Collaboration is a critical part of the USGS National Water Census. It not only helps direct USGS efforts towards assessments that are most useful for end users – such as other Federal, State, regional, local, and tribal resource managers, but it also ensures that information produced by the USGS can be aggregated and assimilated with other types of physical, social, economic, and environmental data that affect water availability and use.
Water Census • Streamflow • Groundwater • Water Use • Environmental Flows • Evapotranspiration • Focus Area Studies
The USGS receives guidance on National Water Census assessment needs and goals through the Advisory Committee on Water Information (ACWI). ACWI members represent 35 organizations from all levels of government (Federal, State, Tribal, and local), public interest groups, academia, private industry, and non-profit and professional organizations.The USGS has worked with the Sustainable Water Resources Roundtable in ACWI to convene a multi-organization ad hoc committee of stakeholders in water availability to make recommendations on the design, methods of presentation, and priorities of the National Water Census.
USGS works closely with State and local agencies, universities, and water-resource organizations to support, integrate and build on existing data germane to issues of water availability and use. Collaboration with NGO’s such as American Water Works Association, American Water Resources Association, Association of State Drinking Water Administrators, Delaware Basin Commission, National Ground Water Association, Western States Water Council, Interstate Council on Water Policy, and The Nature Conservancy are just a few that assist and advise USGS on water availability, use and ecological science topics. USGS also works closely with other Federal agencies to avoid duplication of efforts and ensure generated data is presented in a format useful for decision-making. Federal partners include Department of Agriculture, Department of Energy, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, the Army Corps of Engineers, the Bureau of Reclamation, and the Environmental Protection Agency.
Examples of Collaboration in the National Water Census
- Tackling the Energy-Water Nexus. The USGS works with the U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA) to improve the quality and usefulness of the water use data reported by power plants by developing models to estimate withdrawals and consumptive use, and assist in quality assurance procedures used by EIA.
- The Science of Supply. In the Colorado River and Upper Rio Grande Basins, the USGS and Bureau of Reclamation (Reclamation) are working closely with the States to address water use information, including consumptive use derived from satellite imagery and evapotranspiration models, as part of Focus Area Study objectives and goals.
- Decision Support for the Delaware. USGS work on ecological water science broadened the capabilities of an integrated decision support system used by the Delaware Basin Commission, allowing decision-makers to better understand and model the effects of alternative water management scenarios on habitat availability for key native species in the Delaware River.
- Coordinating Crop ET Estimates. USGS and Reclamation each rely on high spatial and temporal resolution satellite data and remote sensing methods to produce actual evapotranspiration (ETa) data sets that are used in water use estimations, as well as water management activities.
Science components of the National Water Census.
National Water Census
National Water Census: Streamflow
National Water Census: Groundwater
National Water Census: Water Use
National Water Census: Environmental Flows
National Water Census: Evapotranspiration
National Water Census: Focus Area Studies
- Overview
Collaboration is a critical part of the USGS National Water Census. It not only helps direct USGS efforts towards assessments that are most useful for end users – such as other Federal, State, regional, local, and tribal resource managers, but it also ensures that information produced by the USGS can be aggregated and assimilated with other types of physical, social, economic, and environmental data that affect water availability and use.
Water Census • Streamflow • Groundwater • Water Use • Environmental Flows • Evapotranspiration • Focus Area Studies
The USGS receives guidance on National Water Census assessment needs and goals through the Advisory Committee on Water Information (ACWI). ACWI members represent 35 organizations from all levels of government (Federal, State, Tribal, and local), public interest groups, academia, private industry, and non-profit and professional organizations.The USGS has worked with the Sustainable Water Resources Roundtable in ACWI to convene a multi-organization ad hoc committee of stakeholders in water availability to make recommendations on the design, methods of presentation, and priorities of the National Water Census.
