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Webinar: Skagit Watershed Studies – An Estuary, a Tributary, and the Groundwater

Please join us for this virtual event with three presentations focused on the Skagit watershed.
Tuesday, December 9, 2025, 10:00 am – 12:30 pm
Register at: https://bit.ly/44w7l1h

 

Washington State Representative Debra Lekanoff and Senator Keith Wagoner, former co-chairs of the Joint Legislative Task Force (Task Force) on Water Supply, are convening a presentation and discussion focused on three Skagit Basin water supply studies identified by the Task Force. Research teams will share their findings:

Skagit River Basin Groundwater Study

Study Lead: Chad Wiseman, Washington Fisheries Program Lead at HDR

Hydrologic Study of the Skagit Estuary

Study Lead: Correigh Greene, Skagit River System Cooperative and Northwest Fisheries Science Center, NOAA Fisheries (retired)

Skagit River Tributary Instream Flow Habitat Assessment

Study Lead: Thomas Gast, Principal Scientist at Thomas Gast & Associates Environmental Consultants

This research was facilitated by the State of Washington Water Research Center in conjunction with the Washington State Academy of Sciences. It was funded through a contract with the Washington State Department of Ecology.

The event is free but registration is required. Register at: https://bit.ly/44w7l1h

WRC Seminar: Water Rights and Water Banking in Washington State

Friday, October 24th, PACCAR 202, 2:00-3:00 p.m. or via Zoom (Meeting ID: 931 4831 0865  Passcode: 265031)

Aerial view of the Columbia River and Lake Entiat from Doc Searls from Santa Barbara, USA, CC BY 2.0 <https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0>, via Wikimedia Commons

Join Dan Haller for an interactive seminar on water rights in Washington State. What are water rights, how are they banked, and how much are they worth? How are they bought and sold, does an adjudication increase the value of water rights, and what is the risk of losing water rights? The answers to all these questions and more await!

Dan Haller, PE, CWRE, is a Senior Principal Engineer at Geosyntec Consultants focusing on water rights. His background includes management of storage and conservation projects; water banking and water rights transfers; and water system design, planning, and financial planning.

Water Research Center’s 2025 Spring Seminar Series

Did you miss our spring seminar series? The recordings of the presentations are available on the WRC’s YouTube Channel. Check them out to learn more about the work of our 2023-24 Seed Grant Recipients.

  • Evaluation of drawdown dynamics and implications for groundwater detectability with remote sensing
  • Evaluation of Remote Sensing Based Monitoring of Lake Water Quality in WA State
  • Exploring drainage water management as a tool for improving water quality in Washington

USGS National Water Availability Assessment Webinar

USGS National Water Availability Assessment Webinar

Date: Wednesday, May 21, 2025

Time: 3:00 PM – 4:00 PM EST 

Location: Microsoft Teams Webinar

Join the USGS Water Resources Mission Area for a briefing on the National Water Availability Assessment, a pioneering scientific overview of water availability across the conterminous United States. This new assessment is the first of its kind, offering new insights on where there is a potential imbalance between water supply and demand in the United States. The assessment uses state-of-the-art models to fill in gaps between monitoring sites and sampling events and integrates information on water quantity, quality and use for a more comprehensive understanding of water availability. The findings of the National Water Availability Assessment can be explored by reading the report, retrieving data from the user-friendly National Water Availability Assessment Data Companion, and touring the supplemental data visualization website. During this virtual event, attendees will learn about the key findings of the Assessment and how to access the data, hear stories of USGS water availability science across the country, and have the opportunity to ask questions of the team behind this effort. Register by clicking the button below or by copying and pasting the direct link into your web browser.
Register
Direct link for registration: https://events.gcc.teams.microsoft.com/event/596e6c86-cc0f-4c9c-bd24-1b9a582bcb02@0693b5ba-4b18-4d7b-9341-f32f400a5494

Water Rights Market Seminar

The State of Washington Water Research Center is hosting a seminar focused on water rights markets. Please join us and presenter Philip Womble to learn more about this important work.

A Strategic Environmental Water Rights Market for Colorado River Reallocation

April 7 @ 2:00 pm – 3:30 pm

PACCAR 202, WSU Pullman

Philip Womble, Steven M. Gorelick, Barton H. Thompson, Jr., and J. Sebastian Hernandez-Suarez

The Colorado River system is among the world’s most overallocated basins, struggling to supply water to the southwestern United States and Mexico. Consequently, 90% of the basin’s native fish species are endangered, threatened, or extinct. Driven by a regional 24-year megadrought, the U.S. allocated over $4 billion for water market transactions that pay farms, cities, and industries to extract less water. We developed a novel model of how strategic water markets can restore imperiled fish habitat, integrating hydrology, ecology, economics, and water rights for the river within Colorado under future climate change. Using the model, we explore how strategically spending modest additional funds improves fish habitat compared to least-cost water-use reduction plans under various plausible current and future formal and informal water markets. We demonstrate pathways to build towards strategic water markets by prioritizing individual transactions, and we compare ecological and economic outcomes of water markets to mandatory water cutbacks under the governing 1922 Colorado River Compact. By developing a decision support tool that conveys model results to water market participants, we can inform major ongoing initiatives to conserve water in the Colorado River basin.

