5.0 Activities
EWRI products and activities are normally generated and accomplished through councils and committees. Coordination and accountability for products and activities are the responsibility of EWRI staff and GB.
5.1 Congresses, Specialty Conferences, and Workshops
EWRI hosts an Institute-wide annual congress. Specialty conferences are focused on specific topics of interest, may be located outside the United States, and are normally organized by EWRI councils/committees. Workshops may be part of a congress, specialty conference, or stand alone activity that is single track in nature.
It is the responsibility of the EWRI GB, ExComs and councils to coordinate participation in EWRI congresses, specialty conferences, workshops. They also participate in the coordination of ASCE conventions or national meetings of ASCE and other organizations. Each organization will have its own policies and procedures regarding participation. EWRI staff maintains a calendar of EWRI sponsored or co-sponsored events.
In addition to the annual EWRI Congress, the councils/committees, focusing on a specific topic of interest, may sponsor specialty conferences within EWRI. Specialty conferences may also involve other partners, including sponsorship or co-sponsorship by another ASCE entity such as a local branch or section or another institute, a partnering organization or any other non-affiliated organizations with legitimate interest in the water and environmental fields. As a matter of policy, the EWRI GB supports collaborative conferences that will further the interdisciplinary focus of the EWRI membership and seeks to avoid overlapping or competing conferences.
It is required that EWRI specialty conferences be budgeted, organized and managed so as to derive sufficient revenue to cover all expenses (including staff support and overhead).
The EWRI GB has final approval authority for specialty conference proposals. ASCE Conferences Department is responsible for the guidelines used in developing conference proposals.
EWRI-managed workshops focus on specific topics which target specific audiences. Workshops are typically smaller than specialty conferences. They tend to attract a large number of non-members, especially if the workshop is focused on an industry hot topic.
As with conference proposals, it is required that EWRI specialty workshops be budgeted, organized and managed so as to derive sufficient revenue to cover all expenses (including staff support and overhead).
The EWRI GB has final approval authority for workshop proposals. As a matter of policy, the EWRI GB supports workshops that will further a focused discipline within the EWRI membership and do not compete with ASCE managed workshops. The proposal is reviewed by EWRI staff prior to forwarding it through the “normal” EWRI channels (committee, council, ExCom, and the EWRI GB). The Workshop Proposal Form is provided in Appendix C.
5.1.3 Co-Sponsorship of Non-ASCE or EWRI Conferences, Workshops, and other Events
Organizations or members may request EWRI to co-sponsor non-ASCE or EWRI conferences, workshops, and other event by submitting the Co-sponsorship Proposal Form to EWRI staff. The EWRI GB has final approval authority for co-sponsorship proposals.
EWRI encourages continuing education for its members. ASCE Continuing Education programs provide continuing education units (CEUs) for certification and or licensure. EWRI conference sessions, workshops and webinars provide professional development hours (PDHs: 10 PDHs = 1 CEU) for the same purposes.
Councils/Committees are encouraged to develop continuing education programs. EWRI cooperates with the ASCE Continuing Education Department to provide venues and speakers for information transfer.
Continuing education within EWRI includes topics such as:
- Wetlands and 404 Permitting;
- NPDES Storm Water Permit Compliance;
- LID Applications for Water Resource Management;
- Introduction to Detention Pond Design – Parking Lots and Urban Drainage;
- Probabilistic Design;
- Dam Safety and Rehabilitation;
- HEC-RAS Computer Workshop;
- HEC-HMS Computer Workshop;
- Treatment Plant Hydraulics for Civil Engineers;
- Streambank Stabilization for Restoration and Flood Control Projects; and
- Water Hammer in Transmission and Distribution Systems.
Councils and committees desiring to undertake a continuing education activity are requested to contact EWRI staff. Details can be found on the ASCE Continuing Education website.
EWRI produces a variety of publications including newsletters, journals, committee reports, manuals of practice, and standards. EWRI staff maintains lists of EWRI publications and standards on the website. The EWRI Publications Approval Process and detailed editor’s instructions can be found on the website: http://content.ewrinstitute.org/publications/edinstructions.html.
Currents is distributed to EWRI members. The Communications Council, under the purview of EWRI staff, has the primary responsibility to generate and screen articles for Currents. Potential authors should contact the Currents Editor to determine the feasibility of an article being published before proceeding.
EWRI e-Update is the Institute's electronic newsletter that is distributed to the membership during the months in which Currents does not appear. As Currents is a quarterly newsletter, e-Update is sent out in the remaining eight months. It contains news and information regarding industry, EWRI/ASCE-specific content, publications, and upcoming conferences, among other things. The EWRI Special Projects Coordinator can be contacted in order to submit articles or pose questions regarding e-Update.
