Presentation, Advisory Committee on Water Information

April 2-3, 2002

**Sustainable Water Resources Roundtable**

# By Ethan T. Smith

**Interagency Working Group on Sustainable Development Indicators**

**(703) 860-1038**

**etsmithusa@netscape.net**

**The Sustainable Water Resources Roundtable (SWRR) originated at the
March 2001 meeting of the Interagency Working Group on Sustainable
Development Indicators (SDI Group). Other roundtables now existing
include those on forests, rangelands, and for minerals. These
roundtables focus, in part, on developing criteria and indicators to
help report status and trends for more effective decision making. The
meeting proposed that the water roundtable should follow an approach
similar to the other roundtables.**

**Part of the rationale was based on the fact that the United Nations
(UN) shows a continuing interest in water resources. Under the UN
Commission on Sustainable Development, Agenda 21, Chapter 18 is on
water, and the UN has also developed a paper on strategic approaches to
freshwater management. Future international opportunities may be
expected, such as the World Summit on Sustainable Development in 2002
and the World Water Forum in 2003.**

**A presentation was made to the May 2001 meeting of the Advisory
Committee on Water Information. The Roundtable was accepted as an ad hoc
action with permission to begin organizing. Organizations expressing
interest included the American Water Works Association, Ecological
Society of America, Electric Power Research Institute (EPRI), and
Universities' Council on Water Resources.**

**Since that time effort has gone into learning how the other
roundtables operate, with special attention being given to the
Roundtable on Sustainable Forests. In meetings with the Water
Environment Federation (WEF), discussions were held with some agencies
and organizations that expressed interest in planning next steps, and
WEF agreed to be the convener when resources could be identified to hold
a face-to-face meeting of at least some of those interested in the
Roundtable, currently planned for September 2002.**

**Funding commitment has been made by DOI and the SDI Group, and
interest in providing additional resources has been expressed by EPRI
and the USFS. Discussions with EPA are in progress. Efforts continue to
identify additional resources that will support the Roundtable, and will
also continue to focus on cooperative work that can be accomplished by
such means as outreach and communication via e-mail and web site. In
this regard, thanks are due to the Water Information Coordination
Program for hosting the SWRR web site that went on-line in February
2002. This in-kind service is provided by the USGS. See
<http://water.usgs.gov/wicp/acwi/swrr/>**

**The present action includes review of the draft SWRR Terms of
Reference by the Advisory Committee, and approval if the Terms are
deemed to be appropriate.**

# Purpose

**The purpose of the Roundtable is to serve as a forum to share
information and perspectives that will enable better decision making in
the U.S. regarding the sustainable development of our nation's water
resources. Roundtable participants are committed to the goal of
sustainable water development in the U.S. The Roundtable promotes shared
leadership and responsibility in contributing toward the achievement of
this goal throughout the U.S.**

**It is important to consider what may be implied by words like
"sustainable development," which certainly sound laudable but have at
times been alleged to conceal little beyond a high-sounding phrase. Much
debate has gone into this problem, and it is unlikely that any single
response will be uniformly acceptable. Perhaps a way to address the
problem is to think about what the nation may need over the next 50 to
100 years to assure sufficient water supply, water quality, or indeed
any aspect of life related to water resources. How do we even know what
to measure to see if the nation may be moving in a positive or negative
direction?**

**Our nation relies for its future well-being on cooperative efforts
that depend not just on government, but on a complex interaction of
public and private sector forces. Sustainability is open to definition
by all of the myriad organizations that play a part in water resources.
A way to facilitate focus on sustainability concerns, many of which are
yet to be identified by a wide variety of people, is to provide an open
forum, which is what the Roundtable is, that can assist the Advisory
Committee to integrate information to support the goals of OMB
Memorandum 92-01, and in the larger sense to provide a service for the
entire nation.**

# Indicators

**If it is in fact important to know what water resources information
should be measured to assess direction over the long term, then
identification of indicators becomes a fundamental area of concern.
Other roundtables have also carried out work along these lines, on
criteria and indicators. This is the reason that water conditions and
trends statistics are important. Such statistics can form the foundation
for developing indicators. This is also the reason for posing the three
key questions that are contained on the SWRR web site under Actions and
Activities:**

