Mission of the USGS Water Science Center

The mission of the Water Science Center is to provide the hydrologic information and understanding needed for the optimum utilization and management of the Nation's water resources for the overall benefit of the people of the United States. This is accomplished, in large part, through cooperation with other Federal and non-Federal agencies, by:

• Collecting, on a systematic basis, data needed for the continuing determination and evaluation of the quantity, quality, and use of the Nations's water resources.
• Conducting analytical and interpretive water-resource appraisals describing the occurence, availability, and physical, chemical, and biological characteristics of surface and ground water.
• Conducting supportive basic and problem-oriented research in hydraulics, hydrology, and related fields of science to improve the scientific basis for investigations and measurement techniques and to understand hydrologic systems sufficiently well to quantitatively predict their response to stress, either natural or manmade.
• Disseminating the water data and the results of these investigations and research through reports, maps, computerized information services, and other forms of public releases.
• Coordinating the activities of Federal agencies in the acquisition of water data for streams, lakes, reservoirs, estuaries, and ground water.
• Providing scientific and technical assistance in hydrologic fields to other Federal, State, and local agencies; to licensees of Federal Power Commission; and to international agencies on behalf of the Department of State.
• Acquiring, developing, and disseminating information on water-related natural hazards such as droughts, floods, landslides, land subsidence, mudflows, and volcanoes.
• Administering the provisions of the Water Resources Research Act of 1984, which includes the State Water Research Institutes and the Research Grants and Contracts Programs.
• Supporting the provisions of the National Environmental Policy Act of 1969 and managing natural-resources surveys in response to the Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation, and Liability Act(Superfund Act) of 1980.

Authority for carrying out this mission is derived from legislation of 1879, which created the USGS, and legislation of 1888 and 1894, which provided for gaging of streams and determining the Nation's water supply. Congressional appropriations have been made annually since 1894 for gaging streams and performing other functions relating to water resources. In 1964, the Geological Survey's mission was broadended to include the role of lead agency in the coordination of the activities of all Federal agencies in the acquisition of certain water data. This task was assigned to the Department of the Interior in Office of Management and Budget Circular A-67.