Interior Releases Progress Report on National Water Census
Census will Guide and Improve Water Sustainability Efforts
WASHINGTON, DC – Secretary of the Interior Ken Salazar today released a report to Congress on the progress of the National Water Census, which is being developed at the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) to help the nation address its critical water needs.
...As competition for water grows—for irrigation of crops, for use by cities and communities, for energy production, and for the environment—the need for the National Water Census and related information and tools to aid water resource managers also grows. The Water Census will assist water and resource managers in understanding and quantifying water supply and demand, and will support more sustainable management of water resources.
...The report released today describes the “water budget” approach being taken to assess water availability for the nation. Water budgets account for the inputs to, outputs from, and changes in the amount of water in the various components of the water cycle. They are the hydrologic equivalent of the deposits to, withdrawals from, and changes in the balance in a checking account and provide the hydrologic foundation for analysis of water availability.
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