WebJunction

Current funding for the Gi21 program ended on September 30, 2008 and the information found in the program modules is up-to-date as of December 31, 2008.  To facilitate use of the modules from now till the future continuation of the program, new documents can be posted from each module and sub-module main pages and the community discussions are open.  However the main module pages and documents will not be updated.  If you have any questions, please contact Kirsten Clark.

Water is a precious resource central to sustaining life on earth. Water is used by all people on the planet to nourish our bodies, grow food, transport goods, maintain cleanliness, regulate temperature, and provide recreation. Water supports life on earth by maintaining and regulating climatic conditions, and nourishing all plants and animals. Water is central to life itself and belongs to everyone.

Water resources are managed and regulated at federal, state, and local levels. This submodule focuses primarily on federal information resources, but is important to keep in mind that all olevels of government are actively interested in, and concerned with water resources. As a consequence, a complete understanding of information resources for any specific region, relies on consideration of state and local agency information in addition to federal.

The primary federal agencies with concern for water resources are the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS), the U.S. Department of Agriculture, Natural Resource Conservation Service (NRCS), the U.S. Department of the Interior, Bureau of Reclamation, the National Park Service and the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers. All play a central role in the understanding, regulation, and sharing of this most crucial resource.

Training materials related to this submodule are incorporated into the Training Materials section on the main Energy & Natural Resources page.

Environmental concerns such as water quality, water contamination and water pollution are covered in the Environment Module, although some overlap is to be expected.