119-s1523

[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