The Rundown
- International Joint Commission, which advises on shared U.S.-Canadian waterways, recommends actions to improve Great Lakes management.
- NOAA assesses the economic costs of the 2020-25 drought in the southern Great Plains.
- House committee votes to reauthorize the Great Lakes Restoration Initiative.
- GAO reports on state and local disaster response capabilities.
And lastly, a satellite-based water monitoring tool expands to all Lower 48 states.
“This 2025 review reaffirms that the Compact and Agreement remain durable and effective frameworks for protecting these shared waters, while also highlighting areas where vigilance, innovation, and collaboration are urgently needed.” – Excerpt from the International Joint Commission report, Protection of the Waters of the Great Lakes.
By the Numbers
$23 Billion: Estimated economic cost of drought in the southern Great Plains from 2020 to 2025, according to a NOAA report. The damage, which centered on Kansas, Oklahoma, and Texas but also touched neighboring states, includes crop failures, supplemental feed costs, and livestock losses.
News Briefs
Water Monitoring Tool Expands
OpenET, a tool for monitoring the water cycle on land, has expanded to all the lower 48 states.
Operated by a consortium that includes NASA and the U.S. Geological Survey, OpenET uses satellite measurements to estimate evaporation from the land and transpiration from plants, two important components of a water budget. OpenET has been used to track agricultural water consumption.
Great Lakes Restoration Initiative
The House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee voted to advance a bill that reauthorizes through 2031 the flagship ecosystem restoration program for the Great Lakes region.
Studies and Reports
Great Lakes Report
The International Joint Commission, a U.S.-Canadian body for mediating disputes over shared waterways, released a report on protecting Great Lakes waters that emphasizes a greater role for the basin’s Indigenous people.
The report is a 10-year review to assess progress toward protecting the Great Lakes made under the 2008 Great Lakes Compact.
“This 2025 review reaffirms that the Compact and Agreement remain durable and effective frameworks for protecting these shared waters, while also highlighting areas where vigilance, innovation, and collaboration are urgently needed,” the report states.
Three of the report’s first four recommendations are for more Indigenous participation and responsibility in managing the Great Lakes. The other 11 recommendations touch on research, monitoring, and management. They include:
- Developing a uniform method for measuring consumptive water use
- Monitoring groundwater use and developing conservation plans
- Establishing guidelines for data center operators around water-use reporting
- Studying the application of public trust principles in the basin
“Each recommendation is important to ensuring that the Compact and Agreement continue to function as living instruments, capable of adapting to new challenges without compromising their core protections.”
State and Local Disaster Response
Owing to Republican calls to review federal disaster response, the Government Accountability Office, Congress’s watchdog, is releasing a series of reports on issues that policymakers should consider.
The most recent report describes state and local readiness. It should be no surprise that the GAO found vastly different levels of capability, from near autonomy in some areas to almost total reliance on federal resources.
Even highly competent and well-funded states lean on federal support in the most severe disasters, such as the Los Angeles-area wildfires in January 2025.
On the Radar
Colorado River Draft EIS
Still waiting.
Reclamation said it will publish the draft EIS for post-2026 Colorado River reservoir operations either the last week of 2025 or the first weeks of the new year.
Federal Water Tap is a weekly digest spotting trends in U.S. government water policy. To get more water news, follow Circle of Blue on Twitter and sign up for our newsletter.