> **What water resources indicators are most helpful in defining
> sustainability and why?**
>
> **From what organizations can statistics about the status and trends
> be obtained for these indicators?**
>
> **If new data should be collected for these indicators, what
> organizations should do it and why?**

**Indicators can provide facts that show what is happening in water
resources, and may assist those concerned with determining choices for
alternative policies for the future. Work is now underway to compile
indicator data from available sources.**

# Scope of Activities

**Activities undertaken by the Roundtable will depend upon the
initiative of members and organizations. Broadly speaking, activities
can include sustainability as it relates to a wide variety of water
resources concerns, such as water quantity and quality; fresh water;
ground water; estuarine water; coastal waters; wetlands; water use and
availability; the relationship between water resources and land use.
This is not necessarily a complete list, because the activities will
depend on the interests of those undertaking the work, which will
usually be carried out by specific work groups. Those in a work group
are responsible for the prosecution of individual activities.**

**Roundtable Work Groups**

**Roundtable participants may fluctuate throughout the year based on
agenda topics, interest level and time constraints. Participation in the
work groups, however, requires ongoing, consistent participation and
representation throughout the year to ensure that work can be completed
efficiently and accurately. Choosing to participate in a Roundtable work
group can provide opportunities for developing criteria and indicators
to help report status and trends for more effective decision making,
bringing diverse perspectives about applications to a broad
constituency, and greater involvement in Roundtable products and
projects over the long term.**

**Functions**

**The Roundtable is not a decision making body but rather an opportunity
for individuals representing diverse interests and backgrounds to share
information and perspectives about sustainable water resources, and the
indicators that might measure resources. To do this, the Roundtable must
regularly consult with the other roundtables on forests, rangelands, and
minerals about common considerations and programs. It must avoid
duplication with existing efforts, and include their results in the
Roundtable program. For example, other roundtables have already
identified some water resources indicators that relate to their
subjects, and interfaces between SWRR indicators and those of other
roundtables must be developed.**

**The Roundtable should conduct outreach activities to inform others
about the activities of the SWRR and provide an opportunity for
interested groups to participate in and provide input to the Roundtable.
SWRR should define the intended audience and user community, using a
wide variety of methods such as forums and electronic media. It is
important to identify people who will provide impetus to the Roundtable,
and take action to carry work forward. Administratively, SWRR should
determine what kind of facilitation and support would be needed to
foster continuing activity in the future. SWRR should develop a broad
spectrum of support from many organizations and interested parties so as
to produce a "diversified portfolio" of people and institutions that
will be able to thrive over a long period of time.**

**The Roundtable should report progress at each meeting of the Advisory
Committee on a continuing basis. Coordination with the other subgroups
of the Advisory Committee will enable the Roundtable to assist where it
may be appropriate the efforts of subgroups like the Water Quality
Monitoring Council; assistance might take the form of additional
outreach, or possibly fostering more communication with other roundtable
groups that work on forests, rangelands, or minerals. In addition, SWRR
would hope to benefit from the results of other subgroup actions; for
example, the geospatial definition of hydrologic units by the
Subcommittee on Spatial Water Data provides an essential foundation for
any work oriented around watersheds or similar geographic features.**

**Membership**

**There are a variety of avenues for Roundtable participation. The
Roundtable itself represents an open and inclusive process and
participation is not limited to particular groups or individuals. The
Roundtable does not have formal membership. The Roundtable consists of
participants that come together periodically to exchange views about new
developments and issues in the field of water resources
sustainability.**

**The Roundtable is made up of representatives of federal and state
agencies and diverse national organizations and people committed to
sustainable water resources development. It serves as a national forum
to share information and promote responsibility for achieving
sustainable water resources throughout the U.S. The SWRR allows for open
participation in the Roundtable and any work groups and functions that
may be created. Work groups are established according to the interests
of individuals who wish to undertake specific actions or activities. The
Roundtable accomplishes work through work groups that seek to research
concepts and conduct outreach to key constituencies. It is not a
decision making body but rather a venue for communication, discussion
and dialogue about sustainable water resources.**

**While there is much flexibility in Roundtable organization, those
involved are expected to commit time and effort to carry out their
stated intents. To the extent that resources permit, participants are
expected to attend quarterly half-day or full meetings in Washington, DC
and other locations in the United States; to share information with
constituency groups; to provide ideas and input for the actions to be
undertaken; and to carry out activities and report results, prepare
presentations, and otherwise disseminate information.**