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Special Events
Alabama Water Resources Conference River of Words GIS SymposiumThe Alabama Water Resources Research Institute is a university-based interdisciplinary, problem-oriented research and technology center with support from the federal government that enables the program to address broad national needs and relevant industrial technology.
The Water Resources Research Institute coordinates research programs which are applicable to the solution of present and emerging water resources problems. In carrying out this mission, the Institute has developed a broadly based research, training, information transfer, and public service program involving personnel from many academic disciplines in the state's research universities.
The Alabama Water Resources Research Institute is one of 54 water resources institutes nationwide authorized by the federal Water Resources Research Act. The state-based Water Resources Research Institutes are located at land grant universities and promote research and information dissemination on the state's and nation's water resources problems.
News
EPA’s Watershed Academy to sponsor free July 1st Webcast on the Clean Water Act
EPA’s Watershed Academy sponsors free Webcasts to help build the capacity of watershed practitioners from around the globe. On Wednesday, July 1, 2009, the Watershed Academy will sponsor the first in a series of Webcasts about the Clean Water Act (CWA). This first Webcast will provide an introduction to the CWA including a brief history of the Act, an explanation of technology vs. water quality-based approaches, and a brief overview of key components of the Act and related EPA regulations. The Webcast will feature William (Bill) Painter, Environmental Scientist with EPA’s Watershed Branch. Bill serves as a expert trainer on the CWA and is the author of a popular online Watershed Academy Web module, Introduction to the Clean Water Act, posted at http://www.epa.gov/watertrain/cwa/ . Registration is now open at http://epa.gov/watershedwebcasts. Archived audio versions of past webcasts are also available at epa.gov/watershedwebcasts
Comprehensive Atlas for the Kansas River
University of Kansas Professor Emeritus, Wakefield Dort, has produced a comprehensive atlas for the KAnsas River that is now available through the American Geographical Society. Please see news release about the publication and flyer that contains information on how to purchase a copy.
StormCon ‘09
Join us for StormCon, the North American Surface Water Quality Conference & Exposition
StormCon ’09 is coming up fast. Below are a couple of updates and reminders for anyone planning to attend or exhibit.
StormCon will be held August 16–20, 2009, at the Anaheim Marriott in Anaheim, CA.
Register now to hold your space.
Attendee registration is now open.
Seven Wetland Stewards Win 2009 National Wetlands Awards
protecting these important natural resources. A diverse panel of wetland experts assembled at the Environmental Law Institute (ELI) to select the winners of the 20th Anniversary National Wetlands Awards. This year’s Award winners hail from all regions of the country and exemplify the extraordinary commitment and innovation that is so instrumental to conserving wetlands in the nation’s communities. This year’s winners are: Peter Bahls, Ken Brunswick, Richard Gitar, Carol Johnston, Melissa Samet, Richard Thieriot, and Susan Vincent. Collectively, the award winners have conserved tens of thousands of wetland acres and have mobilized hundreds of individuals to contribute to wetland conservation.
Healthy Watersheds Initiative
EPA has launched a new initiative called “Healthy Watersheds” that emphasizes protection and conservation of aquatic ecosystems. The initiative is being introduced on a new Web site, Healthy Watersheds, which provides information on tools to identify and protect healthy watersheds and their components. The Web site provides critical information for making strategic decisions to both protect and restore our nation’s waters.
While significant progress has been made in protecting and restoring water quality under the Clean Water Act, the nation continues to lose healthy aquatic ecosystems. Preserving healthy watersheds will provide the critical natural infrastructure needed to restore water quality. EPA’s new initiative is predicated on the simple truth that it is much more cost-effective to protect the many benefits provided by healthy watersheds than it is to restore them once they become impaired.
Stream Restoration Workshop Series
Space is available to participate in several upcoming stream restoration workshops:
May 11-13 Aquatic Macroinvertebrate Assessment will be conducted in Auburn, Alabama. This workshop will introduce the participants to the basic ecology and taxonomy of aquatic insects. Field work and lab work will emphasize the use of EPT (mayflies, stoneflies and caddisflies).
May 27-28 Stream Restoration Design will be conducted in Montgomery, Alabama and will center on Baldwin Slough, a degraded urban stream in a City of Montgomery park. Participants will use reference reach information to develop design parameters for an urban stream. Other topics include sediment transport calculations, applications of in-stream structures, and habitat enhancements.
July 14-15 Stream Restoration Construction will be conducted in Montgomery, Alabama. Participants will learn about plan sheet development, construction specifications, permitting, and construction oversight while observing channel grading and structure installation.
