Many water policymakers are interested in exploring the long-term health, safety, and viability of water ecosystems around the United States. The U.S. Geological Survey is integrating its water science programs to better address the Nation’s greatest water resource challenges. At the heart of this effort are plans to intensively study at least 10 Integrated Water Science (IWS) basins — medium-sized watersheds (10,000-20,000 square miles) and underlying aquifers — over the next decade. The IWS basins will represent a wide range of environmental, hydrologic, and landscape settings and human stressors of water resources to improve understanding of water availability across the Nation and better inform policymakers about possible challenges.