November 2005

GEO-Institute (G-I) member, Peter Nicholson, P.E., Ph.D. and Coast, Oceans, Ports & Rivers Institute (COPRI) member Robert A. Dalrymple, Ph.D., P.E. on behalf of ASCE present testimony on Hurricane Katrina before the Committee on Homeland Security and Government Affairs and the U.S. House of Representatives Subcommittee on Water Resources and Environment of the Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure, respectively. The testimonies are now available online on the EWRI Website and may be downloaded as a PDF.

All members of the ASCE Board of Direction are expected to communicate effectively with the constituents in their respective regions. The Technical Region is a worldwide, virtual region comprised of ASCE’s seven Technical Institutes. With 91,006 current members, the Technical Region is easily ASCE’s largest region. It will eventually be represented by two ASCE Directors. As a result of the ASCE national election which concluded in August 2005, Stan R. Caldwell, P.E., F.ASCE, F.AEI has the honor and privilege of serving as the first Technical Region Director. He was installed into office last Saturday and his term will run through October 2008. This report is the first in a series of brief summaries intended to keep you informed of news from the ASCE Board of Direction. Caldwell is frequently reminded that communication is a two-way process. As a result, please do not hesitate to contact him at any time with your questions and concerns. He would especially appreciate any thoughts that you might have on how ASCE and its technical Region can better serve you.

»To view the full Technical Region Director's Report, please visit the EWRI Website

Enter Your Project in the AAEE Excellence in Environmental Engineering Competition

The American Academy of Environmental Engineering annually hosts the Excellence in Environmental Engineering® competition to recognize and promote quality environmental engineering. Entries and awards are made in six categories of practice -- RESEARCH, PLANNING, DESIGN, OPERATIONS/MANAGEMENT, SMALL PROJECTS, and UNIVERSITY RESEARCH. Feature stories about the competition and winning entries routinely appear in the national trade press and in the media in the winners' locales as a result of the Academy's public education campaign. The competition is open to all companies, agencies, institutions, and individuals. The individual in responsible charge of the engineering effort entered must be a licensed professional engineer.

For a detailed book on How to Enter, which contains all requirements, helpful hints, and an entry form, contact the Academy. All entries are due February 1, 2006 at AAEE Headquarters.

The following posting was recently listed on the ASCE Career Connections Website:

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency has positions in its DC and Cincinnati offices to work on two, high-profile water security initiatives: (1) WaterSentinel involves developing and testing a warning system that could provide early indication of a contamination event in a distribution network; and (2) the Water Alliance entails developing and providing training for large water systems on active and effective security programs. Applicants should have expertise in water utility operations (e.g., drinking water treatment, water quality monitoring, consequence management, data management, and/or sampling and analytical procedures for contaminants). These jobs also require skills in oral and written communication, and coordination with a broad range of interests. Candidates must apply by November 9. Jobs can be viewed at www.epa.gov/ezhire under "Interdisciplinary Env Engineer/Scientist."

»Check out http://www.asce.org/careers/ to view more career opportunities, to post your resume, or to post a job opportunity.

Now available on line is the September 29, 2005 Congressional Research Service (CRS) report analyzing U.S. dam safety activities. Topics include dam failure risks, federal and state dam safety management, reduction of dam failures, and rehabilitation of federal and nonfederal dams. The following link opens directly into a PDF file: http://www.ewrinstitute.org/files/pdf/aidamsafetyreport.pdf.

COMMITTEE NEWS

Mark Your Calendars! Council Weekend 2006

EWRI’s 4th Annual Council Weekend has been scheduled for February 25-26, 2005 in Dallas, Texas. Email invitations will be sent to appropriate Councils, Committee and Task Committee Chairs and EXCOMS the fourth week of November. If you receive an invitation, please remember to RSVP by January 6, 2006. Full details will follow, to confirmed attendees, after the winter holidays.

EWRI Program Assessment and Evaluation System (PAES) Timeline

The Technical Activities ExCom and the Institute Operations ExCom chairs have endorsed the Program Assessment and Evaluation System process this fiscal year.

November 7, 2005: The PAES eRoom was set up for chairs to make their updates.

January 16, 2006: The deadline for completing PAES.

1st Week of February 2006: PAES available to Technical Activates ExCom and Institute Operations Excoms for review.

February 24-26, 2006: Completed PAES available at Council Weekend.