Please visit http://www.aces.edu/waterquality/iby.htm for more information or contact Eve Brantley at brantef@auburn.edu
These workshops are made possible through partnerships and funding from City of Montgomery, Auburn University, Alabama Cooperative Extension System, Alabama Department of Environmental Management, Goodwyn, Mills, and Cawood, Inc., Jennings Environmental, LLC, Upper Alabama River Clean Water Partnership, Young Meadows Presbyterian Church, North Carolina State University, and the USDA CSREES Southern Region Water Program.
EPA Issues New Guidance on the Award of Water Quality Management Planning Grants Funded Under the Recovery Act
On March 12, 2009, EPA issued new guidance for the administration of Water Quality Management Planning (WQMP) Grants funded under the “American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009″ (ARRA). The ARRA provides $4 billion to the Clean Water State Revolving Fund (CWSRF) and according to Section 604(b) of the Clean Water Act, 1% of each State’s CWSRF allotment is reserved for WQMP activities. This means that nearly $40 million will be available nationally to support a broad range of planning activities. Examples of these activities might include: addressing nutrient pollution from cities and agriculture on a watershed basis, protecting undeveloped areas through “green infrastructure” techniques, creating low impact development programs that will protect water quality in developing areas, developing watershed plans and total maximum daily loads, analyzing trends in water availability and use, and developing response plans to adapt to climate change.
For a copy of this guidance, please visit Memorandum (PDF), and for other information on the ARRA, please visit Clean Water and Drinking Water State Revolving Funds.
Call for Presentations - 2009 AL Water Resources Conference and AWRA Symposium
The deadline to submit an abstract for oral presentations is 4:45pm, Wednesday, July 1, 2009.
Abstracts for student poster presentations can be submitted until 4:45pm, Monday, August 17, 2009.
Please visit the conference website www.auei.auburn.edu/conference for details and consider submitting on your current research or area of expertise.
The 23rd Annual Alabama Water Resources Conference will be held Thursday & Friday, September 10-11, 2009, at the Perdido Beach Resort Hotel and Convention Center in Orange Beach, Alabama. In conjunction with the Annual Conference, the Alabama Section of AWRA Symposium will be held Wednesday, September 9. Both will provide an excellent forum for stimulating discussion regarding the many multi-disciplinary aspects of current and future water use, management, and conservation issues. Registration and accommodation information are available at conference website: www.auei.auburn.edu/conference
Don’t miss this opportunity to present your abstract and network with colleagues along the shores of the beautiful Gulf of Mexico.
Economic Recovery Funding for Drinking Water and Wastewater Infrastructure
The economic recovery plan signed by President Obama will create quality, sustainable jobs to help protect our country’s public health and our environment. The American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 specifically includes $7.22 billion for projects and programs administered by EPA. These programs will protect and promote both “green” jobs and a healthier environment. As part of the plan, the Clean Water State Revolving Fund and Drinking Water State Revolving Fund projects have been funded $4 billion for assistance to help communities with water quality and wastewater infrastructure needs and $2 billion for drinking water infrastructure needs. A portion of the funding is targeted towards green infrastructure, water and energy efficiency, and environmentally innovative projects. The Agency is developing grant guidance to assist states in managing the Recovery Act funding. Announcements of grants will be posted on the web to ensure transparency. The state-by-state distributions for clean water and drinking water state revolving funds are also available on-line.
2009 Mississippi Water Conference, Call for Papers
The 2009 Mississippi Water Conference will be held August 5-7, 2009 at the Harrah’s Casino in Tunica, MS. The conference is sponsored by Mississippi Department of Environmental Quality, Mississippi Public Service Commission, Mississippi Water Resources Association, Mississippi Water Resources Research Institute, National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, and the U.S. Geological Survey. Abstracts are now being accepted for presentations and posters. Deadline to submit is May 1, 2009.
