History Information

The Georgia Water Resources Conference has been held biennially since 1989, as a collaborative effort of many people interested in Georgia’s water resources. The 2005 conference was made possible by the efforts of over 60 session moderators, 250 speakers, 400 manuscript reviewers, and 40 students who helped with the sessions during the conference, as well as the conference steering committee and 20+ program committee members. The steering committee includes representatives of the conference sponsors: U.S. Geological Survey, Georgia Department of Natural Resources, Natural Resources Conservation Service, University of Georgia, and Georgia Institute of Technology -Georgia Water Resources Institute. The co-sponsors include federal and state agencies, professional associations, and citizen organizations.

The idea for the first Georgia Water Resources Conference, which was held May 16-17, 1989, in Athens, came from discussions of Dr. Robert Pierce, Alec Little and Kathy Hatcher, and stemmed from an initial statewide water conference led by Dr. Ram Arora (GSU) in 1984. The steering committee for this first conference was composed of Jeffrey Armbruster (USGS), Kathy Hatcher (UGA), Vernon Henry (GSU), Jim Kundell (UGA), Alec Little (UGA), Bob Pierce (USGS), Harold Reheis (GaEPD), and Bernd Kahn (GaTech-GWRI). The GWRI (state water research institute program, though USGS) provided grants for the first and later conferences to prepare the proceedings, which were edited by Kathy Hatcher. The complete set of conference proceedings (1989-2005) is available to the public online at www.ce.gatech.edu/research/gwri/

The Georgia Water Resources Conference has been held every other year since 1989, with a growing number of attendees and agencies participating. The number of papers and posters presented has increased, the number of participants has increased, and new opportunities for workshops and training sessions have been provided.

Since its inception, the goal of the Georgia Water Resources Conference has been to provide an open forum for the discussion of current water policies, research, projects, and water management in Georgia. Papers on topics related to water policies, legislation, research, on-going studies, technical innovations, issues and concerns, current situation and trends, new approaches, management programs, data and information, education, public participation, institutional and financial arrangements, history, culture, future needs and solutions, and other topics related to water management have been encouraged and actively solicited.

This collaborative effort by water professionals has led to the advancement of water science and management in the state by providing a neutral and open forum for diverse perspectives to be presented and discussed.