Public Comment Period Open for USGS Draft Report: "Strengthening the Scientific Understanding of Climate Change Impacts on Freshwater Resources of the United States"

Tomorrow, March 23, the U.S. Geological Survey will publish a notice in the Federal Register providing the opportunity for public comment on the Draft Report to Congress: "Strengthening the Scientific Understanding of Climate Change Impacts on Freshwater Resources of the United States" (copy available here as a pdf file).  The Report responds to the Omnibus Public Lands Act (Section 9506 of Public Law 111–11, Appendix A, which incorporates the SECURE Water Act) and identifies key actions to improve the Nation’s capacity to detect and predict changes in freshwater resources that are likely to result from a changing climate.  The ultimate goal of the report is to help decision-makers and water resource managers by facilitating improvements in observational, data acquisition, and modeling capabilities.

Comments on the draft report should be submitted by email to Terry Schertz (tschertz@usgs.gov) no later than April 14, 2011.  Include "9506 Report" in the subject line of the message. Those preferring to submit comments by regular mail, should send an original and three copies of comments to:
Terry Schertz
U.S. Geological Survey
12201 Sunrise Valley Drive
MS 412
Reston, VA 20192

For those interested in discussing their perspective on the report, Wendy Norton, Executive Secretary of the Advisory Committee on Water Information and Chief of the USGS Water Information Coordination Program is scheduling a WebEx for the afternoon of Wednesday April 6.  Details on that event will be publicized in the near future.