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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/

USGS/NIWR National Competitive Grants RFPs

Washington State water research community,

USGS in cooperation with the National Institutes of Water Resources (NIWR) has released their annual request for water research proposals under its National Competitive Grants Program.  These programs include a call for general water research proposals, under the WRRA 104g program, a program specifically for research on Per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS), and a program on Aquatic Invasive Species (AIS, though this third program focuses on the Mississippi basin). You can read more here: https://water.usgs.gov/wrri/how-to-apply-for-grants-internships.php.

Any investigator at an institution of higher learning is eligible to apply for these grants with research that focuses on priorities of regional and national importance. If you are working through an institution in Washington State, you must submit your proposal for these programs through the State of Washington Water Research Center (WRC, wrc.wsu.edu).

For more information about the funding opportunities see https://water.usgs.gov/wrri/how-to-apply-for-grants-internships.php or contact your state institute.

The WRC Director Jonathan Yoder met with Washington State federal legislators this February, and nearly all legislative offices he visited independently brought up PFAS concerns, so there is a great deal of interest in this water problem in the State of Washington.  I strongly encourage researchers interested in developing proposals for PFAS-related projects to contact me early.  This program is relatively new and has received relatively few proposals in previous years, so the chances of success are higher than for the WRRA 104g grants.

Please contact us at watercenter@wsu.edu  if you have questions or interest in submitting a proposal.

 

 

WRC 2024 Spring Seminar Series

Did you miss the live events? You can view the recordings on the Water Research Center YouTube channel.

 

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 2022-23 seed grant recipients and learn how their research is informing some of Washington State’s water-related challenges.

 

Past Webinars:
Thursday, February 22, 2024, 12:00-1:00
Building Tribal-Academic Partnerships to Protect Pacific Salmon from Toxic Urban Stormwater

Stephanie Blair, Ph.D. Candidate

Stephanie Blair and her Advisor, Dr. Jenifer McIntyre, have been investigating the toxicity of urban stormwater, particularly the tire chemical 6PPD-Quinone, to Pacific Salmon. Stephanie will discuss how this chemical affects Coho and Chinook salmon. She will also touch on her collaborative work on the issue.

Learn more here

See the recording here

 

Thursday, March 21, 2024, 12:00-1:00
Using Drone-Based Technologies to Map Stream Characteristics and Salmon Spawning Habitat

Alex Fremier, Ph.D., Associate Professor

Dr. Fremier and Co-PI Daniel Auerbach developed drone-based technologies to measure stream velocity, temperature, and morphology. These measurements help identify and quantify salmon spawning habitat and offer new methodologies for environmental monitoring. Dr. Fremier will share the details of their study and work with the Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife in the Wenatchee River.

Learn more here

See the recording here

 

Thursday, April 18, 2024, 12:00-1:00
Integrating Agricultural Water Use into Climate Change Impact Assessments

Kirti Rajagopalan, Ph.D., Assistant Professor

Dr. Rajagopalan and her research team worked to advance the climate change impacts assessment model, CropSyst, by integrating agricultural water use associated with managing extreme weather events (e.g., watering to control sunburn in apples) into modeling. Dr. Rajagopalan will explain the team’s efforts and how the new assessment capabilities can help regional water resources planning considerations.

Learn more and register here

See the recording here

Water Resources Science & Management Certificate

Are you interested in water resources?  Have you considered pursuing the Water Resources Science & Management Certificate?

Learn more about the programs by clicking on the links below. The certificates are open to students from all colleges and disciplines who are interested in freshwater resources.

The program has graduated 41 students since 2019!

Columbia River Basin Long-Term Water Supply and Demand Forecast Delivered to Ecology

Data Access Website

Every five years, the WRC works with the Washington State Department of Ecology and researchers from WSU and other universities to produce a Columbia River Basin Long-Term Water Supply & Demand Forecast.  The 2021 forecast was released on August 1 2022.  The WSU press release is available here.  For more information including an Executive Summary, the full technical report (due out in late August), and a data repository, visit the WRC CRB Long-Term Water Supply and Demand Forecast Project page.