Activities of the Water Resources Division

Abstract

WRD personnel testified before Congressional Committees or briefed Committee Staff more than a dozen times, to provide scientific information on water resources. We made four presentations just on the selenium situation at Kesterson Wildlife Refuge in the western San Joaquin Valley of California. Contamination of ground water is a matter of great concern to Congress, and we provided lengthy groundwater briefings to Congressional Committees. Other subjects of concern in the April-July period were acid precipitation, national water-quality assessment (more on that in the first article), and water shortages in the Mid-Atlantic States. New York City was under drought emergency regulations that began in January. The contents of the City's three water-supply reservoirs in the Delaware River basin were at about half of capacity, while average for that time of year is close to 80 percent. Descriptions of a number of recent publications also are included in this report. These have been grouped into three broad categories the Federal Program, the Federal-State Cooperative Program, and the program of assistance to other Federal agencies.