# 119-s-1523: Water Research Optimization Act of 2025

119-s-1523, Water Research Optimization Act of 2025, is a 119th Congress bill sponsored by Sen. Britt, Katie Boyd [R-AL] (R-AL); status in_committee; PRIA reads it as touching household money (as of 2026-10-07).

- Canonical: https://policyrisk.com/legislation/119-s-1523
- As of: 2026-10-07
- Plain-text twin of the page above; the HTML and this file carry the same facts.

## Facts
- Bill: 119-s-1523
- Congress: 119
- Title: Water Research Optimization Act of 2025
- Status: in_committee
- Introduced: 2025-04-30
- Sponsor: Sen. Britt, Katie Boyd [R-AL] (R-AL)
- Cosponsors: 1
- Policy area: Science, Technology, Communications
- Touches household money: yes
- Last recorded action: 2026-10-07

## Summary

**Centralize water forecasting at NOAA's Office of Water Prediction.** This bill would reorganize NOAA so the Office of Water Prediction becomes the central hub for water research, forecasting, and cross-agency coordination, and it would require hydrological models to be incorporated into NOAA's unified forecast system. - Families and communities would get more consistent and integrated flood and water forecasts, improving safety and planning from local to national scales. - Emergency managers and federal partners would see stronger coordination because the Office must work with USDA, the Army Corps of Engineers, Bureau of Reclamation, USGS, and FEMA to align forecast operations and service delivery. - NOAA operations and researchers would be reorganized under the Office director, with River Forecast Centers aligned to the National Water Center, Cooperative Institute for Research to Operations in Hydrology activities coordinated, and advanced water modeling required to run on NOAA's Weather and Climate Operational Supercomputing System or its successor. The bill also extends the relevant fiscal-year coverage through 2026 through 2030.

## Cosponsors (1)

- Sen. Welch, Peter [D-VT] (D-VT), 2025-04-30T00:00:00.000Z

## Provisions PRIA read

- More coordinated national water forecasts: benefit, high. This bill would make the National Water Center the main NOAA hub for water research and forecasts. It would place the Center inside the Office of Water Prediction at the National Weather Service. The Under Secretary, acting through the Office of Water Prediction Director, would run Cooperative Inst…

## Related bills

- 119-s-1748: Kids Online Safety Act
- 119-s-1541: SHIPS for America Act of 2025
- 119-s-836: Children and Teens’ Online Privacy Protection Act
- 119-s-278: Kids Off Social Media Act
- 119-s-3940: Access to Fair Financing for Opportunity and Resilient Development Act
- 119-s-1241: Sanctioning Russia Act of 2025

## Sources
- [119-s-1523 on Congress.gov](https://www.congress.gov/bill/119th-congress/senate-bill/1523)

## Related
- [119-s-1748: Kids Online Safety Act](https://policyrisk.com/legislation/119-s-1748)
- [119-s-1541: SHIPS for America Act of 2025](https://policyrisk.com/legislation/119-s-1541)
- [119-s-836: Children and Teens’ Online Privacy Protection Act](https://policyrisk.com/legislation/119-s-836)
- [119-s-278: Kids Off Social Media Act](https://policyrisk.com/legislation/119-s-278)
- [119-s-3940: Access to Fair Financing for Opportunity and Resilient Development Act](https://policyrisk.com/legislation/119-s-3940)
- [119-s-1241: Sanctioning Russia Act of 2025](https://policyrisk.com/legislation/119-s-1241)
- [All bills in Congress](https://policyrisk.com/legislation)

Source: PRIA, https://policyrisk.com/legislation/119-s-1523 (as of 2026-10-07).