"The Trump administration has terminated the leases of 25 U.S. Geological Survey Water Science Centers, which inform the water decisions of local and state governments across the country."
"Across the country, the data collected at stream gauges managed by the U.S. Geological Survey are used to implement drought measures when streamflows are low, alert local authorities of floods, help administer water to users on rivers and issue pollution discharge permits required by the Clean Water Act for communities across the country.
But more than two dozen USGS Water Science Centers that house the employees and equipment to manage those gauges and equipment will soon have their leases terminated after being targeted by the Department of Government Efficiency, headed by billionaire Elon Musk. Data collected by the centers inform studies of the condition of the country’s water resources and shape local and state water management plans.
It’s the latest in the Trump administration’s assault on science and federal agencies, and means that centers from Alaska to Massachusetts will close once their leases are up, according to Public Employees for Environmental Responsibility, a nonprofit that supports government employees. The leases of 16 out of the 25 centers end Aug. 31, 2025. Staffers at targeted centers, speaking anonymously because they are not authorized to speak to the media, said they are in the dark as to what happens when the leases end and how their operations, vital to water management across the country, will be able to continue, though talks continue about renewing some of the affected leases."
Wyatt Myskow reports for Inside Climate News April 29, 2025.
SEE ALSO:
"Crippling Water Quality & Flow Monitoring Cuts Slated" (PEER release)
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