IWR to Join The National Institutes for Water Resources in a Memorandum of Understanding

ALEXANDRIA, VA  — March 12, 2009. The Institute for Water Resources (IWR) and The National Institutes for Water Resources (NIWR) are in the process of developing a Memorandum of Understanding to facilitate collaborative research and work efforts between the member institutions of NIWR and IWR.

NIWR represents 54 state and territorial Water Research Institutes and Centers for the implementation of the Water Resources Research Act of 1984. The Water Resources Research Institute for each state or territory is located at its "1862" land-grant university or another college or university designated by the governor or state legislature. The U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) is designated as the federal coordinating agency for this program. Through the USGS IWR can award grants for water resources research.

Drs. Bob Brumbaugh, Gerry Galloway, Len Shabman, and Joe Manous participated in the annual meeting of NIWR held in Washington, D.C. February 23-25, 2009. Joe Manous presented information about the research interests of IWR in support of the USACE Civil Works mission. Gerry Galloway presented a briefing on water research priorities as highlighted by the series of Water Policy Dialogues sponsored by American Water Resources Association (AWRA) and Environment and Water Resources Institute (EWRI). Len Shabman participated in a panel discussion on "Climate Change Research" and spoke on the role of potential climate change impacts as one of the uncertainties and risks involved with water resources planning.

More about The National Institutes for Water Resources

NIWR represents fifty-four state and territorial Water Research Institutes and Centers for the implementation of the Water Resources Research Act of 1984.  NIWR cooperates with USGS to: (1) establish total programmatic direction, (2) report on the activities of the state Water Institutes, (3) coordinate and facilitate regional water research and information and technology transfer, and (4) operate the NIWR-USGS Student Internship Program to help train future water scientists. 104(g) grants authorized under the Water Resources Research Act focus on regional and interstate water resources problems beyond those of concern only to a single state. Research priorities for 104(g) grants are set jointly by NIWR and USGS. Grants must be matched by at least one non-federal dollar for each federal dollar. Awards are made only after joint state and federal priority setting and reviews for regional and national relevancy and technical merit.

Learn more:

• The National Institutes for Water Resources
• About the Memorandum