A National Water Initiative: Coordinating and Improving Federal Research on Water

Opening Statement By Chairman Nick Lampson (Energy and Environment)

I want to welcome members of the Subcommittee and our distinguished panelists to today’s hearing on the creation of a National Water Initiative to improve and coordinate Federal research on water.

Chairman Gordon plans to introduce legislation to establish a National Water Initiative to improve and coordinate federal research and development efforts on water.  I would like to thank him for his leadership and foresight in this area, and I look forward to the opportunity to consider his legislation.

In order to meet the water demands of the future, it is essential that we have the information we need to balance the water needs for municipalities, industry, agriculture, recreation, and power.  The population in the United States has increased by over 25 percent since 1973 while federal dollars for water research have remained stagnant.

A new commitment is needed to ensure that we can meet the water challenges over the next twenty years and onward.  Without the right data, it is impossible to know if we are going in the right direction.  The discussion draft before us today will provide decision makers at all levels of government with the tools they need to make the tough decisions of the future.

The 2004 National Academies report on Federal water research suggests that the U.S. is not getting its money's worth on water resources research because of a lack of coordination.  The Chairman’s discussion draft seeks to address this issue.

The bill codifies an existing interagency committee on water availability and quality led by the Office of Science and Technology Policy and strengthens the committee by incorporating the suggestions of a 2004 National Academies report entitled Confronting the Nation’s Water Problems: The Role of Research.

We have a distinguished panel of witnesses before us to offer their recommendations on how federal water research programs could be better shaped and their thoughts on the draft legislation.  Our panel represents a wide range of interests, and I look forward to hearing each perspective.

At this point I will turn to the distinguished Ranking Member of this Subcommittee, Mr. Inglis, for his opening statement.

Opening Statement By Chairman Bart Gordon

Good morning and welcome to the Energy & Environment Subcommittee’s hearing on my draft legislation intended to improve the Federal Government’s efforts to address changes in water use, supply, and demand in the United States.  I thank our panel of witnesses for testifying.  I believe your perspectives are critical to developing an effective bill.  I look forward to receiving your recommendations.

The draft legislation before us today builds on the administration’s effort to coordinate federal research on water resources by establishing an interagency committee – the Subcommittee on Water Availability and Quality (SWAQ) of the National Science and Technology Council.  The draft bill codifies this subcommittee and provides it explicit Congressional authorization.

The bill also incorporates recommendations from the 2004 report by the National Academies of Science entitled Confronting the Nation’s Water Problems: The Role of Federal Research to strengthen the committee’s role in setting priorities and developing an integrated budget to support research on water resources.  The Academy’s report indicated that SWAQ is an effective forum for agencies to share information about their efforts on water.  However, the report identified several issues that needed to be addressed to make SWAQ an effective coordinating body.

The draft bill strengthens the budget function for SWAQ through participation of OMB on the subcommittee.  In addition, SWAQ is directed to engage in outreach activities to develop connections to state and local governments, to wider community of stakeholders, and to the public.  These recommendations, and others, helped to form the basis of this draft legislation.

Water is essential to everything we do and there is no substitute for it.  Many of our districts are experiencing problems with water supply.  If we are to resolve these problems, we need an effective research and development effort that provides tools and information to manage our water resources effectively.  Coordination of the programs managed across 20 federal agencies is a logical place to start.

Again, I thank the witnesses for participating in the hearing this morning, and I look forward to working with you as we go forward to ensure the federal government is doing all it can to promote effective water management.

Witnesses

Panel

1 - Dr. Mark A. Shannon
Director, United States Strategic Water Initiative University of Illinois University of Illinois
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2 - Mr. Tod Christenson
Director, Beverage Industry Environmental Roundtable Senior Consultant, Delta Consultants Senior Consultant, Delta Consultants
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3 - Dr. Timothy T. Loftus
Water Resource Planner Chicago Metropolitan Agency for Planning Chicago Metropolitan Agency for Planning
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4 - Mr. Jerry Johnson
General Manager District of Columbia Water and Sewer Authority District of Columbia Water and Sewer Authority
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5 - Mr. Bradley H. Spooner
Principal Engineer, Environmental Services Municipal Electric Authority of Georgia Municipal Electric Authority of Georgia
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6 - Dr. Upton Hatch
President-elect, National Institutes for Water Resources Interim Director, Water Resources Research Institute, North Carolina State University Research Professo
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