Protecting water resources while providing a vital energy future will be the main focus when researchers, policy makers, regulators, and agency representatives converge on Morgantown Oct. 30 and Oc.t 31 for the West Virginia Water Research Institute annual Water Research Conference at the Waterfront Place Hotel.
WVWRI, headquartered at West Virginia University, created the event to provide access to the latest information, technologies and research relating to the Mountain State’s water resources. The official theme for this year’s conference is “Protecting our Water Resources, Providing for our Energy Future.”
Director of the WVWRI, Paul Ziemkiewicz, said the conference is open to the public and said the conference will concentrate on water research as it relates to energy production in West Virginia.
“Each year, our goal is to provide an opportunity for researchers from local colleges and universities, federal and state agencies, private organizations and others, to present their research findings in a public forum,” Ziemkiewicz said. “As the state’s land-grant institution, WVU is dedicated to improving the lives of West Virginians through research and the pursuit of knowledge and discovery. The WV Water Research Institute embraces this mission and works to find solutions to water-related problems and issues facing our state and its residents. The Water Research Conference is an excellent means to share research findings with the public, other researchers, policy makers and regulators.”
Ziemkiewicz is among the featured speakers at the event. He will give a presentation on the Monongahela River monitoring program currently being undertaken by WVWRI titled, “Water Quality Trends in the Monongahela River: 2009 to 2012.”
“We have been conducting bi-weekly water quality monitoring of the Monongahela River for the past three years,” Ziemkiewicz explained. “By analyzing the chemical make-up of the water regularly, and over a long period of time, a clearer picture of the over-all health of the Mon River Basin begins to come into focus. We now have a better understanding of the sources of water quality problems and have begun to take positive steps to correct them.”
He said those positive steps were made possible by the information gathered in the study and are already having a positive effect on the quality of the water in the Monongahela River – a drinking water source for nearly 1 million people.
The Colcom Foundation was impressed with the WVWRI’s water quality monitoring program for the Monongahela River basin and will fund the Institute so it can expand its network to include the Allegheny and Upper Ohio rivers. The expanded program will include new research institution partners which will be announced at the conference.
“This will give the upper Ohio River Basin, possibly the best water quality monitoring program in the country” Ziemkiewicz said.
In addition to Ziemkiewicz, the following speakers and distinguished researchers will present:
• Peter Murdoch of the U.S. Geological Survey who will talk about Recommended Science for a Changing Region
• Todd Petty, professor, Forestry and Natural Resources at WVU, who will present _Hope for Appalachian Watersheds in the Face of Energy Development: Is there Any? _
• Carnegie Mellon University’s Walter J. Blenko, Sr. Professor of Environmental Engineering, David Dzombak, who will reflect on Ohio River Headwaters Resource Committee: Focused on Protecting Water Quantity
• Ken Komoroski chairman of the Ohio River Valley Water Sanitation Committee (ORSANCO)
• Jeanne VanBriesen of Carnegie Mellon University
• John Wirts of the West Virginia Department of Environmental Protection, and
• Rose Reiley of the United States Army Corps of Engineers
Several focused technical sessions featuring panels of researchers have been scheduled for the Conference that include:
• toxicity and health
• stream ecology and restoration
• gas well development, and
• geomorphic considerations in mining reclamation.
To view the complete 2012 West Virginia Water Research Conference agenda or to register for this year’s event, visit www.wvwaterconference.org/2012.
The West Virginia Water Research Institute has been in existence since 1967 and serves as a statewide vehicle for performing research related to water issues. It is the premier water research center in West Virginia and, within selected fields, an international leader.
-WVU-
10/16/12
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CONTACT: Dave Saville, WV Water Research Institute
Dave.Saville@mail.wvu.edu; 304-293-7066