Image by: Graphicsguy2, CC BY-SA 4.0 https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0, via Wikimedia Commons

WRC 2025 Spring Seminar Series

 

Bring your lunch and learn about water resource issues and research in Washington State. The Water Research Center is hosting a virtual lunchtime seminar series this spring. We’ll hear from the Center’s 2023-24 seed grant recipients and learn how their research is informing some of Washington State’s water-related challenges.

Past Webinars:

Overabundant Water Stargrass Growth in the Yakima River: Consequences and Management Strategies

Thursday, March 20, 2025

12:00-1:00

Aaron Pelly, Ph.D. Candidate and Dr. Sarah Roley

 

Aaron Pelly and his Advisor, Dr. Sarah Roley, have been investigating the growth of water stargrass in Washington’s rivers. They will discuss how this aquatic plant impacts ecosystems and fish habitat, as well as strategies for managing it.

The webinar is free but registration is required. 

Learn more here.

The recording of this webinar is posted on the WRC Youtube Channel.

 

Evaluation of Drawdown Dynamics and Implications for Groundwater Detectability with Remote Sensing

Tuesday, April 15, 2025

12:00-1:00

Dr. Sasha Richey McLarty

 

Dr. Sasha Richey McLarty is conducting research on seasonal groundwater dynamics in the Mid-Columbia Basin. The study helps quantify drawdown and rebound in the aquifer and may have implications for how remote sensing is used to evaluate regional groundwater trends. Results may be useful for decision makers focused on water use in the basin.

The webinar is free but registration is required. 

Learn more here.

The recording of this webinar is posted on the WRC Youtube Channel.

 

Evaluation of Remote Sensing Based Monitoring of Lake Water Quality in Washington State

Monday, April 28, 2025

12:00-1:00

Dr. Emese Hadnagy, Dr. Gopal Mulukutla, and Dr. James Gawel

 

Dr. Emese Hadnagy and Co-PIs Dr. Gopal Mulukutla and Dr. James Gawel evaluated the use of satellite imagery to capture water quality conditions related to harmful algal blooms in lakes of WA state. The focus of this work was to develop water quality indicators to capture intensity and extent of bloom events to protect public health and inform lake management.

Learn more here.

The recording of this webinar is posted on the WRC Youtube Channel.

 

AWRA Call for Student Fellowship Applications

The Washington State Section of the American Water Resources Association (AWRA) is seeking nominations for its Fellowship Award. Three fellowships will be awarded for the 2024-25 academic year. One award will be to a member of a Washington Section affiliated AWRA Student Chapter. The other two awards will go to students enrolled in a graduate program at a college or university in Washington State. All fellowships are for a full-time graduate student completing an advanced degree in an interdisciplinary water resources subject. The award includes $2,500, a one-year membership in both the State and National AWRA, a one-year subscription to the Journal of the American Water Resources Association, and admission to the Washington State Section Annual Conference. Students enrolled in water resources programs within any academic department may submit an application for the award.

Applications must be submitted by 11:59pm on February 21, 2025.

The application can be found here <https://wrc.wsu.edu/documents/2024/12/awra-student-fellowship-application.docx>.

For additional information, contact Jason McCormick by email at jason@mccormickwater.com or by phone at (509) 949-7297.

2025 UCOWR Call for Award Nominations

Universities Council on Water Resources (UCOWR) recognizes outstanding professional achievement during all career stages.

Give your student/colleague/mentor the recognition they deserve. Nominations due Friday, November 1, 2024

Award Categories:

  • Warren A. Hall Award
  • Ph.D. Dissertation in Water Policy and SocioEconomics Award
  • Ph.D. Dissertation in Natural Science and Engineering Award
  • Early Career in Applied Research Award
  • Early Career in Extension/Outreach/Engagement Award
  • Mid-Career Award for Applied Research
  • Mid-Career Award for Extension/Outreach/Engagement
  • Education & Public Service Award
  • Friends of UCOWR Award
  • JCWRE Paper of the Year Award

*Candidates for awards must be nominated by a UCOWR delegate. However, several awards are open to non-UCOWR members to receive. See the Awards page of the UCOWR website for specific criteria and guidelines for each award.

A list of UCOWR delegates can be found here.

Submit nominations by November 1, 2024 to ucowr@siu.edu.

Walking Rivers Event – May 11, 2024

Meet at the Bill Chipman Palouse Trail on May 11th at 10:00 am.

Let’s celebrate the rivers of the Palouse! The Rivers, Watersheds, and Communities Club at WSU, in collaboration with the Water Research Center, is hosting our first Walking Rivers event. A day #WalkingRivers is a global event to recognize and celebrate local rivers and is organized by the Centro Ibérico de Restauración Fluvial, Spain. Join us in our walk along Paradise Creek to learn more about Palouse rivers, water quality, and restoration.

All ages are welcome and the Palouse Trail is accessible for strollers and wheelchairs. The goal is to walk 10,000 steps (about 4 miles). You can join for as much or as little of the trip as you’d like.

Optional: Wear blue to identify with the global Walking Rivers community!

Parking: Limited parking is available in the Mint Condition/Quality Inn lot next to the trailhead, and Quality Inn has agreed to allow overflow parking if the designated trailhead parking spaces are full. More parking is available on Latah Street.

Registration: Please register for the event here.

For questions about the event, please contact Hailey at hailey.v.smith@wsu.edu

Follow @wsu.rwc on Instagram for event updates.

For more information about the global event, visit https://cirefluvial.com/walkingrivers/en/