Department of the Interior
Departmental Manual
Effective Date: 3/4/99
Series: Organization
Part 120: U.S. Geological Survey
Chapter 7: Water Resources Division
Originating Office: U.S. Geological Survey
120 DM 7
7.1 General Functions. The Water Resources Division investigates the occurrence, quantity, quality, distribution, uses, and movement of surface and ground waters in order to develop and disseminate scientific knowledge and understanding of the Nation's water resources. Its activities include resource assessment; research; and coordinating the activities of numerous other entities involved in water-resources research, data acquisition, or information transfer, which are carried out through specific Federal programs, or in cooperation with State and local governments or other Federal agencies.
Resource assessment activities of the Division include collecting data on the quantity, quality, and use of surface water (streams, lakes, reservoirs, estuaries, and glaciers), and ground water (including water in the unsaturated zone), and on the quality of precipitation; storing, disseminating, and interpreting these data and publishing the results of the interpretations; developing and applying new methods of hydrologic-data collection, analysis, and interpretation; conducting area-focused interpretive hydrologic investigations and appraisals at national, regional, State, or local scales; and reporting to the Nation, on a regular basis, on the overall status of the water resource, and on hydrologic events and water-resource issues.
Research activities of the Division are designed to improve the overall understanding of the pathways, rates of movement, chemical processes, and biological processes in the hydrologic cycle; improve the overall understanding of the hydraulic, chemical and biological factors of both natural and human origins that affect the resource; provide new strategies of data collection, analysis, and interpretation, in the light of new knowledge and evolving scientific capabilities; and improve methods of predicting the response of hydrologic systems to stresses, whether hydraulic or chemical, and whether of natural or human origin.
7.2 Headquarters Organization. The headquarters organization of the Water Resources Division in Reston, Virginia, includes the Chief Hydrologist; the Associate Chief Hydrologists for Program Operations, and Scientific Programs; the Assistant Chief Hydrologists for Information, and Research; and the Offices of Water Quality, Ground Water, Surface Water, and National Water Quality Assessment. (See attached organization chart)
A. The Chief Hydrologist exercises the authority delegated by the Director for the planning, execution, and evaluation of USGS hydrologic programs and for the scheduling and production of related reports and publications.
B. The Associate Chief Hydrologist for Scientific Programs provides expert consultation and advice to senior executive management on the development and enhancement of the entire U.S. Geological Survey program in the hydrologic sciences and on the future of the program as a whole. This includes providing leadership in strategic planning and providing technical guidance on policy development to ensure the continued excellence of the program and fostering the development of new theories, ideas, and techniques for those organizational components involved in multidisciplinary investigations. Represents the Division on the bureau's Science Council.
C. The Associate Chief Hydrologist for Program Operations serves as principal operational deputy to the Chief Hydrologist and exercises overall responsibility for the establishment of divisionwide policy on budgetary, accounting, human resources, and administrative systems matters. Directs the Federal Data Collection Program, and the instrumentation development and distribution efforts based at the Hydrologic Instrumentation Facility in Bay St. Louis, Mississippi. Oversees the Division's human-resources management and employee development activities, centralized administrative and management-support functions, and the Division's international water resources program. Manages the Federal-State Cooperative Program and the Washington Office Technical Support Charge (WOTSC) budget, an assessment to support headquarters operations. Serves as primary advisor and consultant to the Chief Hydrologist, Assistant Chief Hydrologists, Office Chiefs, and other Division managers as required, on administrative and management activities of the Division.
D. The Assistant Chief Hydrologist for Information formulates policy, directs, and evaluates from headquarters all program segments related to hydrologic information dissemination and outreach, including computer systems management. The organizational component focuses on the manner in which information products are delivered. Functional responsibilities include technical reports and publications processing, some of which takes place at the Cartographic and Publications Program office in Madison, Wisconsin; outreach; information dissemination in both print and electronic form to include satellite data relay activities; Federal water information coordination; and the design, installation, maintenance, operation, and continuing evaluation of a National Water Information System for the storage and manipulation of water data in a distributed environment. Oversees projects related to the characterization of Yucca Mountain, Nevada, as the Nation's only proposed repository for high-level nuclear waste.
E. The Assistant Chief Hydrologist for Research exercises principal responsibility for the planning and development of national, basic and applied research programs related to the hydrologic environment, conducted in-house principally in Reston, Virginia, Lakewood and Boulder, Colorado, and Menlo Park, California; and by universities under the mandates of the Water Resources Research Act (WRRA) of 1984 (P.L. 98-242). Develops policy, identifies priorities, oversees the execution, and evaluates the results of research efforts in the Division and those conducted by the university-based State Water Resources Research Institutes under the provisions of the WRRA of 1984.
F. The Office of National Water Quality Assessment (NAWQA) provides divisionwide leadership in the implementation of the NAWQA Program to describe the status of and trends in the quality of a large representative part of the Nation's ground- and surface-water resources, including the development of an understanding of the natural and human factors affecting the quality of these resources. Synthesizes water-quality information at local, regional, and national scales to provide sound, nationally consistent data upon which decisionmaking concerning a wide range of major water-quality issues at all government levels can be based.
