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Welcome to the Kentucky Water Science Center

William R. Guertal - Director

The USGS was established by Congress in 1879 to provide the Nation with reliable and impartial information in order to understand the Nation's natural resources. The need for water-resource data and their interpretation has never been greater than it is today. The USGS Kentucky Water Science Center (KY WSC) has successfully helped many of you—our customers—achieve your goals by providing water quantity and quality information, as well as scientific tools and understanding, when and where they are needed by citizens, businesses, and public officials. We are trying hard to continue that tradition and improve upon it wherever possible.

The USGS KY WSC has about 40 employees providing the information used in the management, assessment, and vulnerability analyses of water-supply, water quality, flood hazard, drought, and watershed issues associated with Kentucky’s rich water resources. We have a diverse source of funding with over 30 partners. About 53 percent of our funding is from Federal sources and the other 47 percent is from State and local agencies.

Nationally, we continue to provide information to describe and understand the Earth; minimize loss of life and property from natural disasters; manage water, biological, energy, and mineral resources; and enhance and protect our quality of life. Our goal in Kentucky is to optimize our local capabilities in those technical program areas that are of highest priority to our partners, which are primarily water resources.

We hope that you find the information on our web pages helpful, interesting, and informative. If you have any comments or suggestions for improvement, please contact our Webmaster.