The U.S. Geological Survey is integrating its water science programs to better address the Nation’s greatest water resource challenges. At the heart of this effort are plans to intensively study at least 10 Integrated Water Science (IWS) basins — medium-sized watersheds (10,000-20,000 square miles) and underlying aquifers — over the next decade. The IWS basins will represent a wide range of environmental, hydrologic, and landscape settings and human stressors of water resources to improve understanding of water availability across the Nation.
State-of-the-art water-availability models—supported by high-density innovative monitoring and cutting-edge research—will be developed and applied in each IWS basin in ways that are extensible to larger regions represented by the basins and ultimately to the entire Nation. Water availability here is defined as the spatial and temporal distribution of water quantity and quality in both surface and groundwater, as related to human and ecosystem needs and as affected by human and natural influences. Together, various USGS water science programs, including the Next Generation Water Observing System (NGWOS), Integrated Water Availability Assessments (IWAAs), and Integrated Water Prediction programs, are providing the observations, understanding, predictions, and information delivery necessary for sound decision-making related to emergency response, flood forecasting, reservoir management, drinking water delivery, permit compliance, water-quality improvement, recreational safety and more.
A regional framework was developed and is being used to ensure that basins selected from different hydrologic regions collectively represent the range in major drivers of the hydrologic cycle across the contiguous United States. A quantitative ranking scheme, primarily based on human stressors of water resources, is being used to ensure that the selected basins also address important water-resource challenges (Van Metre et. al., 2020). IWS basin activities are underway in the Delaware River Basin, where the impact of the drought of record under current water supply and demand restrictions is being studied, the Upper Colorado River Basin, where cold-region processes of snow, ice and frozen soils are being studied, and the Illinois River Basin, where the relation between an overabundance of nutrients (primarily nitrogen and phosphorus), associated harmful algal blooms (HABs), and water availability are being studied. Planning has begun for activities in the Willamette River Basin, where there is a need to balance water demands for human and ecological sustainability. Beginning in 2023, planning will begin for IWS basin activities in the Trinity-San Jacinto River Basin to focus on evaluating the impacts of large urban environmental settings and high-impact weather events on water availability and societal welfare.
Key questions the USGS can address with Integrated Water Science
- What is the quality and quantity of atmospheric, surface, and subsurface water, and how do these vary spatially and temporally?
- How do human activities affect water quantity and quality?
- How can water accounting be done more effectively and comprehensively to provide data on water availability and use?
- How does changing climate affect water quality, quantity, and reliability, as well as water-related hazards and extreme events?
- How can long-term water-related risk management be improved?
Below are other science projects associated with Integrated Water Science Basins.
Regional Water Availability Assessment: Delaware River Basin
Integrated Water Availability Assessments
Next Generation Water Observing System (NGWOS)
Integrated Water Prediction (IWP)
Integrated Water Availability Assessments: Upper Colorado River Basin
Next Generation Water Observing System: Illinois River Basin
Next Generation Water Observing System: Upper Colorado River Basin
Next Generation Water Observing System: Delaware River Basin
- Overview
The U.S. Geological Survey is integrating its water science programs to better address the Nation’s greatest water resource challenges. At the heart of this effort are plans to intensively study at least 10 Integrated Water Science (IWS) basins — medium-sized watersheds (10,000-20,000 square miles) and underlying aquifers — over the next decade. The IWS basins will represent a wide range of environmental, hydrologic, and landscape settings and human stressors of water resources to improve understanding of water availability across the Nation.
Sources/Usage: Public Domain.Each of these science processes—observe, understand, predict, and deliver—are necessary for acquiring reliable and actionable information about water availability. If one process is overlooked, the others are limited. For example, if observing systems are not advanced, understanding is limited as is the ability to build better models for prediction. This is why science integration is critical and why it is a priority at the USGS. State-of-the-art water-availability models—supported by high-density innovative monitoring and cutting-edge research—will be developed and applied in each IWS basin in ways that are extensible to larger regions represented by the basins and ultimately to the entire Nation. Water availability here is defined as the spatial and temporal distribution of water quantity and quality in both surface and groundwater, as related to human and ecosystem needs and as affected by human and natural influences. Together, various USGS water science programs, including the Next Generation Water Observing System (NGWOS), Integrated Water Availability Assessments (IWAAs), and Integrated Water Prediction programs, are providing the observations, understanding, predictions, and information delivery necessary for sound decision-making related to emergency response, flood forecasting, reservoir management, drinking water delivery, permit compliance, water-quality improvement, recreational safety and more.
