[Congressional Bills 119th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. 1523 Reported in Senate (RS)]
<DOC>
Calendar No. 196
119th CONGRESS
1st Session
S. 1523
[Report No. 119-85]
To modify operations of the National Water Center of the National
Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, and for other purposes.
_______________________________________________________________________
IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES
April 30, 2025
Mrs. Britt (for herself and Mr. Welch) introduced the following bill;
which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Commerce,
Science, and Transportation
October 21, 2025
Reported by Mr. Cruz, with an amendment
[Strike out all after the enacting clause and insert the part printed
in italic]
_______________________________________________________________________
A BILL
To modify operations of the National Water Center of the National
Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, and for other purposes.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the
United States of America in Congress assembled,
<DELETED>SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.</DELETED>
<DELETED> This Act may be cited as the ``Water Research Optimization
Act of 2025''.</DELETED>
<DELETED>SEC. 2. MODIFICATION OF OPERATIONS OF NATIONAL WATER
CENTER.</DELETED>
<DELETED> Section 301 of the Coordinated Ocean Observations and
Research Act of 2020 (42 U.S.C. 10371) is amended--</DELETED>
<DELETED> (1) in subsection (a)--</DELETED>
<DELETED> (A) in paragraph (1)(A)--</DELETED>
<DELETED> (i) in the matter preceding clause
(i), by inserting ``, within the Office of
Water Prediction of the National Weather
Service,'' after ``shall establish'';</DELETED>
<DELETED> (ii) in clause (i), by striking
``and'' after the semicolon;</DELETED>
<DELETED> (iii) in clause (ii), by striking
the period and inserting ``; and'';
and</DELETED>
<DELETED> (iv) by adding at the end the
following new clause:</DELETED>
<DELETED> ``(iii) to lead the transition of
water research by the Federal Government,
including model development, into operations of
the National Oceanic and Atmospheric
Administration and the National Weather
Service.'';</DELETED>
<DELETED> (B) in paragraph (2), by adding at the end
the following:</DELETED>
<DELETED> ``(F) Serving as the primary center within
the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration for
research, development, collaboration, and coordination
of the water research and operational activities of the
Administration and other centers and networks of the
Federal Government, including those of the Department
of Agriculture, the Army Corps of Engineers, the Bureau
of Reclamation, the United States Geological Survey,
and the Federal Emergency Management Agency.</DELETED>
<DELETED> ``(G) Integrating and promoting
consistency among national and regional hydrological
operations.''; and</DELETED>
<DELETED> (C) by adding at the end the
following:</DELETED>
<DELETED> ``(3) Incorporation into unified forecast
system.--The Under Secretary shall use the Weather and Climate
Operational Supercomputing System, or any successor system, to
support the development and implementation of advanced water
resources modeling capabilities under paragraph (2)(B) and
shall incorporate those modeling capabilities into the unified
forecast system.'';</DELETED>
<DELETED> (2) by striking subsection (b);</DELETED>
<DELETED> (3) by redesignating subsections (c), (d), and (e)
as subsections (b), (e), and (f), respectively;</DELETED>
<DELETED> (4) by inserting after subsection (b), as
redesignated by paragraph (3), the following:</DELETED>
<DELETED> ``(c) Organization With River Forecast Centers.--The Under
Secretary, acting through the Director of the Office of Water
Prediction of the National Weather Service, shall supervise and oversee
the administration, management, and operations of each River Forecast
Center of the National Weather Service and coordinate those operations
with the National Water Center.</DELETED>
<DELETED> ``(d) Administration and Management of Cooperative
Institute for Research to Operations in Hydrology.--The Under
Secretary, acting through the Director of the Office of Water
Prediction of the National Weather Service, shall administer the duties
and activities of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration
related to the Cooperative Institute for Research to Operations in
Hydrology, or any successor entity, and coordinate the activities of
the Institute with the National Water Center.''; and</DELETED>
<DELETED> (5) in subsection (e)(4), as redesignated by
paragraph (3), by striking ``fiscal year 2024'' and inserting
``each of fiscal years 2024 through 2028''.</DELETED>
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.
This Act may be cited as the ``Water Research Optimization Act of
2025''.
SEC. 2. MODIFICATION OF OPERATIONS OF NATIONAL WATER CENTER.
Section 301 of the Coordinated Ocean Observations and Research Act
of 2020 (42 U.S.C. 10371) is amended--
(1) in subsection (a)--
(A) in paragraph (1)(A)--
(i) in the matter preceding clause (i), by
inserting ``, within the Office of Water
Prediction of the National Weather Service,''
after ``shall establish'';
(ii) in clause (i), by striking ``and''
after the semicolon;
(iii) in clause (ii), by striking the
period and inserting ``; and''; and
(iv) by adding at the end the following new
clause:
``(iii) to lead the transition of water
research by the Federal Government, including
model development, into operations of the
National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration
and the National Weather Service.'';
(B) in paragraph (2), by adding at the end the
following:
``(F) Serving as the primary center within the
National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration for
research, development, collaboration, and coordination
of the water research and water forecast activities of
the Administration and other centers and networks of
the Federal Government, including those of the
Department of Agriculture, the Army Corps of Engineers,
the Bureau of Reclamation, the United States Geological
Survey, and the Federal Emergency Management Agency.
``(G) Integrating and promoting consistency among
national and regional hydrological forecast operations
and service delivery.''; and
(C) by adding at the end the following:
``(3) Incorporation into unified forecast system.--The
Under Secretary shall use the Weather and Climate Operational
Supercomputing System, or any successor system, to support the
development and implementation of advanced water resources
modeling capabilities under paragraph (2)(B) and shall
incorporate those modeling capabilities into the unified
forecast system.'';
(2) by striking subsection (b);
(3) by redesignating subsection (c) as subsection (b);
(4) by inserting after subsection (b), as redesignated by
paragraph (3), the following:
``(c) Organization and Administration.--The Under Secretary, acting
through the Director of the Office of Water Prediction of the National
Weather Service, shall--
``(1) supervise and oversee the administration, management,
and operations of each River Forecast Center of the National
Weather Service and coordinate those operations with the
National Water Center; and
``(2) administer the duties and activities of the National
Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration related to the
Cooperative Institute for Research to Operations in Hydrology,
or any successor entity, and coordinate the activities of the
Institute with the National Water Center.''; and
(5) in subsection (d)(4) by inserting before the period the
following: ``and each of fiscal years 2026 through 2030''.
Calendar No. 196
119th CONGRESS
1st Session
S. 1523
[Report No. 119-85]
_______________________________________________________________________
A BILL
To modify operations of the National Water Center of the National
Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, and for other purposes.
_______________________________________________________________________
October 21, 2025
Reported with an amendment