The WATER Data Improvement Act updates and reauthorizes several U.S. Geological Survey water-monitoring programs originally established under the 2009 Omnibus Public Land Management Act. It renames the "national streamflow information program" as the "Federal priority streamgage program" and extends its authorization through fiscal year 2029, while also requiring that program priorities be based on regular stakeholder feedback rather than an outdated 2004 review. The bill expands the national groundwater resources monitoring program to explicitly include Indian Tribes, Tribal organizations, and Native Hawaiian organizations as eligible partners for water monitoring efforts on tribal lands, and extends its funding authorization through 2029. It repeals an outdated brackish groundwater assessment provision and extends the authorization for improved water measurement and monitoring technologies through 2029 as well. Overall, the bill affects federal, state, local, and tribal water management agencies by modernizing and extending the funding and scope of USGS water data collection efforts, with no new appropriations specified beyond the extended authorization periods.
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