Bush Hacks USGS Streamgage Funding by 40%
The Bush administration's claim that the proposed budget "focuses resources on core USGS programs, such as mapping and hazards, and those that directly support better land and natural resource management by the Department of Interior (DOI)" is disingenuous at best and intentionally misleading at worst.
The streamgaging program has been one of the most effective government programs in promoting public health and safety. Gauges are used to predict and monitor flooding, predict and monitor safe drinking water supplies, predict and monitor instream flows and temperatures for fishery protection, and provide real-time flow information for river recreationists including fishermen and boaters.
The fact that the Bush administration argues these cuts in streamgage funding somehow improve hazard assessment is simply bogus. These cuts do nothing to improve public health or safety, and actually increase potential hazards.
As the on-going spring flooding in the Midwest has shown, failure to adequately fund the USGS streamgaging program is foolhardy and ineffective. Hazard mitigation and reduction begins with the distribution and collection of good and reliable data. By reducing the sensory capacity of the streamgage network through these cuts, the President has effectively buried the government's head in the sand like the proverbial ostrich that was afraid of the view.
The cuts in the streamgaging network are part of a Bush administration package of budget cuts for the USGS totaling nearly $70 Million, including a $44 Million cut in water related programs.
These cuts supposedly return the agency to 1999 funding levels. Yet at 1999 levels the streamgaging program was already dangerously under funded and was only an eighth of requested funding levels for the program.
If this proposed budget bothers you, write your Congressional representatives and let them know about your concern. Remind them that in the overall federal budget, the $5 Million cut in funding for the USGS streamgaging network amounts to peanuts. The proposed cuts are pure political posturing and will amount to essentially no effect on the overall budget. However, the proposed cuts come at increased risk to public safety, while also impacting opportunities for river recreation.
Streamgaging & the Economy: When was the last time you went to your favorite river without knowing the level beforehand? Probably sometime in the 1990's. Right? How much do you normally spend on a trip to the river for gas, food, & drinks? Probably $10 to $50. Right? Multiply that times 800,000 to 1,000,000 whitewater boaters who boat at least 15 days each year. If you spend a minimum of $10 per trip, then that amounts to a conservative estimate of $120 Million that whitewater boaters contribute to the economy solely on travel expenses as the result of knowledge about river levels. When you add in paddling gear purchases, vehicle maintenance, and other lifestyle purchases, the sum measures in the billions. When you measure the savings from flood prediction and monitoring, reduced insurance claims, as well as provisions for safe drinking water, the number soars into the tens of billions. That is the real value of the streamgaging network to America's domestic economy, and that revenue, largely spent in rural America, is at risk from the Bush administration's proposed cuts.
You can find out how to contact your Congressional representatives by linking to www.congress.org. Simply enter your zip code and find the names and addresses of your elected representatives.