A regional framework was developed and is being used to ensure that basins selected from different hydrologic regions collectively represent the range in major drivers of the hydrologic cycle across the contiguous United States. A quantitative ranking scheme, primarily based on human stressors of water resources, is being used to ensure that the selected basins also address important water-resource challenges (Van Metre et. al., 2020). IWS basin activities are underway in the Delaware River Basin, where the impact of the drought of record under current water supply and demand restrictions is being studied, the Upper Colorado River Basin, where cold-region processes of snow, ice and frozen soils are being studied, and the Illinois River Basin, where the relation between an overabundance of nutrients (primarily nitrogen and phosphorus), associated harmful algal blooms (HABs), and water availability are being studied. Planning has begun for activities in the Willamette River Basin, where there is a need to balance water demands for human and ecological sustainability. Beginning in 2023, planning will begin for IWS basin activities in the Trinity-San Jacinto River Basin to focus on evaluating the impacts of large urban environmental settings and high-impact weather events on water availability and societal welfare.
Key questions the USGS can address with Integrated Water Science
- What is the quality and quantity of atmospheric, surface, and subsurface water, and how do these vary spatially and temporally?
- How do human activities affect water quantity and quality?
- How can water accounting be done more effectively and comprehensively to provide data on water availability and use?
- How does changing climate affect water quality, quantity, and reliability, as well as water-related hazards and extreme events?
- How can long-term water-related risk management be improved?
Sources/Usage: Public Domain.Selected reference basins—referred to as Integrated Water Science (IWS) basins (labeled watersheds outlined in gray)—serve as regional focus areas for intensive observation, understanding, prediction, and delivery of data and information in support of deep, integrated assessments of water availability that can be extended to the broader region (colored areas) and ultimately to the Nation. To date (2023), five basins have been selected for intensive study: the Delaware River Basin, the headwaters of the Colorado and Gunnison River Basin (Upper Colorado River Basin), the Illinois River Basin, the Willamette River Basin, and the Trinity-San Jacinto River Basin. - Science
Below are other science projects associated with Integrated Water Science Basins.
Regional Water Availability Assessment: Delaware River Basin
Regional Water Availability Assessments are scientific assessments of water availability in different hydrologic regions across the Nation. In the Delaware River Basin, the USGS will conduct a focused assessment of increasing freshwater salinity and an integrated and comprehensive assessment of multiple water quantity, quality and use factors.Integrated Water Availability Assessments
The USGS Water Resources Mission Area is assessing how much water is available for human and ecological needs in the United States and identifying where and when the Nation may have challenges meeting its demand for water.Next Generation Water Observing System (NGWOS)
Substantial advances in water science, together with emerging breakthroughs in technical and computational capabilities, have led the USGS to develop a Next Generation Water Observing System (NGWOS). The USGS NGWOS will provide real-time data on water quantity and quality in more affordable and rapid ways than previously possible, and in more locations.Integrated Water Prediction (IWP)
The USGS Integrated Water Prediction science program focuses on the development of advanced models for forecasting multiple water quality and quantity attributes including water budgets and components of the water cycle; water use; temperature; dissolved and suspended water constituents, and ecological conditions. It is also developing the cyberinfrastructure and workflows required to implement...Integrated Water Availability Assessments: Upper Colorado River Basin
Integrated Water Availability Assessments examine water supply, use, and availability. Snow from the Upper Colorado River Basin contributes 92% of the natural streamflow to the entire Colorado River Basin. The UCOL IWAAs will improve our understanding of the water budget, status and trends in water quality and ecological conditions, and ecosystem response to changes in climate and human water use.Next Generation Water Observing System: Illinois River Basin
The Next Generation Water Observing System provides high-fidelity, real-time data on water quantity, quality, and use to support modern water prediction and decision-support systems that are necessary for informing water operations on a daily basis and decision-making during water emergencies. The Illinois River Basin provides an opportunity to implement the NGWOS in a system challenged by an...Next Generation Water Observing System: Upper Colorado River Basin
The Next Generation Water Observing System (NGWOS) provides high-fidelity, real-time data on water quantity, quality, and use to support modern prediction and decision-support systems that are necessary for informing water operations on a daily basis and decision-making during water emergencies. The headwaters of the Colorado and Gunnison River Basins provide an opportunity to implement NGWOS in a...Next Generation Water Observing System: Delaware River Basin
The USGS Next Generation Water Observing System (NGWOS) provides high-fidelity, real-time data on water quantity and quality necessary to support modern water prediction and decision support systems for water emergencies and daily water operations. The Delaware River Basin was the first NGWOS basin, providing an opportunity to implement the program in a nationally important, complex interstate... - Publications
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