What it does
A plain-language summary is coming. Here is the official summary from the Congressional Research Service:
Water Monitoring and Tracking Essential Resources (WATER) Data Improvement Act This act reauthorizes through FY2028 the following initiatives of the United States Geological Survey (USGS): (1) Federal Priority Streamgage program (previously known as the National Streamflow Information Program); (2) groundwater monitoring program, including the National Groundwater Monitoring Network; and (3) grants for water estimation, measurement, and monitoring technologies and methodologies. The act also modifies the Federal Priority Streamgage program, which measures and tracks the amount of water in nati… Read the full official summary
Water Monitoring and Tracking Essential Resources (WATER) Data Improvement Act This act reauthorizes through FY2028 the following initiatives of the United States Geological Survey (USGS): (1) Federal Priority Streamgage program (previously known as the National Streamflow Information Program); (2) groundwater monitoring program, including the National Groundwater Monitoring Network; and (3) grants for water estimation, measurement, and monitoring technologies and methodologies. The act also modifies the Federal Priority Streamgage program, which measures and tracks the amount of water in nationally significant watersheds and provides information about those watersheds and their conditions, such as floods and droughts. Currently, the USGS must ensure that all streamgages are equipped with water-quality sensors. The act requires that those sensors are precipitation water-quality sensors. The act also requires each streamgage site to conform with the federal needs established through regular solicitation and feedback, such as that documented in the report titled Re-prioritization of the U.S. Geological Survey Federal Priority streamgage program, 2022 .
How Congress voted
This law passed by voice vote or unanimous consent, so there is no record of how individual members voted.