October2005

The Environmental & Water Resources Institute (EWRI) Nominations and Elections Committee (NEC) is accepting nominations for candidates for the 2006-2007 EWRI Governing Board Office of Vice President. The EWRI 2006-2007 Vice President will have a three-year* tenure on the Governing Board commencing on October 1, 2006.

On October 1, 2007 the 2006-2007 Vice President becomes the EWRI President- elect, and on October 1, 2008 the 2006-2007 Vice President becomes the EWRI President.*

To nominate individuals for consideration by the NEC to become official EWRI candidates for the 2006-2007 office of EWRI Vice President, please contact EWRI staff member Autumn Richter and request a Nomination Packet or download at http://www.ewrinstitute.org/committees/govern_nominationspacket.cfm. Be certain to provide your mailing and e-mail address and telephone number.

You may contact Autumn Richter at (703) 295-6063, or fax her at (703) 295-6371, or e-mail her at arichter@asce.org or write her at EWRI of ASCE, Attention: Autumn Richter, EWRI NEC 2005, 1801 Alexander Bell Drive, Reston, VA 20191-4400.

All mailed nomination packets must be postmarked by February 8, 2006. All completed information must be received by EWRI by February 22, 2006.

Petition nominations may be filed with the EWRI Executive Director. Petitions must be in accordance with the EWRI Bylaws as stated in the most current ASCE Official Register. EWRI Bylaws are also available at the EWRI web site: www.ewrinstitute.org.

* Pending approval of the ASCE Board of Direction, the EWRI 2006-2007 Vice President will serve a four-year term (10/1/06 - 9/30/10). If the four-year term is approved, on October 1, 2009 the EWRI 2006-2007 Vice President will become the EWRI Past-President. If not approved, the Vice President's final term will be as President (term ending on 9/30/09).

ASCE is seeking nominations of dynamic, young engineers for the 2006 New Faces of Civil Engineering. The New Faces program provides a unique opportunity to put a face on what many consider an "invisible" profession during National Engineers Week, Feb 19-25, 2006. ASCE will profile 10 diverse, young engineers and selected profiles will be featured in USA Today. The national New Faces program is sponsored by Northrop Grumman Corporation and the Society of Women Engineers, co-chairs of National Engineers Week 2006.

All applications must be e-mailed to newfaces@asce.org by Nov 11. Download the form at www.asce.org/kids/newfaces.cfm. Late entries will not be accepted. Please use one e-mail per nominee.

»For more information, click here
»Submit an application newfaces@asce.org
»If you have any questions, e-mail Lydell Thomas, or call 703-295-6409.

The Office of Water recently finalized a new technical methods Web site designed to help watershed managers assess and restore waters with suspended or bedded sediment problems. The centerpiece of the WARSSS website (Watershed Assessment of River Stability and Sediment Supply) is a step-by-step, three-phase assessment methodology developed by Dr. David L. Rosgen for detecting sediment problems and source areas, estimating excessive sediment loads, and planning to restore normal sediment dynamics in streams and rivers. Besides the WARSSS methodology, the site also contains the entire sediment model WRENSS, a stream classification tutorial, and a large collection of links to clean sediment information and tools. Visit the WARSSS Web site at http://www.epa.gov/warsss and if you have any questions, please contact Doug Norton.

The Office of Water is announced the implementation of its modernized drinking water data system, beginning October 1, 2005. The modernized data system replaces the outdated Safe Drinking Water Information System/Federal version (SDWIS/Fed) using: contemporary capabilities for the transfer of data from primacy agencies to EPA; a modern database where the data is stored; data warehousing to facilitate user access and data analysis; and, a web-based user access to routine standard drinking water reports. The modernization makes use of: the EPA Central Data Exchange for all data submittals and report access; the EPA Envirofacts warehouse for public access to drinking water data; and, the EPA Drinking Water Program web pages for user access to drinking water data analyses tools (such as pivot table reports).

A parallel effort is underway for making enhancements to the EPA-funded Primacy Agency Drinking Water Data Management tool called the Safe Drinking Water Information System/State version (SDWIS/State), with the delivery of SDWIS State Web Release 1.0 scheduled for December 2005. In this effort, which supports states' management of the drinking water data, EPA is working in concert with dozens of primacy agencies using the current software and is taking advantage of the modern capabilities associated with the World Wide Web network.

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 in November. Full details will follow after the winter holidays.

Dr. Lyman Sessions Willardson, Ph.D., P.E., F.ASCE was born in Ephraim, Utah on May 10, 1927. He died October 4, 2005 in Logan, Utah. Dr. Willardson held several positions in the engineering field including his most recent position as Professor of Irrigation and Drainage Engineering at Utah State University. He taught and conducted research through the spring semester of this year, well past his official retirement in 1994. Dr. Willardson has been the principal advisor to countless students over his tenure at Utah State. He was elected four times as Professor of the Year by the International Student Council for his generous help and competent advice to their members in every aspect of their lives.

During his professional career, Dr. Willardson was active in National and International professional engineering societies, holding national, regional, and technical offices in those organizations. He was the recipient of the Tipton Irrigation Award from the American Society of Civil Engineers and was elected a Fellow in that society. He was also elected to the International Drainage Hall of Fame located at Ohio State University. Dr. Willardson has been an irrigation and drainage consultant in many countries for private, government and international agencies. He has published 200 articles related to irrigation and drainage and is co-author of a definitive book on drain envelopes.

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 Task Committee report provides standardized equations for calculating reference evapotranspiration (ET) from weather data and procedures for quality assessment and control of weather data. The purpose of the standardized reference ET equation and calculation procedures is to bring commonality to the calculation of reference ET and to provide a standardized basis for determining or transferring crop coefficients for agriculture and landscape use. The basis of the standardized reference ET equation is the ASCE Penman-Monteith (ASCE-PM) method Manual 70. Along with applications for the ASCE-PM method, this report includes recommended calculations for vapor pressure, net radiation and wind speed adjustment, and guidelines on assessing weather data integrity and estimating values for missing data. The development of this standardized report by the Environmental and Water Resources Committee (EWRI) of ASCE, was made at the request of, and has been endorsed by, the Irrigation Association.

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

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

Additional information may be obtained by contacting the Symposium Co-Chairman Doug Bartlett.

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This e-mail was addressed to the email address bparsons@asce.org as a member of the American Society of Civil Engineers Environmental & Water Resources Institute. To update your profile, please visit http://www.asce.org/myprofile