American Water Resources Association

Founded in 1964, the American Water Resources Association (AWRA) is a non-profit professional association dedicated to the advancement of men and women in water resources management, research, and education. With almost 2,500 members, it is the major U.S. organization in the field. AWRA’s membership includes engineers, educators, foresters, biologists, ecologists, geographers, managers, regulators, hydrologists and attorneys. AWRA organizes conferences, publishes the peer-reviewed Journal of the American Water Resources Association (JAWRA), the Water Resources IMPACT magazine, and sponsors Technical Committees, State Sections and Student Chapters.

AWRA has a seat on the Board of Governors of the World Water Council and participates in the triennial World Water Forum

Conferences

AWRA sponsors a minimum of three conferences a year: a Spring Specialty Conference, a Summer Specialty Conference, and an Annual Water Resources Conference (held in November). The three-day Specialty Conferences focus such areas as Geological Information Systems, Riparian Ecosystems, Adaptive Management, Emerging Contaminants in the Environment, Wetlands Restoration, Watershed Management, Agricultural Hydrology, Coastal Water Resources, and Climate Change. The four-day Annual Conferences offer a comprehensive program of oral and poster presentations, Plenary Sessions, field trips and workshops. The AWRA also holds a series of Water Policy Dialogues focusing on water policy and management at the local, state and federal levels. Additionally, the AWRA periodically co-hosts international conferences with other international water resources organizations.

Publications

Each conference produces a proceedings (now available on CD ROM. though earlier proceedings were in print): the Specialty Conference proceedings includes papers and abstracts, while the Annual Conference proceedings are abstracts.

The Journal of the American Water Resources Association (JAWRA). JAWRA publishes original papers with a broad approach to water resources issues. All papers are refereed prior to publication. JAWRA is published bi-monthly, beginning with the February issue. Prior to 1997, JAWRA was known as Water Resources Bulletin.

'Water Resources IMPACT Magazine, originally started as a newsletter, evolved into a magazine with articles addressing the practical issues of water resources management. Published bi-monthly, each issue is devoted to a particular topic. Some recent issues include Homeland Security, National Hydrography Dataset, Decision Support for Adapting to Climate Change, Energy and Water, Water Rights, Contaminants of Emerging Concern.

Technical Committees

Open only to members, the committees promote an open exchange of ideas via list serves and bulletin boards on a variety of current topics of concern:

Caulfield Medal

Since 1988, AWRA has periodically awarded a Henry P. Caulfield, Jr. Medal for Exemplary Contributions to National Water Policy to an individual who has achieved eminence in shaping national water policy. On presentation of the first medal to Caulfield in 1988, AWRA President Raymond Herrmann said: "this medal was established to honor an individual whose record of achievements and contributions in setting, designing, and implementing water resources policies at the national level have been extraordinary."^[1]

Maidment Award

In 2010 at its Spring Specialty Conference on GIS & Water Resources, AWRA awarded the AWRA Award for Exemplary Contributions to Water Resources Data and Information Systems to David R. Maidment, and then announced its decision to name this award after him. This award recognizes individuals who have made sustained contributions to water resources data by providing leadership in the provision of particular kinds of data, or by improving synthesis of water data using geographic and other information systems. It is awarded in conjunction with the AWRA Specialty Conferences on the topic.

References

External links

• American Water Resources Association
• Journal of the American Water Resources Association Accessed 1-29-09.
• Complete list of AWRA Awards and Recipients Accessed 8-9-2010.