A Collaborative Partnership For Water Resources Toni M. Johnson, Chief Water Information Coordination Program Presentation given during the USGS/IAEA/IW:LEARN groundwater learning exchange in the US April 14-26, 2007.

1. Public Participation and
the Advisory Committee Process
A Collaborative Partnership
For
Water Resources
Toni M. Johnson, Chief
Water Information Coordination Program

2. Dialog on Public Participation
● To achieve consensus or concurrence
among individuals or organizations with
differing interests --
Particularly if affecting public policy --
● Important to use sound principles !
● Principles of Public Participation are being
used in many countries to develop national
and global policies

3. Dialog on Public Participation
● In dealing with environmental issues
 Benefit to combining citizens’ views
 which provide economic & social issues
with Scientific and technical expertise
● Danish Model uses Citizens’ Panels or
Consensus Conference
 Reflects a better Balance of Powers
 among governments, industry, and
the public

4. Dialog on Public Participation
● Use the combined input of
 Science, Technology, and Policy
 With a cross-section of representatives
● Results in more Realistic Outcomes
 Where technical expertise alone may
 result in an over-simplified solution
not address community resource needs

5. Benefits of an Open
Participatory Process
● Produce Policy Decisions that promote public
interests – the needs of many customers
● Decentralize decision power closer to user
community – at the watershed or aquifer level
● Recommend collaborative solutions – to
problems of access and comparability

6. Benefits of an Open
Participatory Process
● Assist data users to
 access and understand data & information
collected by multiple sources -- governments as
well as citizens – including:
 members of non-profit water associations who
educate their membership
 private industries that use or impact waters
 volunteers who monitor local waters

7. Federal Advisory
Committee Act
● In 1972, the United States Congress enacted
a Public Law --
● The Federal Advisory Committee Act
● To ensure that advice given to Federal
agencies by committees
 be objective – balanced membership
 be accessible to the public

8. Advisory Committee on Water
Information - ACWI
● Water information users
advise Federal Government
 on the effectiveness of
Federal water programs
 to meet the nation’s
water information needs
● Member organizations
foster communication
 with state & local govt.
 with private sector

9. Advisory Goals & Objectives
Improve access, sharing, and understanding
of water data and information across the U.S.
● Improve Coordination among Federal
water agencies
● Share Information with non-Federal entities:
Tribal, State and Interstate
Regional and Local
Universities and Educational
● Increase Collaboration with non-government
organizations & the private sector
● Develop public-private partnerships

10. National Water
Quality
Monitoring
Council
National Liaison
Committee
for Water Quality
Subcommittee
on Hydrology
Subcommittee
on Spatial Water
Data
Advisory Committee Sub-Groups
Methods and Data
Comparability Board
Subcommittee
on
Sedimentation
Work Groups
Sustainable Water
Resources Roundtable
Work Groups
Work Groups
Work Groups
New
Subcommittee
on Ground Water
Work Groups
Work Groups

11. National Water Quality
Monitoring Council
● Provides a national forum
for coordination of
 consistent & defensible
 methods & strategies
● To improve water quality
 monitoring,
 assessment.,
 reporting
● Using a Framework for
MonitoringFramework

12. Cooperative Research &
Development Agreements
● Creates a formal partnership --
 for the use &/or marketing of new
technologies & knowledge transfer
 optimizes scarce resources
 improves Federal relationships with public
and private sectors
 transfer occurs in both directions

13. Creates Products
● National Environmental Methods Index
 Select and compare methods
 www.nemi.gov
● Water Quality Data Elements
 Metadata needed for data comparability
 Both Surface and Ground Water Quality
 Published Guidelines for States

14. ● International Participation
 Hosted 8 countries in 2006
 Short course on Assessing Ground
Water Vulnerability
http://acwi.gov/monitoring/conference/2006/
● Join us on the East Coast
May 18-22, 2008 !

15. Sustainable Water
Resources Roundtable
● A forum to share
information and
perspectives
● To promote better
decision making
● On more sustainable
development
● Of our Nation's water
resources

16. Sustainable Water
Resources Roundtable
● Open Roundtables held
in various regions
● Develop Indicators and
Criteria for Sustainability
● Include Private Industry
● Address both Quantity
and Quality
● Water and Energy
Interface

17. Subcommittee on Ground Water
● To implement a ground-water
Monitoring Frame-work that:
 is Nationwide & long-term
 includes quantity & quality
● To aid in planning, management &
development of ground-water
supplies to:
 meet current and future water
needs &
 ecosystem requirements

18. Subcommittee on Ground Water
Steering Committee Members
● Federal: U.S. Geological Survey
● State: Texas Dept. Environmental
Quality
● Private Sector: Amer. Society of
Civil Engineers
● Non-Profits for GW Professionals:
 Well Drilling: National Ground
Water Assoc.
 Underground Injection: Ground
Water Protection Council
 Waste Water: Water
Environment Federation

19. Subcommittee on Ground Water
Ground Water
Work Groups
Data Standards and
Data Management
Monitoring Inventory
Field
Practices
National Monitoring
Design
ttp://acwi.gov/sogw/index.html

20. Goals of Public Participation
Improve access, sharing, understanding of water
data and information
● Use known principles of Public Participation
 http://iap2.org
● Share Information openly among governments
● Use an Advisory Committee process to
 bring multiple stakeholders to the table
● Increase Collaboration with non-government
organizations
Develop public-private partnerships
● Create better policy by combining
 Science and Technical Knowledge
 Citizen perspectives on their watersheds
and aquifers

21. Let’s Make Things
Better by…
Water Information Coordination Program
Toni M. Johnson
tjohnson@usgs.gov
703-648-6810
http://water.usgs.gov/wicp