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U.S. Geological Survey and U.S. Army Corps of Engineers Discuss Collaborative Efforts at Joint Meeting

Published Feb. 7, 2014
"Progress Report: Interoperability and Data Synchronization – 'Initial Objectives,'" presented at the January 17, 2014 USACE-USGS Coordination Meeting.

"Progress Report: Interoperability and Data Synchronization – 'Initial Objectives,'" presented at the January 17, 2014 USACE-USGS Coordination Meeting.

Slide about the OFCM Workgroup: Disaster Impact Assessments and Plans -Wind and Water  from the "Consumer Option for an Alternative System to Allocate Losses (COASTAL) Act Project Work Plan" presentation at the January 17, 2014 USACE-USGS Coordination Meeting.

Slide about the OFCM Workgroup: Disaster Impact Assessments and Plans -Wind and Water from the "Consumer Option for an Alternative System to Allocate Losses (COASTAL) Act Project Work Plan" presentation at the January 17, 2014 USACE-USGS Coordination Meeting.

"Present & Future Collaborations in Ecosystem Services," presented at the January 17, 2014 USACE-USGS Coordination Meeting.

"Present & Future Collaborations in Ecosystem Services," presented at the January 17, 2014 USACE-USGS Coordination Meeting.

"USACE/USGS Water Sector Support to USAID," presented at the January 17, 2014 USACE-USGS Coordination Meeting.

"USACE/USGS Water Sector Support to USAID," presented at the January 17, 2014 USACE-USGS Coordination Meeting.

ALEXANDRIA, VIRGINIA.  The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (USACE) and the U. S. Geological Survey (USGS), with participation from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), held a quarterly joint headquarters meeting January 17, 2014 at USACE Headquarters in Washington, DC, to discuss water resources issues of shared concern.

USACE’s Steve Stockton, Director of Civil Works, and USGS’s Dr. Jerad Bales, the Acting USGS Associate Director for Water, chaired the interagency meeting. Stockton and Bales opened the meeting by presenting the USACE and USGS overviews.

The agencies discussed the USACE-USGS-NOAA interagency charter agreements on flood inundation and data interoperability. Jerad Bales (USGS) and James Dalton, Chief of Engineering and Construction (USACE), presented the Interagency Charters Update.

Dave Briar (USGS), Mike Perryman (USACE) and Edward Clark (NOAA) presented the Integrated Water Resources Science & Services (IWRSS) Data Interoperability Requirements Document. The teams have identified "low-hanging fruit" that can be implemented quickly to improve the interoperability among the three agencies.

Frank Casey (USGS), Carl Shapiro (USGS) and Janet Cushing (USACE) gave a presentation on USACE-USGS Collaboration on Ecosystem Services, where USACE and USGS discussed their collaboration on investigating ecosystem goods and services and on developing practical guidelines for considering them in planning. Several new areas of collaboration were proposed.

USGS and USACE are working with NOAA on the Consumer Option for an Alternative System to Allocate Losses (COASTAL) Act. The Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) will use the results of this project to distinguish between wind and water damage to coastal infrastructure. Robert Mason (USGS) delivered a presentation that explained that the COASTAL Act aims to lower legal costs and litigation delays to FEMA’s National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP) settlements.

A final topic, presented by Lindy Wolner (USACE) and Verne Schneider (USGS), was the USGS and USACE support to the Agency for International Development (USAID). The presentation detailed available USAID funds along with projects currently being funded, USAID’s international development presence, the different types of USAID programs, and the organizations ongoing objectives and opportunities.

Additional presentations included:

  • Federal Support Toolbox Update, presented by Ada Benavides (USACE); and
  • Streamgaging Status, presented by Robert Mason (USGS) and Chandra Pathak (USACE).