About the National Institutes for Water Resources

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Water Resources Research Institutes: Past, Present, Future

Throughout America’s history, water has been a crucial resource. The initial focus during the 1700s and 1800s was on employing water resources to support navigation and subsistence farming. Land Grant colleges were created in the mid-19th century to meet the growing knowledge needs of subsistence farmers.

As the population grew, it became evident that infrastructure improvements were needed that exceeded the capabilities of local and, even, state resources. Public support for water development, on a large scale, increased to the point where the Corps of Engineers and the Bureau of Reclamation, especially during the 20th century, were able to construct a modern system of water works across the U.S. During this period, the need for new water knowledge continued to increase, especially with respect to the engineering and technological aspects of water infrastructure. Universities provided a strong underpinning for development of the highly disciplinary knowledge needed for this infrastructure development.

In the latter half of the 20th century, environmental consequences of large scale water development became more evident. These environmental problems required a much more interdisciplinary approach than employed in the past. It was also recognized that the Federal government should take a more vigorous role in sponsoring and coordinating water resources research. Congress drafted legislation to create a national water resources research program. The Water Resources Research Act of 1964 was signed by President Johnson on July 17, 1964*.

The Water Resources Research Act of 1964 (P.L. 88-379 codified at 42 U.S.C. 10301 et seq.) authorized establishment of a water resources research and technology institute or center in each state. The institutes were charged with (1) arranging for competent research that addresses water problems or expands understanding of water and water-related phenomena, (2) aiding the entry of new research scientists into the water resources fields, (3) helping to train future water scientists and engineers, and (4) getting results of sponsored research to water managers and the public. The program is administered by the U.S. Geological Survey as the Water Resources Research Act Program under the general guidance of the Secretary of the Interior.

The Water Resources Research Act of 1984 (P.L. 98-242) reauthorized the program, which was further amended by the 101st, 104th, 106th, and 109th Congresses. These changes also require institutes to match each Federal dollar received through the program with two non-federal dollars and specify that the federal funds are not to be used to pay the indirect costs of the institutes.

The 109th Congress reauthorized the Water Resources Research Act through 2011 (P.L. 109-471) and authorized base funding for the Institutes at $12 million per year for 2007 through 2011. The authorization adds research funding for competitive grants for projects of regional or national significance at $6 million per year. Appropriations have remained relatively static over 45 years and have declined substantially in that time when converted to constant dollars -- the research “buying power” of the program has greatly diminished.

The 54 Water Resources Research Institutes are well-positioned to assist the USGS, other collaborators, and the Nation overall in advancing the state of water knowledge and management. Indeed, this has always been their mission. In addition to their recently-renewed Congressional mandate, the institutes provide a number of invaluable resources to the water research enterprise:

  • They’re housed at the land grant universities in each of the 50 states, the District of Columbia, the Virgin Islands, Puerto Rico and Guam, and thus form the primary link between water experts in our Nation’s universities and those who manage and use water.
  • They aren’t limited by policy-driven or regulatory missions, and so can address the entire spectrum of water issues, including those that fall between government agency missions. By focusing on science, they can serve as objective brokers of information among constituencies. University-based institutes are well-equipped to examine long-term consequences of policies and practices, not solely immediate issues.
  • The institutes can be more flexible in addressing emerging problems, and more adaptable to local cultures, institutions of governance, and regional socio-economic and physical conditions, than can government agencies.
  • Institutes are better able than mission-driven agencies to consider institutional, in addition to technical, solutions to water problems.
  • Collectively, the water institute program is an established network with capabilities both broad and deep, working ‘on the cutting edge’ of virtually every facet of water resources.
  • The institutes provide hands-on educational opportunities to develop the highly-trained workforce necessary to build national capacity for sustainable water management.
  • Institutes’ technology transfer provides scientifically-credible communication of research needs and results upward from the states and localities to Federal agencies, and from these agencies to users of research results.
  • Institutes are experienced in assessing priorities for research, having established research advisory committees with representatives from virtually all interested agencies and NGOs.

Thus, by the time the Clean Water Act of 1972 was enacted, the nation had already begun the process of developing the research needed to find cost-effective solutions to these water management problems, creating the pool of scientists needed to implement those solutions, and creating the means to place that information in the right hands.

In many ways today, the country is shifting from a development focus in its approach to water resources toward efficient management. In other words, the U.S. is learning how to live within the limits of available water resources. This, again, brings about needs for new water knowledge - knowledge that the national Water Resources Institute Program is well positioned to provide. The Water Resources Institute Program continues to serve as an excellent means to attract and focus the best and brightest minds on the challenges of the present and the future.

* For much more on the specific history of the act, please access NIWR History PDF.

Next Page: What are the Elements of the Water Resources Research Act?