HELP is an international initiative, sponsored by UNESCO and the WMO (World Meteorological Organization), that addresses an unmet need for integrated water basin management based on dialogue among water scientists, policy makers, water managers and stakeholder. In concept, it is a global network of catchments, each with its unique set of issues and institutions. At the basin scale it is a collection of scientific projects that combine field research with local capacity building and on-going collaboration between scientists and the community. These activities are linked in multiple ways to share data, resources, and lessons learned. To be included among the HELP basin network, a catchment must meet standard criteria for physical and socioeconomic data exchange and demonstrate local capacity to participate. Currently three US basins are working under the HELP umbrella. They are the San Pedro River Basin in southeastern Arizona and across the border in Mexico, the Red-Arkansas River Basin in Oklahoma and surrounding states, and the Lake Ontario Basin. The issues addressed in the basins are both similar and distinct. Already the benefits of communication among the basins have been recognized. In much of the world, HELP relies on FRIEND (Flow Regimes from International Experimental and Network Data) to coordinate and develop activities, but that organization does not perform the same services for US basins. As a result, the USGCRP Water Cycle Program Office has been asked to act as coordinator for US HELP basins. In this role we envision building from the current base of three basins to a larger network within the US and raising the visibility of US basins within the global network. The payoff will accrue to US water scientists, managers, stakeholders, and policy makers in gaining access to a broader base of focused information and advice.

The proposed paper will describe HELP in more detail, provide brief descriptions of the three US HELP basins, and outline the vision of the Water Cycle Program Office for US involvement in this international initiative.