(a) As a condition of recognition as an established institute under the provisions of this chapter, each institute shall provide to the Director written evidence that it conforms to the requirements of subsection 104(a) of the Act, in that:

(1) The institute is established at the college or university in the State that was established in accordance with the Act of July 21, 1862 (12 Stat. 503; 7 U.S.C. 301ff), i.e., a “land-grant” institution, or;

(2) If established at some other institution, the institute is at a college or university that has been designated by act of the legislature for the purposes of the Act, or;

(3) If there is more than one “land-grant” institution in the State, and no designation has been made according to paragraph (a)(2) of this section, the institute has been established at the one such institution designated by the Governor of the State to participate in the program, or;

(4) The institute has been designated as an interstate or regional institute by two or more cooperating States as provided in the Act.

(b) The certification of designation made pursuant to paragraph (a) of this section shall originate following the issuance of these regulations, be signed by the highest ranking officer of the college or university at which the institute is established and be submitted to the Director within 90 days of the effective date of these regulations. It shall be accompanied either by the evidence of establishment under the provisions of 30 CFR part 401 or by new evidence of establishment made pursuant to these regulations.

(c) Any institute not previously established under the provisions of the Water Resources Act of 1964 (Pub. L. 88-379, 78 Stat. 331) or the Water Research and Development Act of 1978 (Pub. L. 95-467, 92 Stat. 1305) shall also, in addition to the annual program application specified in § 401.11 of this chapter, submit to the Director the following information:

(1) Evidence of the appointment by the governing authority of the college or university of an officer to receive and account for all funds paid under the provisions of the Act and to make annual reports to the granting agency on work accomplished; and

(2) A management plan for meeting the requirements of the evaluation mandated by § 401.26.

(a) Release of grant funds to participating institutes is conditioned on the ability of each receiving institute to plan, conduct, or otherwise arrange for:

(1) Competent research, investigations, and experiments of either a basic or practical nature, or both, in relation to water resources;

(2) Promotion of the dissemination and application of the results of these efforts; and

(3) Assistance in the training of scientists in relevant fields of endeavor to water resources through the research, investigations, and experiments.

(b) Such research, investigations, experiments and training may include:

(1) Aspects of the hydrologic cycle;

(2) Supply and demand;

(3) Demineralization of saline and other impaired waters;

(4) Conservation and best use of available supplies of water and methods of increasing such supplies;

(5) Water reuse;

(6) Depletion and degradation of ground-water supplies;

(7) Improvements in the productivity of water when used for agricultural, municipal, and commercial purposes;

(8) The economic, legal, engineering, social, recreational, biological, geographical, ecological, or other aspects of water problems;

(9) Scientific information dissemination activities, including identifying, assembling, and interpreting the results of scientific research on water resources problems, and ;

(10) Providing means for improved communication of research results, having due regard for the varying conditions and needs of the respective States and regions.

(c) An institute shall cooperate closely with other colleges and universities in the State that have demonstrated capabilities for research, information dissemination and graduate training in the development of its program. For purposes of financial management, reporting and other research program management and administration activities, the institutes shall be responsible for performance of the activities of other participating institutions.

(d) Each institute shall cooperate closely with other institutes and other research organizations in the region to increase the effectiveness of the institutes, to coordinate their activities, and to avoid undue duplication of effort.