Mark Breunig
NRES 794
An Exploration of Relevant Professional Organizations
The American Water Resources Association (AWRA)
The American Water Resources Association (AWRA) is a non-profit professional association, committed to advancement of water resources management, research, and education. During its 44 years of existence, the AWRA has included a multidisciplinary member base. A wide variety of water resources experts such as engineers, educators, foresters, biologists, ecologists, geographers, managers, regulators, hydrologists, and attorneys have benefited from AWRA membership. The AWRA provides a common meeting ground for physical, biological, and social scientists, engineers, and others concerned with water resources. It also allows for the collection, organization, and dissemination of the ideas and information relating to water resource science and technology. The AWRA is a significant organization, boasting thousands of members.
The main benefits of membership to this organization include access to their publications, conferences, and job board. The two major AWRA publications include the Journal of American Water Resources (JARWA) and IMPACT. Conferences are held on a rather regular basis, and consist of international, national, and state levels. There are several types of memberships. The student membership dues are $30 per year.
The AWRA is most well known for its publication of the journal JARWA. JARWA is a respected technical journal in the field of water resources. This publication comes out ever other month, and includes fascinating research in the field of water resources. The most recent issue features an article by Stow et al. that reviews five methods of estimating water quality parameter and prediction uncertainty. In addition, Vidon and Smith present an investigation of water table dynamics and flow paths in the Midwest. These articles are of great relevance to my thesis, which involves land use water quality modeling.
For me, access to JAWRA is the most immediate and directly beneficial aspect of AWRA membership. I would expect to find countless relevant articles that would enhance both the design and implementation of my thesis. Other benefits to membership include access to the job board, conference proceedings, and actual conferences. These benefits would provide an avenue to network with prevalent researchers and professionals, which would certainly open up employment opportunities and professional development opportunities.
The National Water Resources Association (NWRA)
This non-profit federation of state associations, individuals, and agencies is concerned with advocating federal policies, legislation, and regulations that promote the protection, management, development, and beneficial use of water resources. A top priority of the NWRA is to achieve a fair and reasonable implementation of the Endangered Species Act and Clean Water Act. This association boasts the title of the “oldest and most active national association concerned with water resources policy and development”. The NWRA traces its origins to the late 1800’s, and represents the strength of grassroots participation on national water conservation issues. The NWRA also has a diverse membership, which unifies individuals with agricultural, municipal, industrial, environmental, and recreational water interests.
The main benefit of membership is access to conferences. The NWRA does not produce any publications, as it focuses on legislative issues.
In contrast to the AWRA, I don’t feel NWRA membership would be very beneficial. The legislative side of water resources is certainly not my specialty or interest. Although, it would provide an opportunity for me to diversify my knowledge base, as legislation is of fundamental component of water resources.
The Soil and Water Conservation Society (SWCS)
Since 1943, this nonprofit scientific and educational organization has served to advocate conservation issues, programs, and policy. The diverse member base of over 5,000 members includes researchers, administrators, planners, policymakers, technical advisors, teachers, students, farmers, and ranchers. Their members are drawn from various academic disciplines, and different public, private, and nonprofit institutions. There are 75 chapters throughout the United States and Canada, which represents the grassroots element of the organization.
One of the major benefits of membership is access to the Journal of Soil and Water Conservation (JSWC). This is a well respected, bi-monthly, technical scientific journal. The journal is multidisciplinary, with articles in agronomy, conservation education, conservation planning, ecosystem management, environmental quality, erosion and sediment control, geology, floodplain management, farmland preservation, forage management, forestry, geographic information systems (GIS), global positioning systems (GPS), irrigation, mined land reclamation, non-point source pollution, rangeland management, soil science, sustainable agriculture, watershed management, wetland restoration, and wildlife management.
I certainly could benefit from membership with the SWCS. I would be particularly interested to read recent JSWC articles relating to sediment control, floodplain management, GIS, GPS, non-point source pollution, and watershed management. The networking opportunities available at conferences would also be a potential source of job offerings and career enhancement.
List of Sources:
American Water Resources Association
National Water Resources Association
Soil and Water Conservation Society