UPDATE (September 18, 2009): Notes from 23rd Annual Alabama Water Resources Conference and Symposium
This years American Water Resources Association AWRCS was, apart from the Symposium come one sided “kill-the-energy -bill” pep rally featuring Alabama Power and the ironically anti-populist organization Partnership for Affordable Clean Energy whose presentation sounded more like paid political advertisement for Protect Alabama’s Coal Empire, actually really informative. Presentations from all sessions are available at the AWRA website.
Highlights included:
- A fantastic Presentation from Paul Freeman from the Nature Conservancy explaining that “Water is Life.”
- A discussion of alternatives to instream impoundments for Municipal Water Supplies from Erin Cox, CH2M HILL.
- A comparison of Dammed vs Free Flowing Rivers and the impacts that ill-conceived dams can have on fish populations from Ross Cummings of Troy University.
- A presentation from Gill Rogers of the Southern Environmental Law Center which provided a way forward for sustainable water management in Alabama.
- A fantastic explanation of the legal regime of water resources in Alabama from Bennett Bearden, Assistant Attorney General, Geological Survey of Alabama-Office of State Geologist. Which should be mandatory reading for anyone involved in Water Law or Water Policy in Alabama.
Additionally, post graduate students from universities across the state presented presentations outlining their exciting and important work virtually all of which reinforced the message that our water resources are under fire from a toxic mix of bad policy, poor planning, and over-use.
All in all the conference went a long way towards stressing the need for a proactive, science based approach to the management of our water resources. We look forward to continuing the partnerships made at this conference as we move forward towards securing our state’s water resources for future generations.
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ARA will be blogging each night from the Alabama Water Resources Conference. This year the Water Resources Conference will be held in Orange Beach, Alabama. Wednesday there will be a symposium highlighting voices from around the state including Paul Freeman from the Alabama Nature Conservancy. Thursday and Friday the conference will break out into separate sessions which will focus on various water issues including “Water Supply and Management”, “Coastal Issues,” and “Water Shed Assessment and Management.” If you’re interested you can review the Symposium and Conference schedules here. If you have any questions regarding the conference or if there are issues that you would like reports on please leave your comments in the space provided.
