Testimony
Before the House Interior, Environment and Related Agencies Subcommittee
March 28, 2012
By
Christine Reimer, Government Affairs Director
National Ground Water Association
601 Dempsey Rd
Westerville, OH 43081
800.551.7379, ext. 560
creimer@ngwa.org
The National Ground Water Association (NGWA) requests that $10-million be included
in the U.S. Geological Survey’s (USGS) Groundwater Resources Program account to
begin implementation of a national groundwater monitoring network. NGWA is the
world’s largest association of groundwater professionals, representing public and private
sector engineers, scientists, water well contractors, manufacturers, and suppliers of
groundwater-related products and services.
Water is one of the most critical natural resources to human, ecosystem and economic
survival. In the United States, 78 percent of community water systems, nearly all of rural
America’s private household wells; and 42 percent of agricultural irrigation water are
supplied by groundwater. While the nation’s people, food supply, economy and
ecosystems depend on groundwater, no systematic nationwide monitoring network is in
place to measure what is currently available and how groundwater levels and quality may
be changing over time. As with any valuable natural resource, our groundwater reserves
must be monitored to assist in planning and minimizing potential impacts from shortages
or supply disruptions. Just as one cannot effectively oversee the nation’s economy
without key data; one cannot adequately address the nation’s food, energy, economic, and
drinking water security without understanding the extent, availability and sustainability
of the critical commodity – groundwater.
In the face of current and anticipated water supply shortages, public and private sector
water professionals have put out the call over the years for increased groundwater
monitoring and the dissemination of the resulting data to the nation. i And the need to
take action continues to this day. iiiii
Congress listened and responded to these requests for enhanced groundwater monitoring
by authorizing a national groundwater monitoring network with passage of Public Law
111-11 (Omnibus Public Land Management Act) in 2009. In 2010, six states iv
voluntarily pilot tested concepts for a national groundwater monitoring network as
developed by the federal Advisory Committee on Water Information’s (ACWI)
Subcommittee on Ground Water (SOGW). If this effort moves forward, consistent,
comparable nationwide data would become accessible through a web portal for federal,
state, local government and private sector users. In these tight fiscal times, the proposed
network would build on existing state and federal investments, maximizing their
usefulness and leveraging current dollars to build toward systematic nationwide
monitoring of the groundwater resource.
The Administration's FY2013 USGS budget request allocates $2.5 million under the
heading National Ground Water Monitoring Network. But the UGSG budget
justification suggests spreading these funds over three different programs--the National
Ground Water Monitoring Network, a groundwater climate response network, and a
Brackish Aquifer Assessment. Apart from the other two programs referenced, as part of
the FY2013 Ground Water Resources Program, we ask the Subcommittee allocate $10
million exclusively for the National Ground Water Monitoring Network to do the
following:
1. Provide grants to regional, state, and tribal governments to cost share increased
expenses to upgrade monitoring networks for the 50 states to meet the standards
necessary to understand the nation’s groundwater resources. The shared funding
arrangements should be modeled after highly successful cooperative programs
(e.g. STATEMAP) that already exist between the U.S. Geological Survey and
states; and
2. Support the additional work necessary for USGS to manage a national
groundwater monitoring network and provide national data access through an
internet web portal.
The redirection of an appropriation of $10 million for groundwater monitoring requested
here is small in comparison to the entirety of the Department of Interior’s appropriations.
But the $10 million appropriation is vital when we understand that for a small investment
we can begin finally to put in place adequate monitoring of the hidden resource that
provides nearly 40% of the nation’s drinking water supply. Thank you for your
consideration of this request.
The National Ground Water Association is a not-for-profit professional society and trade
association for the groundwater industry. NGWA is the largest organization of
groundwater professionals in the world. Our members from all 50 states and 72 countries
include some of the leading public and private sector groundwater scientists, engineers,
water well contractors, manufacturers, and suppliers of groundwater related products and
services. The Association’s vision is to be the leading community of groundwater
professionals that promotes the responsible development, use and management of
groundwater resources.
i
U.S. Government Accountability Office. Freshwater Supply: States’ Views of How Federal Agencies
Could Help Them Meet the Challenges of Expected Shortages. (GAO-03-514). July 2003. Page 1.
ii
White House Council on Environmental Quality. Progress Report of the Interagency Climate Change
Adaptation Task Force: Recommended Actions in Support of a National Climate Change Adaptation
Strategy. October 5, 2010. Page 11.
iii
U.S. Government Accountability Office. Energy-Water Nexus: A Better and Coordinated Understanding
of Water Resources Could Help Mitigate the Impacts of Potential Oil Shale Development. (GAO-11-35).
October 2010. Page 39.
iv
The six pilot states were Illinois, Indiana, Minnesota, Montana, New Jersey, and Texas. Additionally,
Idaho, North Carolina, South Carolina, Washington and Wyoming volunteered as pilots but were not
included given limited oversight resources.