The U.S. Department of the Interior, through the U.S. Geological
Survey Water Resources Division, is responsible for the Water
Information Coordination Program (WICP) of the Federal
Government. Originally, this responsibility was delegated to the
Interior Department in Office of Management and Budget Circular A-67,
"Coordination of Federal activities in the acquisition of certain water
data,"(1964). In December 1991, the circular was updated and replaced by
OMB Memorandum No. 92-01, which created the Water Information
Coordination Program.
In 1964, when the original delegation was signed, the Interior
Department established the Office of Water Data Coordination within
the Water Resources Division, to implement the program. At the same
time, the Secretary created two advisory committees.
The Interagency Advisory Committee on Water Data (IACWD), which was
composed of about 30 major Federal organizations, and
The Advisory Committee on Water Data for Public Use (ACWDPU), which
was composed of about 20 major private sector organizations representing
States, Indian tribes, technical societies, universities, public
interest groups, and industry.
The Committee structure was continued under OMB M-92-01, and two
changes were made. First, the two groups were combined into the single
Advisory Committee on Water Information, to increase the possibility of
meaningful dialogue between the public and private sectors. Secondly,
the new charter limited the size of the group, and elevated the level of
personnel. The Advisory Committee charter was signed on September 19,
1996, and in October organizations were invited by the Secretary of the
Interior to name representatives to the Advisory Committee. The
Committee is chartered under the Federal Advisory Committee Act.
May 7, 1997 was the first meeting of the Advisory Committee on Water
Information.
Another important antecedent organization was the Intergovernmental
Task Force on Monitoring Water Quality (ITFM). The ITFM was a
Federal/State partnership with representatives from 20 Federal, State,
and interstate organizations. From 1992 to 1997 it carried out a review
of water-quality monitoring activities, and recommended improvements in
its reports. Appropriate action was taken by the Advisory Committee on
Water Information, and the ITFM was reconstituted with both public and
private sector representatives as the National Water Quality Monitoring
Council in 1997.
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