2009-01-22_AgendaPacket - Laserfiche WebLink

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r ~- - i -- ~ ~ 1~__ ~_ ~ Water Resources Center ~~ ~ - ~~~ ~ ~~, i_ ~ I ~~ ~ ~, ~a --= UNIVERSITY OF MINNESOTA F, ~~~ f~`~ ____ ___ -____ The 2008 Minnesota Water Resources Conference convened on the banks of the Mississippi in St. ~- Paul at the RiverCen- ~ tre October 27 and 28 with over 600 water resources managers, educators, students and professionals in atten- dance. Guest speakers headlined two plenary _ _ sessions and two lun- ~' - - _ - cheon presentations. ` - - - -- - Participants attended four concurrent ses- sions comprising 78 water-related topics and viewed 54 posters, which featured many contributions from Universit}' of Minnesota faculty and students. The conference was sponsored by the Water Resources Center and the College of Continuing Education, and co-sponsored by the Department of Civil Engineering, the Minnesota Section of the American Society of Civil Engineers, Minnesota Sea Grant, and the Natural Resources Research Institute. The first day of the conference included the presentation of the Dave Ford Water Resources Award to Steven A. Heisl<ary of the Minnesota Pollu- tion Control Agency in recognition of his 30 years of work to improve Minne- sota's water resources. Heiskary authored some of the first acid rain research and conducted 25 years of lake research that were translated into nation-leading lake and reservoir criteria and standards. Jack Bacon, futurist and author of My Grandfather's Clock, gave the first plenary presentation, "Killer Aps for the Green Global Village" He touched on en- gineering and computer science, agricul- tural produc±:on end ~:~ater :slues. Bacon also cited Rwanda as a test locale for energy technologies and small-scale water technologies such as the Hydro-Ram. He concluded that most innovations in the fields of communication, energy and technological development are occur- ring internationally and are driven by the Conference continued on page 3 WRC-led process creates innovative clean water reporting framework `~~ ~~~~ 2 Director's Desk 3 Benefits of manure workshops 5 Wireless sensor technology research 6 Community News 8 Paperless Minnegram sign-up Since the Clean Water Legacy Act (CWLA) came into effect in 2006, state agencies with CWLA responsibilities have reported program results to the legislature, each using its own system on its own schedule. The need for a shared tracking and reporting strategy prompted the Minnesota Pollution Control Agency (MPCA) to allot funds to the Water Resources Center to develop a compre- hensive reporting mechanism for state agencies to communicate the progress and track the effectiveness of programs with water quality improvement goals. The Clean Water Legacy Effectiveness Tracking Frame~nrork will allow the Clean Water Council to compile a report to the legislature every two years describing the progress of all the projects from all the agencies. "Transparency is the issue;' said Faye Sleeper, co-director of the WRC. "In the last twenty years there has not been this level of water and environmental leg- islation in the state, so it is incumbent on us to spend it wisely and to communicate that clearly to the legislature" To develop the concept of a trans- parent framework, the WRC convened meetings of representatives from the four participating agencies, the MPCA, the Board of Water and Soil Resources, the MN Department of Agriculture, and the MN Department of Natural Resources, and cooperating partners from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency Framework continued on page 2 Minnegram 1 December 2008 Mark Seeley with Water Resources Conference Committee co-chairs Andrea Hendrickson (Mn/DOT) and Faye Sleeper (WRC).