April 2006

The Official Governing Board Nominee for the 2006 position of EWRI Vice President is C. Dale Jacobson, P.E., DEE, F.ASCE. If you haven't already voted, please print out the ballot (PDF), and either mail it to: EWRI of ASCE, Attn: NEC, 1801 Alexander Bell Drive, Reston, VA 20191-4400 or fax it to: (703) 295-6371.

The new EWRI Vice President will be announced in the Summer 2006 Issue of Currents. The Vice President's term will commence October 1, 2006 (FY 2007).

ASCE's External Review Panel Responds to IPET Findings on 17th Street Canal Levee Breach

On March 10, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (USACE) Interagency Performance Evaluation Task Force (IPET) issued a second interim report on the status of its investigation of the New Orleans hurricane protection system. ASCE's External Review Panel (ERP) is conducting a comprehensive review of Report 2 and expects to offer its technical comments in a formal report scheduled for publication within two weeks.

The ERP has identified several issues it believes warrant immediate attention, and communicated those concerns in a letter to LTG Carl A. Strock, P.E., dated March 23. A copy of the letter can be found at http://www.asce.org/files/pdf/erpletterformat.pdf.

» Read the executive summary
» Download the full report
» ERP Chair Issues Public Statement
» More information
» ASCE Responds

ASCE Names Schilling as Representative to U.N. Water Program

The U.S. National Commission for UNESCO has asked the American Society of Civil Engineers to become a member of the U.S. National Committee for the International Hydrological Programme. ASCE has accepted the appointment and named Kyle Schilling, a former civilian engineer with the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, to serve as the Society's representative.

The International Hydrological Programme (IHP) is the core program for UNESCO's work on fresh water issues. The U.S. National Committee for the IHP will be a subgroup reporting to the U.S. National Commission for UNESCO. The U.S. National Committee for the IHP will advise the U.S. National Commission for UNESCO on making recommendations on U.S. participation in the UNESCO International Hydrological Programme and assisting in the formulation and review of other UNESCO international water resources activities; providing advice on domestic and international activities related to UNESCO programs that advance research, education, or training in water resources sciences or the application of water resources sciences to specific problems; recommending U.S. programs for participation in the UNESCO International Hydrological Programme; and providing advice to organizations involved in U.S. participation in UNESCO international water resources activities. The U.S. National Commission for UNESCO, in turn, advises and makes recommendations to the U.S. Government.

In addition to organizations with expertise in water resources, members of the U.S. National Committee for the IHP will also include representatives of relevant federal government agencies and members of the U.S. National Commission for UNESCO.

>> The above article was provided courtesy of This Week in Washington

CEFI Confirms Speakers Mineta, Rohatyn and Oberstar

ASCE’s Civil Engineering Forum for Innovation (CEFI) has confirmed Norman Mineta, U.S. Secretary of Transportation, Former U.S. Ambassador Felix G. Rohatyn, co-chairman of the CSIS Public Infrastructure Commission and Congressman James L. Oberstar (D-MN), Ranking Member of the Transportation and Infrastructure Committee as speakers at the Infrastructure Solutions Summit: Moving from Awareness to Action.

Mineta, Rohatyn and Oberstar punctuate a list of prominent guests that will speak April 25-26 in Washington, D.C. to address the nation’s infrastructure crisis. A complete agenda is located at http://content.asce.org/files/pdf/CEFIAgenda.pdf

The summit, conducted by CEFI’s Industry Leaders Council, aims to devise innovative, realistic strategies to establish infrastructure improvement as a national priority and preserve the nation’s physical security and economic well-being.

Reserve your seat now for this vital discussion. For more information or to register online, visit http://content.asce.org/cefi/Summit.html or contact Carol Vargas at (800) 548-ASCE (2723) ext. 6046 or cvargas@asce.org. The registration deadline is April 18.

The following infrastructure guidance documents—developed and produced through ASCE's Water Infrastructure Security Enhancements (WISE) funding grant from the U.S. EPA, in partnership with American Water Works Association (AWWA) and Water Environment Federation (WEF)--are now available to be downloaded in PDF format:

Swamps, bogs, fens, and marshes – in short, wetlands – are as vital to our environment as coral reefs and rain forests. On March 28, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and Army Corps of Engineers (Corps) proposed a new rule to ensure more effective wetlands restoration and preservation nationwide. The agencies' rule, being published for public comment, proposes improved science and results-oriented standards to increase the quality and effectiveness of wetlands conservation practices under the Clean Water Act (CWA).

»For more information regarding compensatory mitigation and how to provide comments on the proposed standards, see: http://www.epa.gov/wetlandsmitigation

INDUSTRY NEWS

Renewable Natural Resources Foundation 2006 Awards Program - Call for Nominations - Deadline June 1, 2006

RNRF

The Renewable Natural Resources Foundation has three annual awards to recognize outstanding achievements in the renewable resources fields. Two of the awards—established in 1992—were the first awards to honor interdisciplinary achievements with an emphasis on the application of sound scientific practices in managing and conserving renewable natural resources.

