DOES THE U.S. NEED A NATIONAL WATER CENSUS?

In the face of regional droughts and increasing conflicts over fresh water supplies, it is becoming increasingly obvious that the U.S. does not know how much water we have nor how much water we need on a variety of scales. Without knowledge of ground water and surface water supplies, and how they change over time, water managers cannot know whether supplies will be adequate to meet critical needs over the coming decades. Despite substantial investments in water quality and quantity monitoring by local, regional, and national agencies and institutions, the U.S. has no comprehensive view of fresh water supply and demand within its major watersheds. Just as it is critical to the Nation to have current information on population, economic activity, agriculture, energy, and public health, it is also critical to know the status of our fresh water resources over time. In partnership with state, regional, and local water agencies, Federal agencies may devise an interagency national strategy for conducting a National Water Census; that is, a periodic inventory of the nation's surface water, groundwater, and water quality. Such a census would require us to develop and adopt data collection, data communication, and data availability standards and protocols for all surface water, groundwater, and water quality measuring and monitoring systems nationwide. A census would integrate existing water monitoring networks to provide uniform water measurements nationwide, and would develop a strategy to establish regional and national priorities for the highest level needs for surface and groundwater monitoring in the U.S. Such a water census might also include mplementation of the National Water Quality Monitoring System.