We encourage All Chairs of:

. Technical Committees

. Task Committees

. Education & Research Council

. History & Heritage Committee

. Students and New Professionals Council

. Section & Branches Activities Council

. Emerging & Innovative Technology Task Committee

to complete PAES because it will be a necessary part of the process for obtaining funding approval for your committees and task committees in FY06 and beyond.

Nominate a Peer for an ASCE or EWRI Award

Nominate a peer for an ASCE National Society Award or an EWRI Institute/Council Award today! EWRI related ASCE National Society Awards and EWRI Institute/Council Awards will be presented at the 2006 EWRI Congress in Omaha, NE. For more information on the nomination process for either of the aforementioned awards please refer to the following web page http://www.ewrinstitute.org/inside/awardsnom_memorandum.cfm.

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)

Anticipate End of November/Begining of December Release of Climate Variations, Climate Change and Water Resources Engineering

Complex water resources systems are developed to ensure a continued safe and reliable water supply for our society. However, climate variability, one among several factors, can stress these systems and lead to water shortages and other problems. While many aspects of climate variations and their impact on water resources have been presented and published, the information is greatly dispersed and lacks a general introductory overview specifically for water resources engineering. This report, Climate Variations, Climate Change, and Water Resources Engineering, provides a broad overview of this important topic. It highlights aspects of climate variations and changes that are relevant to water resources, discusses the impact on water resources systems, characterizes its predictability, and provides examples of its use in water resources management, planning, and design. This information is supplied through ten detailed case applications that examine the value and potential of climate variability and change information in water resources investigations. The first book to address these climate issues from the water resources engineering perspective, this report will be beneficial to water resources planners and managers, flood and drought preparedness agencies, irrigation district managers, and others that rely on water resources budgeting, planning, and systems operations.

Management Innovation in U.S. Public Water and Wastewater Systems is a unique guidebook of cutting-edge managerial and operational best practices currently used at a number of different municipal water and wastewater utilities. The diverse group of contributors consists of managers, utility directors, analysts, and consultants who know the real-world demands of the industry, and add authoritative insights to the examination and critique of each management innovation. Featuring numerous case histories illustrating how each innovation was developed and how the principles supporting each were put into practice, Management Innovation in U.S. Public Water and Wastewater Systems: Establishes standards for measuring success as utilities innovate and improve; Evaluates financial concerns and innovations; Illuminates innovations in planning for future investments; Explores tools for customer communications and other technology concerns; Details state-of-the-art management strategies, including Six Sigma. A first-of-its-kind book, Management Innovation in U.S. Public Water and Wastewater Systems will quickly become the resource that managers, CEOs, and directors of water and wastewater utility companies always have at their fingertips.

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

The 2007 World Water & Environmental Resources Congress is scheduled to be held in the Tampa, FL region in May.

Renewable and Natural Resources Foundation (RNRF) Congress on Emerging Contaminants, December 1-2, 2005, Washington, DC

Pesticides, pharmaceuticals, industrial chemicals, nanoparticles, and personal care products are being detected increasingly throughout the environment and in tissues of humans, terrestrial animals, amphibians, and fish. As contaminants proliferate in our environment, we are forced to confront the reality that too little is known about their effects on the earth's inhabitants and habitats. We also must consider more seriously how the use of chemicals can be managed and controlled, and reconciled with sustainably maintaining health and life.

The overall goals of Renewable Natural Resources Foundation's Congress on Assessing and Mitigating Environmental Impacts of Emerging Contaminants are to examine:

Visit the congress website at http://www.rnrf.org/2005cong for the latest program and other important updates. Please act soon if you plan to attend. This year's venue is very accommodating, but has limited capacity.

Dating to 1999, the American Society of Civil Engineers (ASCE) has sponsored annual symposia on water distribution systems analysis (WDSA). These international meetings have come to be recognized as the North American focal point for computational methods used to analyze, design, and operate water distribution systems, as well as related field studies and applications.

For 2006, the organizing committee will expand this annual event into a one-time stand-alone Symposium dedicated to WDSA, with increased opportunities for participation and expanded scope. This year's symposium is scheduled to be held on August 37-30, 2006 in Cincinnati, OH. Attendance is expected to be in the range of 250 to 300 participants drawn from universities, governmental agencies, water utilities and consulting engineering firms.

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