Water Availability: A Matter of Quantity, Quality, and Use

Congressional Briefing
Thursday, March 20, 2008
10:00 am – 12:00 pm
Room HC 5, United States Capitol Building

Representative Grace Napolitano (D-CA), Chairwoman of the House Natural Resources Subcommittee on Water and Power, the Environmental and Energy Study Institute (EESI), and the Water Environment Federation (WEF) invite you to a briefing to examine the factors that limit the water available for critical uses throughout the country.   The briefing is held in cooperation with the U.S. Geological Survey’s National Water-Quality Assessment (NAWQA) Program.
 
Competition for water is becoming more intense across the U.S.  Population growth, climate change, water demands for irrigation and power production, and aquatic ecosystems all compete for and impact the available water. 

This briefing will explain and provide examples of the connections between water use and water quality and how they can ultimately affect water availability for critical uses.  It will highlight a new USGS study on salinity in the Southwest and provide examples of how agricultural practices have affected naturally occurring radium in New Jersey, pumping has affected naturally occurring uranium in San Joaquin public-supply wells, and water re-use has impacted coastal aquifers in southern California.  Finally, the briefing will connect these scientific findings to national policies on water availability.
 
Speakers: 

David Anning, NAWQA scientist, Albuquerque, N. Mexico, U.S. Geological Survey

David Kanzer, Colorado River Water Conservation District 

Robert Hirsch, Associate Director for Water , U.S. Geological Survey 

Claudia Copeland, Congressional Research Service