S. 1523, Water Research Optimization Act of 2025

S. 1523 would reauthorize and expand the operations of the National Water Center (NWC) administered by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA). Specifically, the bill would:

• Require the NWC to coordinate water research and weather forecasting activities with other federal entities;
• Require NOAA to use a supercomputing system to improve weather and climate forecasting; and,
• Require NOAA to supervise operations of each river forecast center, which are regional offices that provide river level and flood forecasts, in coordination with the NWC.

The bill would authorize the appropriation of $46 million annually from 2025 through 2028 for those purposes.

Based on historical spending patterns, CBO estimates that implementing the bill would cost $170 million over the 2025-2030 period and $9 million after 2030, assuming appropriation of the authorized amounts.

The costs of the legislation, detailed in Table 1, fall within budget function 300 (natural resources and environment).

The CBO staff contact for this estimate is Kelly Durand. The estimate was reviewed by H. Samuel Papenfuss, Deputy Director of Budget Analysis.