(6) continue ongoing research and monitoring 
activities relating to floods, including research activi-
ties relating to— 
(A) the prediction, length, severity, and 
impacts of floods and improvement of the accu-
racy, timing, and specificity of flash flood warn-
ings; 
(B) the role of extreme weather events and 
climate variability in floods; and 
(C) how water travels over and through 
surfaces. 
(c) PARTNERSHIPS.—The Under Secretary, through 
the National Integrated Flood Information System, may— 
(1) engage with the private sector to improve 
flood monitoring, forecasts, land and topography 
data, and communication, if the Under Secretary de-
termines that such engagement is appropriate, cost 
effective, and beneficial to the public and decision 
makers described in subsection (b)(1)(F)(i); 
(2) facilitate the development of 1 or more aca-
demic cooperative partnerships to assist in carrying 
out the functions of the National Integrated Flood 
Information System described in subsection (b); 
(3) use and support monitoring by citizen sci-
entists, including by developing best practices to fa-
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cilitate maximum data integration, as the Under 
Secretary considers appropriate; and 
(4) engage with, and leverage the resources of, 
entities within the National Oceanic and Atmos-
pheric Administration in existence as of the date of 
the enactment of this Act, such as the National In-
tegrated Drought Information System, the Regional 
Climate Center, and the National Mesonet Program, 
to improve coordination of water monitoring, fore-
casting, and management. 
(d) CONSULTATION.—In developing and maintaining 
the National Integrated Flood Information System, the 
Under Secretary shall consult with relevant Federal, 
State, local, and Tribal government agencies, research in-
stitutions, and the private sector. 
(e) COOPERATION FROM OTHER FEDERAL AGEN-
CIES.—Each Federal agency shall cooperate as appro-
priate with the Under Secretary in carrying out this sec-
tion. 
SEC. 4. OBSERVATIONS AND MODELING FOR TOTAL WATER 
PREDICTION. 
(a) PARTNERSHIPS.— 
(1) IN GENERAL.—The Under Secretary shall 
establish partnerships with 1 or more institutions of 
higher education (as defined in section 101 of the 
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Higher Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 1001)) to 
evaluate observations that would improve total water 
prediction. 
(2) PRIORITY OBSERVATIONS.—In establishing 
partnerships under paragraph (1), the Under Sec-
retary shall prioritize partnerships to evaluate obser-
vations from unmanned aerial systems. 
(b) MAINTAINED OBSERVATIONS.—If the Under Sec-
retary determines that incorporating additional observa-
tions improves total water prediction, the Under Secretary 
shall, to the extent practicable, continue incorporating 
those observations. 
(c) MODELING IMPROVEMENTS.—The Under Sec-
retary shall advance geographic coverage, resolution, skill, 
and efficiency of coastal oceanographic modeling, includ-
ing efforts that improve the coupling of and interoper-
ability between hydrological models and coastal ocean 
models. 
(d) GEOSPATIAL DATA.—The Under Secretary shall 
advance the development of models to vertically transform 
geospatial data into a common system for use as the Fed-
eral standard for surveys and mapping. 
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SEC. 5. SERVICE COORDINATION HYDROLOGISTS AT RIVER 
FORECAST 
CENTERS 
OF 
THE 
NATIONAL 
WEATHER SERVICE. 
(a) DESIGNATION OF SERVICE COORDINATION HY-
DROLOGISTS.— 
(1) IN GENERAL.—The Director of the National 
Weather Service (in this section referred to as the 
‘‘Director’’) shall designate at least 1 service coordi-
nation hydrologist at each River Forecast Center of 
the National Weather Service. 
(2) PERFORMANCE BY OTHER EMPLOYEES.— 
Performance of the responsibilities outlined in this 
section is not limited to the service coordination hy-
drologist position. 
(b) PRIMARY ROLE OF SERVICE COORDINATION HY-
DROLOGISTS.—The primary role of the service coordina-
tion hydrologist shall be to carry out the responsibilities 
required by this section. 
(c) RESPONSIBILITIES.— 
(1) IN GENERAL.—Subject to paragraph (2), 
consistent with the analysis described in section 409 
of the Weather Research and Forecasting Innovation 
Act of 2017 (Public Law 115–25; 131 Stat. 112), 
and in order to increase impact-based decision sup-
port services, each service coordination hydrologist 
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designated under subsection (a) shall, with respect 
to hydrology— 
(A) be responsible for providing service to 
the geographic area of responsibility covered by 
the River Forecast Center at which the service 
coordination hydrologist is employed to help en-
sure that users of products and services of the 
National Weather Service can respond effec-
tively to improve outcomes from flood events; 
(B) liaise with users of products and serv-
ices of the National Weather Service, such as 
the public, academia, media outlets, users in the 
hydropower, transportation, recreation, and ag-
ricultural communities, and forestry, land, fish-
eries, and water management interests, to 
evaluate the adequacy and usefulness of the 
products and services of the National Weather 
Service; 
(C) collaborate with such River Forecast 
Centers and Weather Forecast Offices and Fed-
eral, State, local, and Tribal government agen-
cies as the Director considers appropriate in de-
veloping, proposing, and implementing plans to 
develop, modify, or tailor products and services 
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