Symposium Addresses Water Quality and Control

PR contact Judy Poff
[email protected] (540)231-8030.

Virginia Water Research Symposium addresses water quality and control, research communication, monitoring coordination

(VIRGINIA TECH) -- In Virginia and nationwide, there is an increasing need to coordinate activities of water monitoring groups to avoid duplication of efforts and to assure a sound science-based monitoring program. The focus of the 1999 Virginia Water Research Symposium will be to increase communication between researchers and professionals in government and the private sector, and to initiate formation of a water monitoring council to promote and facilitate coordination of water monitoring programs and efforts in all water environments in Virginia..

Organized by the Virginia Water Resources Research Center at Virginia Tech, the research symposium will be Nov. 15 and 16 in Richmond, Va. at the Holiday Inn, South Koger Center. Presentations will include:

* "Science for Decision-Making, by Dennis Tracey, director of the Virginia Department of Environmental Quality

* "Virginia's Future: More Droughts, More Rain, or More of the Same," by J. Patrick Michaels, state climatologist

* "Water Management in Virginia: Can We Continue to Balance Supply and Demand, by "William E. Cox, professor of civil and environmental engineering, Virginia Tech

There will be extended sessions on source water assessment and protection, community involvement in water quality programs, small water systems sustainability, restoration and mitigation tools, water supply management, hazards evaluation and regulation, water quality protection issues and tools, fecal pollution, and water quality assessment and trends.

A panel discussion on "Research for Virginia's Water Quality Future" will include "Bringing Science to Water Quality Standards," by Carl Hershner of Virginia Institute of Marine Science; "What Do We Know About BMP (best management practices) Effectiveness," by Theo Dillaha, of Biological Systems Engineering at Virginia Tech; "Bio-Assessment: The New Water Quality Management Challenge," by Leonard Smock of the biology department at Virginia Commonwealth University; and "New Strategies for Water Quality Monitoring," by Saied Mostaghimi of Biological Systems Engineering at Virginia Tech.

The '99 Virginia Water Research Symposium will also include exhibits of products, and services.

For more information about the conference, contact Judy Poff, public relations coordinator, [email protected]; or (540)231-8030. Registration forms are available from the Water Center Web Site: www.vwrrc.vt.edu.

For more information about the council organization meeting, contact Tamim Younos or Jane Walker at the Virginia Water Resources Research Center, 540-231-8039 or 540-231-5624; [email protected] or [email protected].