USGS works closely with State and local agencies, universities, and water-resource organizations to support, integrate and build on existing data germane to issues of water availability and use. Collaboration with NGO’s such as American Water Works Association, American Water Resources Association, Association of State Drinking Water Administrators, Delaware Basin Commission, National Ground Water Association, Western States Water Council, Interstate Council on Water Policy, and The Nature Conservancy are just a few that assist and advise USGS on water availability, use and ecological science topics. USGS also works closely with other Federal agencies to avoid duplication of efforts and ensure generated data is presented in a format useful for decision-making. Federal partners include Department of Agriculture, Department of Energy, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, the Army Corps of Engineers, the Bureau of Reclamation, and the Environmental Protection Agency.
Examples of Collaboration in the National Water Census
- Tackling the Energy-Water Nexus. The USGS works with the U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA) to improve the quality and usefulness of the water use data reported by power plants by developing models to estimate withdrawals and consumptive use, and assist in quality assurance procedures used by EIA.
- The Science of Supply. In the Colorado River and Upper Rio Grande Basins, the USGS and Bureau of Reclamation (Reclamation) are working closely with the States to address water use information, including consumptive use derived from satellite imagery and evapotranspiration models, as part of Focus Area Study objectives and goals.
- Decision Support for the Delaware. USGS work on ecological water science broadened the capabilities of an integrated decision support system used by the Delaware Basin Commission, allowing decision-makers to better understand and model the effects of alternative water management scenarios on habitat availability for key native species in the Delaware River.
- Coordinating Crop ET Estimates. USGS and Reclamation each rely on high spatial and temporal resolution satellite data and remote sensing methods to produce actual evapotranspiration (ETa) data sets that are used in water use estimations, as well as water management activities.
- Science
Science components of the National Water Census.
National Water Census
The USGS National Water Census (NWC) is designed to systematically provide information that will allow resource managers to assess the supply, use, and availability of the Nation’s water. The goal of the NWC is to provide nationally-consistent base layers of well-documented data that account for water availability and use nationally.National Water Census: Streamflow
The USGS National Water Census complements the USGS national network of more than 8,000 streamgages by estimating streamflow for ungaged locations throughout the country, by analyzing streamflow records, and by providing tools for analysis of streamgage data to end users. The USGS National Water Information System (NWIS) makes the actual streamgage data available to the public, most of it in "near...National Water Census: Groundwater
The National Water Census (NWC) is leveraging a long history of groundwater studies and is accelerating ongoing regional studies to assess the Nation's groundwater reserves, studies that formerly were conducted under the USGS Groundwater Resources Program. The NWC is also increasing the ability to integrate groundwater and surface-water analyses into watershed-level assessments of water...National Water Census: Water Use
Through the National Water Census, USGS will provide national information on withdrawal, conveyance, consumptive use, and return flow by water-use category at spatial and temporal resolutions important for risk-informed water management decisions. Water-use data provide a foundation for water managers to analyze trends over time, plan more strategically, identify, and ultimately quantify...National Water Census: Environmental Flows
Environmental water studies refer to understanding the quantity, timing, and quality of water flows, as well as the water levels and storage required to sustain freshwater and estuarine ecosystems and the human livelihoods that depend on these ecosystems. The concept of ‘environmental flows’ in stream ecology are the basis of these studies, but they go beyond the understanding of surface flows and...National Water Census: Evapotranspiration
No water budget would be complete without accounting for evaporation and related processes, such as transpiration and sublimation. Evapotranspiration, or "ET," refers to the combined flux of plant transpiration and evaporation from the adjacent soil. It is especially important for understanding water used by irrigated crops, and is related to crop productivity. Consumptive water use for irrigation...National Water Census: Focus Area Studies
Focus Area Studies are stakeholder-driven assessments of water availability in river basins with known or potential conflict. They contribute toward ongoing assessments of water availability in large watersheds, provide opportunities to test and improve approaches to water availability assessment, and inform and ground truth the National Water Census with local information. Common to each of the...