[Congressional Record Volume 142, Number 55 (Thursday, April 25, 1996)]
[Senate]
[Page S4261]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                      WATER RESOURCE RESEARCH ACT

 Mr. THOMAS. Mr. President, I am pleased that today the Senate 
will pass H.R. 1743, a bill to reauthorize the Water Resource Research 
Act, as amended by the Senate Committee on Environment and Public 
Works. This is a small, but vitally important piece of legislation that 
gained unanimous support in the House of Representatives, as well as 
the Environment and Public Works Committee here in the Senate. I want 
to thank Senator Kempthorne and Senator Reid, along with Chairman 
Chafee and Senator Baucus for working with me to ensure the swift 
passage of this legislation. Their hard work, and that of their staffs, 
is greatly appreciated.
  H.R. 1743 extends the authorization for the water resources research 
institutes program through the year 2000. The water resources research 
institutes program is a vital Federal/State water research, education 
and information transfer partnership. This program supports a network 
of institutes at the land grant colleges in each of the 50 States, 3 
trust territories and the District of Columbia. These institutes are 
the primary link between the academic community, the water-related 
personnel of the Federal and State government, and the private sector. 
The institutes provide a mechanism to promote State, regional and 
national coordination of water resources research and training, as well 
as information transfer. This is a very productive program. In fiscal 
year 1995, the Federal appropriation for the water institutes--under $5 
million--leveraged approximately $65 million from State, private and 
other sources to support the institutes research and training 
activities.
  Federal regulations and programs designed to solve water problems 
have their primary impact at the State and local level. State and local 
governments are in a far better position to tailor solutions to local 
water problems than the Federal Government. Programs such as the water 
resources research institutes are an efficient and effective way for 
the Federal Government to assist States to conduct research and solve 
problems in the water resources field. In administering the State water 
resources research institute program, the Interior Department and the 
Geological Survey distribute funds equally among all the institutes. 
The State institutes then award research funds through a competitive, 
peer review process. Institutes have advisory panels comprised of 
local, State, and Federal water officials, representatives from water 
user groups and other interested parties, which develop yearly research 
priorities for their States and review the allocation of funds among 
various competing projects. This is the true strength of this program. 
Individual State institutes are able to focus grants on research that 
addresses the most pressing water problems in that State. There have 
been efforts made to strengthen the competition for funding between the 
individual water institutes. I have serious concerns about that. We 
must fund this program at a level that allows us to maintain the 
network of institutes in every State. In addition, we must preserve the 
role of the advisory panels in each State, continuing to allow each 
State to determine the research agenda for themselves. I would hope the 
Department of Interior would not impose new restrictions on State water 
resources research programs in the future.
  In addition to the core program, I am pleased the bill before us 
contains an authorization for a second program focused on regional 
issues. I amended the House bill to include this important program, 
which will allow the institutes to conduct research of regional, 
interstate issues. Increasingly the water issues we're asking States to 
deal with are of a regional, interjurisdictional nature. The bill as 
amended in committee reauthorizes the section 104(g) program to support 
this needed interdisciplinary research and analysis necessary for 
assessing regional and interstate water resource problems.
  Finally, Mr. President, this bill takes a realistic look at future 
funding. This bill funds the institute programs at a level more in line 
with historical appropriations, reducing the current authorization by 
more than 40 percent below the current authorized level.
  This is a good bill, a good program, and I'm pleased the Senate is 
moving ahead with passage today. I'm hopeful the House will agree to 
our changes quickly and we can get this bill signed into law without 
delay. Thanks again to the leadership of the Environment and Public 
Works Committee for working with me on this legislation.

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