At the urging of the West Virginia Legislature, West Virginia University is teaming with Marshall University and the West Virginia Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) to develop data so that policy makers can make informed judgments on how to manage the states water resources.

In 2004, the Legislature passed Senate Bill 163, Water Resources Management Act, whose purpose is to manage the states water supplies, both surface and groundwater, to realize the maximum economic and environmental benefits for the state,said Paul Ziemkiewicz, director of the West Virginia Water Research Institute (WVWRI) at WVU s National Research Center for Coal and Energy.

To assist in this matter, WVWRI entered into a joint agreement with Marshall University to conduct research through a program called the West Virginia Center for Water Resources Management.

In the future, water will make West Virginia a unique and valuable place to live and do business,Ziemkiewicz predicted.How the states citizens choose to manage our water will make the difference.

Currently, such factors as proximity to interstate highways and the power grid determine where a company will locate a new facility.

I can see the day where access to a reliable source of good water will be equally important,he said.

Managing water is not new, Ziemkiewicz said. The federal government already manages water through laws such as the Clean Water Act. In many of the nations rivers, water withdrawals are already controlled by the U.S. Army Corp of Engineers to support navigation. WVWRI worked with the WVU College of Law to sponsor the 2003 Law Review on the subject of water use and legislation in the state. The symposium helped inform policy makers drafting SB 163 .

The law, which requires the DEP to gather and analyze data about water use in the state, did not provide additional funds for the effort. The WVWRI volunteered to help.

The institute receives an annual federal award from the U.S. Geological Survey. This year, WVWRI is dedicating those funds and additional WVU matching funds to assist the DEP in gathering data.

WVWRI will report on three areas: historic and current conditions that indicate low flow and flood or drought conditions; an evaluation of current or potential in-stream or off-stream uses that may substantially hurt a water source; and practices to reduce water withdrawals.

The resulting report due in Dec. 2005 will detail the major users of water in the state, their requirements, the potential water resources in the state, and locations of potential excess and shortage.

This information will allow policy makers to focus legislation on ways to realize the economic and environmental benefits of managing the states water resource,Ziemkiewicz said.