Announcements - Activities - News

• The June 27, 2008 Water Sciences Forum hosted at the Department of State in Washington, D.C., brought together more than 100 participants, including U.S. government water and water policy technical experts, academics, and representatives from UNESCO’s International Hydrological Program (IHP), the U.S. National Committee for the IHP, NGO's, and foreign embassies. The Forum’s purpose was to review water-related technologies and identify areas where U.S. expertise is applicable to the freshwater challenges facing African countries.

• The 4th International Symposium on Transboundary Waters Management will be held 15th - 18th October 2008, Thessaloniki, Greece. Abstract and pre-registration forms can be downloaded from the meeting web site. Note abstract deadline is April 30, 2008.

• International Conference on Water Scarcity, Global Changes, and Groundwater (December 1-6, 2008, University of California, Irvine): Convened by UNESCO and University of California, Irvine (second announcement, in pdf format). Note abstract deadline is June 15, 2008.

• Next U.S. National Committee meeting in Washington, DC, May 5, 2008. If interested in participating, please contact Matt Larsen or Verne Schneider.

• Call for International Hydrological Program (IHP) Category II Water Center Proposal: The deadline for a U.S. application for a center to be considered by UNESCO in 2009 closed on January 8, 2008. Proposals are now in review. For additional information, see the UNESCO International Hydrological Program (IHP) Category II Water Center Proposal Application Process

• Rita Colwell, member of the U.S. National Committee, UNESCO International Hydrological Programme, received the National Medal of Science for "her in-depth research that has contributed to a greater understanding of the ecology, physiology, and evolution of marine microbes, most notably Vibrio cholerae, the causative agent of pandemic cholera, and which has elucidated critical links between environmental and human health."

• A new web resource, Safe Drinking Water is Essential, is designed to examine the state of the world's water supply and provide information on what can be done to improve it. The site is "a production of the National Academy of Sciences' Koshland Science Museum, in cooperation with the Water Science and Technology Board and the Office of International Programs" and "was made possible by generous funding from Kenneth E. Behring, founder of the Global Health and Education Foundation."

• USGS Examines Importance of Water Budgets in Addressing Water Availability Concerns: A new USGS Circular illustrates the importance of water budgets as an essential tool in addressing concerns about water availability in the 21st Century. This tool provides a quantitative basis for assessing how a natural or human-induced change in one part of the hydrologic cycle may affect other aspects of the cycle. The new USGS circular demonstrates how water budgets provide a foundation for effective water-resource and environmental planning and management. For more information, see http://www.usgs.gov/newsroom/article.asp?ID=1821

• AGU 2007 Fall Meeting Special Session: The U.S. Contribution to International Hydrology. The meeting was held December 10-14, 2007, in San Francisco, California, USA. See sessions H11H, H12B, and H21F for titles and authors of the 23 abstracts submitted.

• Symposium summmary from the Netherlands IHP National Committee: 'Arsenic in Groundwater - A World Problem'

• UNESCO IHP and Project WET (Water Education for Teachers) sign Memorandum of Understanding to develop water education programs in Latin Americal and the Caribbean. See the Project WET website for more information.

• The Center for Sustainability of semi-Arid Hydrology and Riparian Areas (SAHRA) at the University of Arizona, and the Centre for Hydrometeorology and Remote Sensing (CHRS) at the University of California, Irvine have been jointly awarded the 2007 Great Man-Made River International Water Prize for Water Resources in Arid Zones, presented by UNESCO. "The centres, under the guidance of Professor J. Shuttleworth (SAHRA) and Professor S. Sorooshian (CHRS), are rewarded for their action in strengthening the capacity to manage the water resources of arid and semi-arid areas around the globe through a network of international and regional cooperation." Everyone in both Centers is proud to have received this award and pleased to make this additional step forward towards the building the presence and prestige of the USA within UNESCO IHP. You can find details of the award at: http://www.unesco.org/water/ihp/prizes/great_man/laureate_2007.shtml

• New Directions in Urban Water Management
  • Symposium (September 12-14, 2007, Paris): Announcement, including call for abstracts and pre-registration (pdf format)

• James Shuttleworth, U.S. National Committee member, won the prestigious International Hydrology Prize, sometimes referred to as the "Nobel Prize for hydrological sciences and engineering", for 2006. The award is given annually by the International Association of Hydrological Sciences (IAHS). (http://www.cig.ensmp.fr/~iahs/IHPrize/shuttleworth.htm)

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