Urban Water Institute at K-State Olathe hosts water management workshop
Tuesday, July 30, 2013
The professional workshop Political Fragmentation in Local Governance and Water Resource Management will be 9 a.m. to noon Aug. 30 at Kansas State University Olathe, 22201 W. Innovation Drive.
The workshop is sponsored by K-State Olathe's Urban Water Institute and the department of landscape architecture and regional and community planning in the College of Architecture, Planning and Design at Kansas State University.
Local and regional planners, landscape architects, engineers, developers, environmental resource specialists, and students are invited to attend this free workshop. Participants will discuss research findings and resultant strategies for land-use planning and collaborative resource management. The institute will provide an illustrated look at political fragmentation in the HUC12 watersheds of the Kansas City region and related measures of water quality and quantity.
"Water may well be the primary resource determining future urban development patterns and potentials, thus we must act to manage this critical resource collectively and sustainably," said Tim Keane, an Urban Water Institute member and professor of landscape architecture and regional and community planning at Kansas State University.
Workshop presenters include Jae Hong Kim, University of California, Irvine; Keane; and Phil Barnes, an associate professor of biological and agricultural engineering from Kansas State University. Panel presenters will cover topics such as measurement of land-use change related to differing levels of fragmentation, water measures used in this research to indicate the quality of resource management, lessons for future development that considers water resource impacts, aspects of sustainability of water resources in urban and developing areas, and measurement of water quality in urban and developing watersheds. This research has been sponsored by the National Science Foundation under its Coupled Natural and Human Systems category.
"Given the significant challenges arising due to fragmented governance, learning how can we effectively manage water resources and thus promote public health and welfare is essential in today's rapidly changing environment," said Joan Leavens, Urban Water Institute coordinator.
For more information and to register, visit http://www.k-state.edu/urbanwaterinstitute/outreach/workshops.html or contact Leavens at leavens@k-state.edu or 913-307-7311.