Water Research Optimization Act of 2025

This bill strengthens NOAA’s National Water Center (NWC) so people get better, faster water forecasts and flood info. It makes the NWC the main hub for turning federal water research and computer models into everyday operations at NOAA and the National Weather Service. It also tells the NWC to work closely with other federal agencies—like the Army Corps of Engineers, USDA, USGS, FEMA, and the Bureau of Reclamation—and to make water and flood operations more consistent across the country . The bill directs NOAA to use its supercomputers to build advanced water models and plug them into the unified forecast system that powers weather predictions .

The National Weather Service’s Office of Water Prediction would oversee all River Forecast Centers and coordinate them with the NWC, and it would manage the Cooperative Institute for Research to Operations in Hydrology so research moves quickly into real-world forecasting. Reporting/authorization timelines are updated to cover each fiscal year from 2024 through 2028 .

• Who is affected:

  • Communities that rely on flood warnings and water forecasts
  • Farmers, emergency managers, and water managers
  • Federal water and weather agencies working together through the NWC

• What changes:

  • NWC becomes the lead for turning water research into operations and coordinating across agencies
  • Advanced water models are added to NOAA’s unified forecast system using NOAA supercomputers
  • River Forecast Centers are centrally overseen and aligned with the NWC
  • The hydrology research institute’s work is managed to speed adoption in forecasts

• When:

  • Updates apply going forward, with reporting/authorization set for each fiscal year 2024–2028