Watershed Forestry Resource Guide
The Watershed Forestry Resource Guide was created through a partnership of the Center for Watershed Protection and the US Forest Service. This Website is a central clearinghouse for all things related to forests and watersheds. There have been many recent efforts towards managing urban forests for watershed health that have resulted in a variety of highly useful tools and training materials. Information is organized into four major categories: forest planning and assessment, reducing stormwater runoff, forest friendly development and planting and maintaining trees. This site compiles these resources into a format that can be easily accessed and downloaded. http://www.forestsforwatersheds.org/
National Water Quality Inventory Report Now Available On-line
This report summarizes water quality assessments submitted by the states to EPA under Section 305(b) of the Clean Water Act. Forty-four percent of assessed river and stream miles, 64 percent of assessed lake acres, and 30 percent of assessed estuary square miles were found to be impaired for one or more of the uses designated for them by the states. Leading causes of impairment included pathogens, mercury, nutrients, and organic enrichment/low dissolved oxygen. Top sources of impairment included atmospheric deposition, agriculture, hydrologic modifications, and unknown or unspecified sources. This report is a companion to electronically-submitted state water quality information available on EPA’s Web site, known as ATTAINS. In addition to viewing the national summary and information by state at this Web site, users can click down to the individual waterbody level to find out more about water quality conditions. http://www.epa.gov/owow/305b/2004report/
EPA releases new online video “Reduce Runoff: Slow It Down, Spread It Out, Soak It In”
This new 9-minute film showcases green techniques that are being used in urban areas to reduce the effects of stormwater runoff on the quality of downstream receiving waters. The goal is to mimic the natural way water moves through an area before development by using design techniques that infiltrate, evaporate, and reuse runoff close to its source. Highlights include green techniques on display in 2008 at the U.S. Botanic Garden’s “One Planet - Ours!” Exhibit and at the U.S. EPA in Washington, D.C., including recently completed cisterns. http://epa.gov/owow/nps/lid/video.html
New Federal interagency report: Managing water resources in a changing climate
Climate change is a significant challenge faced by the Nation’s water managers. The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change has provided estimates of how climate may change in the coming decades and how some of these changes in temperature and precipitation may change hydrologic conditions and their consequences for floods, droughts, water supply, and water quality.
The purpose of this interagency report is to describe strategies to improve water management and planning in light of what we know about climate change but also what we don’t know. The report stresses the importance of tracking, anticipating, and responding to climate change. It documents some of the innovative approaches that are being put to use today to help water managers make effective decisions in light of the added uncertainties that climate change presents.
AWRRI Awards FY-2009 AL Water Resources Grants
Alabama Water Resources Research Institute recently announced the award of three FY-2009 AL Water Resources Grants. The object of this program is to facilitate research faculty in the state in making significant advances, and increasing regional and national competitiveness, in the water resources arena. For the purpose of this competition, “water resources arena” is defined in the broadest possible terms. Proposals are invited from all permanent full time tenured, tenure-track and non-tenured faculty from any universities or colleges in Alabama.
Details are available at http://awrri.auburn.edu/grants09.php
3rd National Conference on Ecosystem Restoration - Call for Special Sessions
Conference date: July 20-24, 2009. Westin Bonaventure, Los Angeles, California.
The 3rd National Conference on Ecosystem Restoration will be held on July 20-24, 2009 in Los Angeles, California. NCER ‘09 would like to invite members of the ecosystem restoration community to assist with program development by proposing and organizing special sessions. Proposals for special sessions are being accepted until October 3, 2008.
Center for Watershed Protection Releases Stormwater Monitoring Guidance
As part of an EPA grant, the Center for Watershed Protection and the University of Alabama prepared six monitoring study designs, outlined in the project’s final manual, Monitoring to Demonstrate Environmental Results: Guidance to Develop Local Stormwater Monitoring Studies Using 6 Example Study Designs. This guidance is designed to navigate the stormwater manager through the complexities of implementing a monitoring program, so they can be confident in their results and get the most out of their limited stormwater dollars. Each study design covers such essential elements as scoping, budgeting, and staffing needs as well as equipment and sampling requirements. Special issues associated with each monitoring study design are also covered for those unforeseen but inevitable monitoring challenges. The manual is available for free download.
EPA Launches new Climate Ready Estuaries website
The Climate Ready Estuaries (CRE) program is a partnership between EPA and the National Estuary Programs (NEPs) to address climate change in coastal areas and is currently working with six NEP pilots. CRE is excited to announce its new website, which is designed to provide users with information about the importance of coastal adaptation to climate change and provide tools for adaptation in its toolkit. More specifically, the online toolkit features resources related to coastal vulnerability, adaptation planning, smart growth, data and monitoring, and sustainable financing, serving a range of needs - from community members to coastal managers.
Climate Ready Estuaries Coastal Toolkit
The Climate Ready Estuaries Coastal Toolkit provides resources for estuaries and coastal programs that are interested in learning more about climate change impacts and adaptation. The Toolkit pages below provide information and links to websites, reports, and other resources related to the following areas: monitoring climate change, coastal vulnerability and adaptation, smart growth in the context of climate change, data sources, adaptation planning and sustainable finance options.
Final Rule on Water Transfers
EPA is publishing a final rule that clarifies water transfers are excluded from regulation under the National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System (NPDES) permitting program. The rule defines a water transfer as an activity that conveys or connects waters of the United States without subjecting the transferred water to intervening industrial, municipal, or commercial use. This exclusion does not apply to pollutants introduced by the water transfer activity itself to the water being transferred.