How this Ga. water testing and research center was saved from DOGE cuts
The U.S. Department of the Interior reversed the decision to terminate the lease for the United States Geological Survey’s (USGS) Water Science Center in Norcross, Georgia, according to a release from Senator Ossoff’s office on Friday.
The reversal comes after sustained efforts by Senators Jon Ossoff and Reverend Raphael Warnock to keep the facility open.
The Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) initially moved to end the center’s lease, raising concerns about the future of water research and monitoring in Georgia.
Last month, Ossoff questioned Interior Secretary Doug Burgum about the decision to terminate the lease in a U.S. Senate Appropriations hearing. This was after a joint letter from Ossoff and Warnock to Burgum in April, in which they raised concerns about how the federal government would safeguard Georgia’s water quality and continue the essential work carried out by the USGS office.
The Department of the Interior announced Friday it would no longer move forward with terminating the lease — ensuring that the USGS Water Science Center can continue its essential work in Norcross.
“In some cases, the Department took action to reverse a termination due to the critical nature of the mission, unavailability of alternative, cost-effective solutions, or the specialized nature of the facility,” Acting Assistant Secretary Tyler Hassen wrote to Ossoff. “You will be pleased to know that the GSA rescinded the termination of the USGS lease in Norcross, Georgia.”
Monitoring water quality, supply in Georgia
The USGS facility routinely monitors water quality to help keep Georgians’ drinking water safe and operates water gauges that local officials throughout the state use to make sure millions of residents receive an adequate water supply each day.
These gauges also provide important information on water flow for Georgia’s agricultural sector, nuclear power plants throughout the state and military bases, among other uses.
“Staff at the Water Sciences Center perform water quality testing to ensure the safety of drinking water and maintain water gauges across Georgia, including Lake Sidney Lanier and on the Chattahoochee River, which supplies most of metro Atlanta’s drinking water,” Ossoff and Warnock wrote to Burgum in April. “Local officials in metro Atlanta rely on gauges at Lake Lanier to ensure enough water is drawn from the lake to provide water to millions of Georgians every day. These gauges also inform water flows for Georgia’s agriculture industry, nuclear reactors across the state, and Department of Defense installations, among others.”
Federal offices in Georgia on DOGE lease cancellation list
This USGS office is also home to the South Atlantic Water Science Center, which provides what the Chattahoochee Riverkeeper calls “critical and vital” services such as housing equipment, a designated laboratory, and a workshop storage space designed for testing services. It supports water monitoring activities in Georgia, North Carolina and South Carolina.
The office in Norcross was one of several federal offices in Georgia at risk of closure after being put on DOGE’s lease cancellation list.
According to the DOGE website, ending the Norcross lease would have saved approximately $1.3 million.
DOGE, a cost-cutting initiative launched during Trump’s second administration and publicly championed by billionaire Elon Musk, has faced pushback in other states as well. In New Mexico, a lease termination for a nuclear waste repository was reversed, and in Alaska, a National Park Service office in Fairbanks was reinstated after Republican Sen. Dan Sullivan successfully advocated for its removal from the DOGE list.
This story was originally published June 16, 2025 at 3:04 PM.