A white paper is a review or compilation of information on a single topic, usually issue-oriented. A white paper compiles the background to a question of common interest in the field so that everyone has the same set of information. White papers are often written by a single author, but can be a committee effort. The paper could be any length that covers the topic but is usually 100 pages or less. These papers may be fairly informal, and the goal is usually not a "final" publication.
A committee report is any written document that comes out of a committee (group-authored or group-approved) setting. Committee reports are focused on specific technical issues.
5.3.5 Journals and Practice Periodicals
Under the auspices of EWRI provide the primary media for members to publish in a peer–reviewed format. EWRI publishes five journals:
Journal of Environmental Engineering, (Monthly)
Journal of Hydraulic Engineering, (Monthly)
Journal of Hydrologic Engineering, (Bimonthly)Journal of Irrigation and Drainage Engineering, (Bimonthly)
Journal of Water Resources Planning and Management, (Bimonthly)EWRI also publishes a Practice Periodical:
Practice Periodical of Hazardous, Toxic, and Radioactive Waste Management, (Quarterly)
Peer reviewed published papers are thought-provoking studies and original work that advance new ideas in planning, analysis, design, construction, operation or maintenance of civil engineering work and are subject to rigorous peer review. EWRI journals are under the direction of well qualified editors and are subject to a rigid set of development and publication standards.
Prospective authors are encouraged to log onto the journal’s welcome page at http://www.pubs.asce.org/journals/jrns.html to register as users, view the Authors’ tutorial, and become familiar with submission requirements.Manuals and reports on engineering practice are subjected to a rigorous peer-review process. Typically the council responsible for the publication or the ExCom appoints a “blue ribbon” committee composed of experts who are not involved with the writing to act as a review committee. The publication is then passed to EWRI staff and ASCE's Publications Committee.
A manual of practice is an authoritative document presenting facts and criteria that are commonly considered in planning, design, and/or construction of engineering projects and facilities supplemented by an analysis of limitations and applications of these facts. Such manuals contain information useful to practitioners in the environmental and water resources fields. Manuals do not have the authority of standards, but are more permanent than special publications and are often used by practitioners as high level technical information carrying the weight of collective EWRI expertise. A manual is like a guideline, but with a much more detailed discussion of the topics outlined in a guideline. The manual should convey “expert” advice, not just someone's opinions.
Specialty publications include proceedings of congresses, specialty conferences and symposia. Proceedings are approved in concept when the GB approves the conference budget. If a special publication is to be published under the ASCE banner, the publication must follow the ASCE Publications procedures. Special publications (except those published in a journal) are usually published from camera-ready manuscripts prepared by the authors.
5.3.8 Standards and Pre-standards
Standards and pre-standards are also published by EWRI. A standard is a rigorous presentation of topics — a consensus on best or required practices that might even carry the force of a legal requirement for working in a particular area.
EWRI participates in the production of ASCE standards. This is necessarily a complex and expensive process requiring special rules for committee membership and activities. Councils/Committees are encouraged to produce pre-standardization documents of high technical quality to enter the formal standardization process. A pre-standardization activity produces a document that is intended as a resource for a standards activity. Pre-standardization is governed by the ASCE Rules for Standards Committees as appears in the ASCE Official Register.A standard is a document developed via the ANSI consensus process including balloting by a balanced standards committee made up of ASCE members and non-members, ASCE membership as a whole and the public. Standards carry the highest level of respect within the practice.
The Standards Council manages the standards committees responsible for writing standards. Standards development is strictly governed by ASCE rules contained in the ASCE Official Register.
The ASCE Publications Department provides up to ten complimentary copies of Manuals of Practice and reports to the author(s) who develop a publication. The corresponding editor is responsible for identifying the recipients.
Costs for complimentary copies of conference proceedings may be provided only through inclusion in the conference budget.
5.4 Policy Statements, Position Papers, and Resolutions
To encourage the involvement of ASCE, its Institutes and its members on issues of significance in professional and public affairs, the ASCE BOD has established procedures for the development, review, adoption, and promulgation of official ASCE statements. These statements provide timely information to the public, media, public agencies, and groups within the broad spectrum of the engineering profession. Guidelines and formats for policy development are found in ASCE Policies & Priorities issued by the ASCE BOD Policy Review Committee (PRC) and is updated each fiscal year.
Public documents produced by the policy process are the basis of all offered ASCE statements including public pronouncements, testimony, or commentary on governmental activity and information efforts on behalf of members and ASCE. The three forms of official statements, approved by the ASCE BOD, are known collectively as ASCE policies and include:
Policy Statements – a concise, definitive pronouncement on a topic of continuous concern with the goal of developing a course or method of action, selected from alternatives and in light of given conditions, to guide or determine future actions by EWRI or the members it represents.
