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Funding for Research in the Hydrologic Sciences BACKGROUND In an effort to provide some context for its findings, conclusions, and recommendations, the committee sought to consider and include information in this report on the current (FY 1988), approximate lev- els of funding for research in the hydrologic sciences. To accomplish this, the staff conducted a survey of the agencies and departments of the U.S. federal government that were expected to have some level of research activity in the hydrologic sciences. The agencies and departments were given the committee's work- ing definitions of "hydrology"$ and "research"" and further informa- tion on the scope of the committee's interests. They were asked to provide basic information about their current research programs, in- cluding approximate current levels of funding. Specifically, the committee defined research in the hydrologic sci- ences as the development of understanding about (1) the paths along Hydrology the science concerned with the waters (solid, liquid, and vapor) of the earth; their occurrence, circulation, and distribution; their chemical and physical prop- erties; and their reaction with their environment, including their relation to living things. This definition was used in the survey, which was begun in the early stages of the committee's work before it had adopted the more comprehensive definition of hydro- logic science presented in Chapter 2. "Research the development of understanding through the conceptualization and testing of new ideas. 317
