Sponsors (2)
The bill strengthens and centralizes federal water forecasting—improving forecast accuracy and coordination nationwide—but does so with risks of higher federal costs, reduced local tailoring of models, and some loss of regional autonomy.
Emergency managers, state and local governments, and communities will get more accurate and consistent flood and water forecasts because NOAA will coordinate forecasting, operationalize advanced water‑resource models, and run them on NOAA supercomputing to improve decision support.
State and local governments (and partner federal agencies) will have clearer leadership and administrative authority for interagency coordination, which should speed cross‑agency response and research‑to‑operations handoffs.
Program authorization through FY2026–2030 gives NOAA and partners multi‑year continuity for planning and resource allocation for water forecasting programs.
Rural communities and local governments may receive forecasts that are less tailored to local conditions if standardized federal models are imposed, risking reduced forecast relevance and potential public‑safety impacts.
Taxpayers and other NOAA programs could face increased costs or resource shifts because expanded responsibilities will require additional NOAA resources or reallocation of funding.
Local and state governments could lose some regional autonomy over forecasting practices due to consolidated federal leadership and centralized control.
Based on analysis of 2 sections of legislative text.
Strengthens the National Water Center’s leadership, requires transition of water research into NOAA/NWS operations, and mandates use of operational supercomputing for advanced water modeling.
Introduced April 30, 2025 by Katie Boyd Britt · Last progress April 30, 2025
Amends existing law to strengthen and clarify the National Water Center’s leadership role within NOAA and the National Weather Service, directing it to lead the transition of federal water research and modeling into operational forecasting. It requires use of NOAA’s operational supercomputing resources to develop advanced water-resources modeling, coordinates River Forecast Centers with the National Water Center, and extends a fiscal-year reference through 2026–2030. The changes formalize interagency coordination with agencies such as USDA, USACE, Reclamation, USGS, and FEMA, assign administrative oversight of the Cooperative Institute for Research to Operations in Hydrology (or a successor), and emphasize integrating research-to-operations across national and regional hydrologic forecasting systems.