Position Papers – a longer, more detailed examination of an issue within the scope of the expertise of the environmental and water resources profession, and
Resolutions – a brief, formal expression of ASCE on a specific issue or in response to a specific occurrence or event. It addresses a concern of limited duration or establishes a course of ASCE action in an immediate time frame.No action shall be taken by EWRI that may be deemed to express an attitude or action of ASCE, but resolutions or recommendations may be addressed to the ASCE BOD for consideration or approval and promulgation. EWRI, through its GB, may issue its own statements of policy but shall identify them as such. Any amplification, interpretation, or application of ASCE policies other than by the ASCE BOD must be clearly identified as the views of EWRI and not of ASCE.
No statement may be distributed publicly if it conflicts with ASCE purpose or current official ASCE policy. Prior to developing a new proposal, members should examine existing policies to determine whether a new policy document is needed, whether it conflicts with existing documents, and whether it is an issue of broad concern to civil engineers.
More information about ASCE Policies may be found on the Government Relations website or by contacting the Government Relations Office directly at govwash@asce.org or 202-789-7850.
The EWRI GB’s Past Presidents Committee (PPC) is responsible for handling proposed policy statements/position papers/resolutions.
The EWRI PPC and ExComs are to work directly with the PRC to review and initiate new policies. The originating unit submits the proposed document to the appropriate ExCom. After the document content is resolved between the originating unit and the ExCom the document is forwarded through “normal” channels (PPC, GB, PRC, and the ASCE BOD).
In order to be adopted as an official ASCE statement, a proposed document is submitted to PRC prior to ASCE BOD consideration. If the ASCE Executive Committee rules a statement is urgent, it can approve the action and present it to the ASCE BOD for confirmation.
5.5 Liaison with Local Geographical Organizations
Councils/Committees are encouraged to establish liaison with ASCE Section and Branch Technical Groups and similar entities belonging to partnering organizations.
The EWRI Sections and Branches Activity Council assists in establishing EWRI Chapters, recognizes outstanding performance by local ASCE Sections and Branches, and provides a Speakers Bureau.
5.6 EWRI Representation to Other Organizations
EWRI encourages liaisons and joint committee assignments in outside organizations involved in areas that are closely related to EWRI activities. EWRI does not provide support to, nor does it nominate individuals to officially represent EWRI on outside standards-writing bodies. The EWRI President, in coordination with the ASCE President when appropriate, arranges for liaisons and joint committee assignments. The representatives to other organizations are listed in the ASCE Official Register.
Rules governing EWRI liaisons and joint committee assignments are as follows:
- The EWRI GB nominates, administers and proposes budgets for each assignment. Where membership fees (or the equivalent) are required, the EWRI GB will identify the need in its annual budget process.
- Except where agreements with outside organizations otherwise specify, assignments are for a one-year period. Generally no more than two consecutive appointments are authorized.
- Appointees must prepare reports for each meeting attended and submit them to EWRI staff. In addition, an annual summary report must be submitted.
- EWRI staff must include a report on each liaison assignment in their spring report to the EWRI GB.
- EWRI staff prepares recommendations for liaison appointments in the spring. These are communicated to the EWRI President-elect.
- The EWRI President-elect shares these recommendations with the appropriate ASCE unit where the liaison serves as a representative of ASCE.
Any council/committee or EWRI member may propose new liaisons or joint committee assignments to EWRI staff. EWRI staff is responsible for securing approvals from the EWRI GB for new activities. Requests should include:
- Names and backgrounds of nominated representative(s); and
- Proposed financial arrangements (i.e., travel reimbursement, dues, etc.) to be included in the EWRI budget. Liaison activity travel reimbursements are subject to the same regulations that govern any other council/committee travel:
The EWRI GB sets the list of Strategic Partners. EWRI is in the process of developing formal liaisons among organizations which include the following water and environmental organizations:
- American Academy of Environmental Engineers (AAEE)
- American Water Works Association (AWWA)
- Chinese Institute of Environmental Engineering (CIEnvE)
- Civil Engineering Certification Board (CEC)
- Engineers Without Borders (EWB)
- Environmental Engineering Committee of Chinese Institute of Civil & Hydraulic Engineering (EEC/CICHE)
- Mexican Hydraulics Association (AMH)
- International Association of Hydraulic Engineering and Research (IAHR)
- International Erosion Control Association (IECA)
- Shenzhen Hydraulic Engineering ASCE (SZHES)
- Solid Waste Association of North America (SWANA)
- United States Committee on Irrigation and Drainage (USCID)
- United States ASCE on Dams (USSD)
- Water Environment Federation (WEF)
- Water For People (WFP)
- Water Resources & Environmental Engineering Division - Taiwan ASCE of Civil Engineers (WREED/TSCE)
- Weather Modification Association (WMA)