The Sustained Achievement Award recognizes a long-term contribution and commitment to the protection and conservation of natural resources by an individual.

The Outstanding Achievement Award recognizes a project, publication, piece of legislation, or similar concrete accomplishment that occurred during the three years prior to nomination for the award. (An individual cannot receive this award.)

RNRF's Excellence in Journalism Award, established in 2001, honors and encourages excellence in print journalism about natural resources. RNRF seeks to advance public education and understanding of important natural resource issues through the dissemination of accurate and scientifically-based information about the environment. The award recognizes work by an individual, group, or organization for print media (such as a book, on-line report, or article/feature in a newspaper, magazine, journal, or newsletter).

>> For a complete list of nomination guidelines visit www.rnrf.org (After clicking on the link, click on programs and then click on 2006 Awards) or email info@rnrf.org or call 301-493-9101.

>> Past Award Recipients (After clicking on the link, click on programs and then click on Awards)

Watersheds added to the North American Atlas

An important new layer of information, watershed boundaries, has been added to the first comprehensive and online digital map of North America.

In 2004, the Commission for Environmental Cooperation (CEC) and its partners developed the first map of North America to be drawn by all three North American countries - the first living map of our continet to be available online and updated as new information is available. institutions and individuals could freely use the map to advance scientific research, environmental promotion and any number of applications.

The atlas partners - the CEC, Atlas of Canada, Mexico's Instituto Nacional de

Estadìstica Geographia e Informatìca, and the National Atlas of the United States - have now added the features defining the hydrological basins, or watersheds, to that atlas.

The Watersheds map features the six great basins that drain into the Atlantic, Arctic, and Pacific Oceans, as well as Hudson Bay, the Gulf of Mexico and the Caribbean Sea. Each is shown in its own color, with 17 major river basins show in tonal variations. At the most detailed level the map presents hundreds of individual watersheds. Areas of internal drainage, with no outlets to the sea, are shown in gray.

Bothe the Watersheds map and the North American Atlas are set at 1:10,000,000 scale. The watersheds data joins the previous data layers: including roads, railroads, populated places, political boundaries, hydrology, bathmetry, and sea ice.

The North American Atlas is available online at http://www.cec.org/naatlas/.

COMMITTEE NEWS

Probabilistic Approaches Committee, Watershed Council - Call for members

Interested in sharing your ideas and knowledge on state-of-the-art probabilistic approaches for engineering design or research projects? Interested in chairing a task committee on a relevant probabilistic approach or uncertainty analysis topic? If so, we encourage you to join the Probabilistic Approaches Committee. Interested engineers or researchers are invited to submit a brief CV to Chair, Dr. Christina Tsai at ctsai4@eng.buffalo.edu or to Vice Chair, Dr. Arthur Schmidt at aschmidt@uiuc.edu. Come and join our committee meeting at 2006 Omaha EWRI Congress (meeting time and place to be announced)!

Looking for Stormwater Professionals!

The Stormwater Infrastructure Committee (Part of the Water, Wastewater & Stormwater Council) is looking for new members! As the name states, our activities focus on stormwater from the infrastructure view, and in coordination with the other stormwater and water resources committees, we are pursuing many new projects. Bring your ideas to our Sunday meeting (21 May) in conjunction with the 2006 EWRI World Environmental and Water Resources Congress in Omaho. If you are interested in working with this committee on, please send your contact information to include your ASCE Member number to the committee chair, Rob Traver at robert.traver@villanova.edu.

Ordering Information: Visit http://www.pubs.asce.org or call 1-800-548-2723 (U.S.) / 1-703-295-6300 (Int’l.) / 1-703-295-6278 (Fax)

This classic reference provides an excellent text for understanding the nature and scope of sedimentation problems, methods for their investigation, and practical approaches to their solution. The book focuses on sediment control methods for watersheds, streams, canals, and reservoirs. Originally published in 1975, ASCE Manual 54 is still considered the foremost text on sedimentation engineering. This Classic Edition, which includes a new index written by Professor Vito Vanoni, will be beneficial to hydrologists, geomorphologists, sedimentologists, land-use planners, soil conservation specialists, and environmental, hydraulic, and agricultural engineers. CONTENTS include: Nature of Sedimentation Problems; Sediment Transportation Mechanics; Sediment Measurement Techniques; Sediment Sources and Sediment Yields; Sediment Control Methods; Economic Aspects of Sedimentation; and American Sedimentation Law and Physical Processes. ASCE Manual 54 is also the progenitor of its companion volume, ASCE Manual 110, Sedimentation Engineering: Theory, Measurements, Modeling, and Practice (to be released May 2006).

The organizing committees for the upcoming conferences are currently seeking abstract submissions.

7th International Conference on HydroScience & Engineering*
September 10-13, 2006, Philadelphia, PA

Advanced Detention Routing: Improving the Operation and Effectiveness of Detention Facilities

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