:34:38.560
and some of the key factors, both natural and human
786
00:34:38.560 --> 00:34:40.621
that were affecting the water-quality conditions.
787
00:34:40.621 --> 00:34:43.620
So we'll walk away with our heads held high.
788
00:34:43.620 --> 00:34:45.750
It was a great effort, we're very proud of it.
789
00:34:45.750 --> 00:34:48.190
And again, we'll continue to see more work on it
790
00:34:48.190 --> 00:34:49.090
as we go forward.
791
00:34:49.090 --> 00:34:51.940
So with that I will stop and take a few questions
792
00:34:51.940 --> 00:34:55.070
if there's any, and if not
793
00:34:55.070 --> 00:34:56.770
we'll move on to our next speaker.
794
00:35:00.790 --> 00:35:01.623
All right.
795
00:35:03.040 --> 00:35:06.590
Okay, so I will introduce our next speaker,
796
00:35:06.590 --> 00:35:08.273
and that is Chad Wagner.
797
00:35:09.250 --> 00:35:11.470
His current role is to run our Groundwater
798
00:35:11.470 --> 00:35:14.113
and Spring Flow Information program,
799
00:35:15.520 --> 00:35:17.370
but if the restructuring goes forward,
800
00:35:17.370 --> 00:35:19.030
Chad will become the program coordinator
801
00:35:19.030 --> 00:35:20.960
of the Water Observing Systems program.
802
00:35:20.960 --> 00:35:23.703
So that's what he's gonna talk to us about.