G. The Office of Ground Water provides divisionwide leadership in the development of techniques for the collection, analysis, and interpretation of ground-water data. Provides policy guidance to the Chief Hydrologist and technical guidance to the Regional Hydrologists and District supervisors on matters pertaining to the Nation's ground-water resources. Exercises divisionwide responsibility for designing, establishing priorities, and developing guidance and standards for the national ground water data collection program. Maintains a system of quality control to assure the technical excellence of field programs and human resources with respect to ground water. Responsible for technology transfer from the research program to the Division's ground-water data and investigative activities throughout the Nation. Participates in establishment of priorities for ground-water research. Formulates policy, directs, and evaluates Division activities related to water use throughout the country, national support to the Department of Defense on contamination of the hydrologic environment on and near its installations, and surface and borehole geophysical methods development and applications through a subordinate office in Storrs, Connecticut.
H. The Office of Surface Water provides divisionwide leadership in the development of techniques for the collection, analysis, and interpretation of surface-water data. Provides policy guidance to the Chief Hydrologist and technical guidance to the Regional Hydrologists and District supervisors on matters pertaining to the Nation's surface-water resources. Exercises divisionwide responsibility for designing, establishing priorities, and developing guidance and standards for the national surface water data collection program. Maintains a system of quality control to assure the technical excellence of field programs and human resources with respect to surface water. Responsible for technology transfer from the research program to the Division's surface-water data and investigative activities throughout the Nation. Participates in establishment of priorities for surface-water research. Formulates policy, directs, and evaluates Division activities related to the national streamgaging program, hydraulics research from a facility in Bay St. Louis, Mississippi, and sediment sampling techniques through a subordinate office in Vicksburg, Mississippi.
I. The Office of Water Quality provides divisionwide leadership in the development of techniques for the collection, analysis, and interpretation of water-quality data. Provides policy guidance to the Chief Hydrologist and technical guidance to the Regional Hydrologists and District supervisors on matters pertaining to the quality of the Nation's water resources. Exercises divisionwide responsibility for designing, establishing priorities, and developing guidance and standards for the national water quality data collection program. Provides technical guidance and oversight to the staff of the National Water Quality Laboratory in Lakewood, Colorado. Maintains a system of quality control to assure the technical excellence of field and laboratory programs and human resources with respect to quality of water. Responsible for technology transfer from the research program to the Division's water-quality data and investigative activities throughout the Nation. Participates in establishment of priorities for water-quality research.
7.3 Field Organization.
A. The field organization of the Division consists of four regions, each headed by a Regional Hydrologist, and covering the following geographic areas:
(1) Northeastern Region (headquartered at Reston, Virginia). The States of Connecticut, Delaware, Illinois, Indiana, Kentucky, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New York, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, Vermont, Virginia, West Virginia, and Wisconsin, and the District of Columbia.
(2) Southeastern Region (headquartered at Norcross, Georgia). The States of Alabama, Florida, Georgia, Mississippi, North Carolina, South Carolina, and Tennessee, the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, and the Virgin Islands.
(3) Central Region (headquartered at Lakewood, Colorado). The States of Arkansas, Colorado, Iowa, Louisiana, Kansas, Minnesota, Missouri, Montana, Nebraska, New Mexico, North Dakota, Oklahoma, South Dakota, Texas, and Wyoming.
(4) Western Region (headquartered at Menlo Park, California). The States of Alaska, Arizona, California, Hawaii, Idaho, Nevada, Oregon, Utah, and Washington, and Guam, Samoa, and other Pacific Islands.
B. Each Regional Hydrologist, exercising line authority from the Chief Hydrologist, has the following responsibilities:
(1) Directs operational functions of water resources programs and projects in the region as well as administrative activities incident thereto, in accordance with program policies, objectives, and standards established by the Chief Hydrologist and staff.
(2) Reviews ongoing projects and project proposals originating within the region and participates with the Chief Hydrologist in the development of the overall Division program.
(3) Represents the Chief Hydrologist in negotiations and dealings with other organizations and committees within and outside the USGS on matters of common concern to the Division and, on such matters, has wide latitude for the exercise of independent judgment.
(4) Represents the Division on the USGS Regional Council and acts as advisor to USGS representatives on Departmental field committees and on interagency groups in the region.
(5) Provides liaison for the Division in the region with scientific and technical societies and with other-agency representatives to assure mutual understanding of objectives, policies, and programs.
C. Field Offices. District Chiefs, delegated management responsibility from the Regional Hydrologists, exercise line direction over all field operations of the Division, carried out in offices located in each State, Puerto Rico, and Guam. These field operations include hydrologic data collection; research and investigations on various phases of the hydrologic cycle (surface water, ground water, water quality, and precipitation); and cooperative hydrologic studies with State and local water agencies. The field offices vary in size depending on the number and nature of programs and functions performed.
3/4/99 #3230
Replaces 11/17/87 #2770