Volume 5, Number 3 • Winter 2003/2004

Joint EWRI/IAHR Activities

The Environmental and Water Resources Institute of the American Society of Civil Engineers (EWRI-ASCE) takes great pleasure in announcing that it will host the XXXIII Biennial Congress of the International Association for Hydraulic Engineering and Research (IAHR) in North American in August 2009. During the 2003 IAHR Congress in Thessaloniki, Greece, the IAHR Council President, Forrest Holly remarked that "the IAHR Council is pleased to continue the spirit of cooperation between IAHR and EWRI. An indication of the fact that the Council is delighted with the partnering agreement is the award of the 2009 Congress to be hosted by EWRI in North America."

2003 IAHR Council President, Forrest Holly

On behalf of the EWRI GB, EWRI representatives Adnan Alsaffar and Brian Parsons expressed gratitude for the Council’s decision to locate the 2009 IAHR Congress in North America with EWRI as host. By 2009, it will have been twelve years since an IAHR Biennial Congress was held in North America. The last one held in North America was in 1997 in San Francisco, California. It was well received and attracted well over 1000 registrants. The North American hydraulics community is well represented in the IAHR membership and looks forward to once again welcoming their international colleagues to an IAHR Congress at an attractive North American venue. EWRI believes that a west coast North American location (such as San Diego, or Long Beach, California; Seattle, Washington; Vancouver, British Columbia) possessing unique technical tour possibilities, and geographic and cultural ambience will provide a beautiful and stimulating setting for a successful Congress.

An EWRI Oversight Committee (OSC) was formed in 2000 to oversee the implementation of the Partnering Agreement (PA) between EWRIASCE and IAHR. Among the several responsibilities of the OSC is to coordinate the organization of conferences and symposia. The vision of inviting IAHR to consider a negotiated sole-source agreement with EWRI to host the XXXIII Congress resulted from a meeting held at the July 2002 OSC meeting. This meeting, attended by IAHR and EWRI-ASCE active members was held at a jointly co-sponsored international conference titled "Hydraulic Measurements and Experimental Methods", held in Estes Park, Colorado. Since its inception the OSC has held annual meetings either in the USA or at the venue of the IAHR Congress.

EWRI looks forward to developing a systematic method for improving communication between EWRI technical communities and IAHR sections. During the 4th meeting of the OSC in Thessaloniki in conjunction with the IAHR Congress last August; the participants stressed the importance of the continued cooperation between EWRI and IAHR. To facilitate the avenues for the cooperation, IAHR Sections and EWRI Standing Technical Committees have been identified as having common goals in their activities for use by the chairs section and committee chairs in planning future activities:

Experimental Methods and Physical Modeling (IAHR) – Hydraulic Measurement and Instrumentation (EWRI)

Probabilistic Methods (IAHR) – Probabilistic Approach (EWRI)

Hydraulic Instrumentation (IAHR) – Hydraulic Measurement and Instrumentation (EWRI)

Joint Committee on Urban Drainage (IAHR) – Urban Water Resources Research Council (EWRI)

Water Resources Management (IAHR) – Water & Environmental Planning and Management (EWRI)

Hydraulic Structures (IAHR) – Hydraulic Structures (EWRI)

Fluvial Hydraulics (IAHR) – Sedimentation, and River Restoration (EWRI)

Ground water Hydraulics (IAHR) – Groundwater Hydrology (EWRI)

Eco-Hydraulics (IAHR) – Environmental Hydraulics (EWRI)

Hydroinformatics (IAHR) – Computational Hydraulics, Environmental and Water Resources Systems, and Watershed Management (EWRI)

To maintain synergy between the two organizations, EWRI members are encouraged to participate in and attend the IAHR Congress in Seoul in 2004, and the congress in Venice in 2007.

Now that new partnering agreements have been signed between IAHR and yet another Institute of ASCE, the Coasts Oceans Ports and Rivers Institute (COPRI-ASCE), as well as with the Canadian Society of Civil Engineers (CSCE), it would appear that a synergy among these North American organizations and IAHR, all sharing a common interest in hydraulics and water resources, could be beneficial to all. It is important to note that EWRI-ASCE has a long history of joint conferences with is counterparts at CSCE and will seek their support.

COPRI has six technical committees, with a strong level of activity in coastal engineering practice, coastal zone management, rubble mound structures, ocean and offshore engineering, ports and harbors, and waterways.

Please visit the IAHR website for more information about their activities (www.iahr.org).

New 2004 IAHR President

Dr. Etienne Mansard, Executive Director of the Canadian Hydraulics Centre of the National Research Council of Canada, was recently elected President of the International Association of Hydraulic Engineering and Research (IAHR). IAHR has more than 2,000 members from over 85 countries, and is an independent organization of and for engineers and scientists engaged in hydraulics and its practical applications. Before being elected as President, Dr. Mansard diligently served the IAHR in several different capacities. During the last 20 years, he has participated in several International Working Groups on Waves that facilitated collaboration between ASCE and IAHR members. He has also served in the past in the ASCE Rubble Mound Breakwater committee. One of Dr. Mansard's goals as IAHR President is to promote international collaborations, so we can expect many more fruitful collaborations between EWRI and IAHR in the near future.

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