The USGS COOP Program is the largest single source of hydrologic data and information in the country. Hydrologic monitoring, assessments, investigations, and research conducted under the program support both national interests and cooperator needs. Costs for the program are jointly funded by the USGS and some 1,200 State, Tribal, and local government partners. The Coop program is a unique partnership, rather than a grants program. State, Tribal, and local cooperators transfer their share of the funding to the USGS for work on specific projects. The resulting data and information are archived and shared nationwide. More information is available in the Federal-State Cooperative Water-Resources Program COOP Fact Sheet.

The Task Force will conduct the first external review of the Coop Program in its 100-year history.The purpose of the Task Force is to gather information, to assess the effectiveness of the program, and to draft recommended improvements. Consistent with the Federal Advisory Committee Act, the ACWI will review the Task Force report, and based on information in the report, will provide advice and recommendations about the Coop Program to the USGS and the Department of the Interior. Before the ACWI forwards the final report to the USGS, the public will have an opportunity to review and comment on it through an annoucement in the Federal Register.

The COOP representatives chosen for the task force were selected to ensure a balance of interestes, expertise, and functions related to the Coop Program and to achieve wide geographic coverage. The Task Force will elect its chair from among the non-Federal members. Steve Blanchard, Staff Assistant to the Chief Hydrologist, will be the Executive Secretary for the Task Force. The work of the Task Force will center on the questions identified in the scope of the COOP Terms of Reference. approved at the August 1998 meeting of ACWI. Also, the Task Force may want to consider additional issues as it conducts its review. The first meeting of the Task Force will be at the USGS National Center on October 14-15, 1998.

The USGS Coop Program is a successful intergovernmental partnership. For decades, it has spawned scientifically sound water-resource information that is used at all levels of government and in the private sector. The results of this review will provide critical external perspectives about the operations of the program and the usefulness of its products. The Department of Interior and the USGS will use the input to help position the Coop Program for the challenges of the next century.

For additional information about the program, please contact the Chief of the Water Information Coordination Program by email at etsmith@usgs.gov or the Executive Secretary of the COOP Task Force sfblanch@usgs.gov.