Document Type

Report

Publication Date

January 1972

Abstract

Introduction: It is appropriate to introduce these proceedings with a brief description of this history and objectives of the American Water Resources Association (AWRA). Quoting from a recent information borchure published by the AWRA, it is a non-profit, scientific organization that was incorporated in the State of Illinous in March, 1964, with headquarters in Urbana, Illinois. A major factor in the establishment of the AWRA was the need for an organization to encourage and foster interdisciplinary communication between professionals of diverse backgrounds working on all aspects of water resources problems. The principal objectives of AWRA are stated briefly as follows: 1. The advancement of water resources research, planning, development, management, and education. 2. The establishment of a common meeting ground for engineers, and physical, biological, and social scientists concerned with water resources. 3. The collection, organization, and dissemination of ideas and information in the field of water resources science and technology. Approximately two years ago the directors of the AWRA, in an attempt to promote increased participation and multi-disciplinary involvement at the local level, divided the area of the United States into districuts, each of which contains several states. Districts were further divided into state sections. The Utah Section lies within the Mountain District, which also contains the state sections of Montana, Wyoming, Colorado, and New Mexico. At a business meeting of the Utah Section which was held on November 17, 1971, bylaws were adopted. A primary objective of the Utah Section as set out by the bylaws is to provide a common forum in which professionals in water resources and related areas can meet to discuss and exchange ideas pertaining to all aspects of water resources research and management, specifically as they relate to problems in utah. In selecting the Great Salt Lake and Utah's water resources as the theme of the first Annual Conference of the Utah Section, the program committee very adequately fulfilled a requirement necessary to meeting the terms of the objectives set out above. In his keynote address, Governor Calbin L. Rampton pointed out that the Great Salt Lake has had a history of public interest from much concern to apathy, but that now the State is being faced with some crucial policy questions. Typical of these policy questions are: Should oil drilling in the lake be permitted? and Should the railway causeway be opened to allow equalization of salinity within the waters of the lake? It is hoped that this First Annual Conference of the Utah Section, AWRA, will be the first of many successful conferences of this Section which bring together people with widely varied backgrounds but all with a common concern for particular water resources problems within the State of Utah.

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