Spotlight on Recent AIH Exams

Congratulations to those who recently passed their examination offered by the American Institute of Hydrology during November 2022!

  • Arielle Gervasi, HIT – Fundamentals Part 1 
  • Kaitlyn Chow, PH – Part 2 Surface Water
  • Ryan Edglely, PH – Part 2 Surface Water
  • Andrew Daus, PH – Part 2 Surface Water
  • Ryan Gilliom, PH – Part 2 Surface Water
  • Beau Downing, PH – Part 2 Surface Water

Summary of Recent AIH Board of Directors Annual Meeting

AIH’s Board of Directors (BOD) recently held its Annual Meeting virtually on December 2 and 3, 2022. The BOD reflected on accomplishments from 2022, and established goals, strategies, and tactics for 2023. Keep an eye out for some exciting items in the coming year with plenty of opportunities for active member engagement in various activities!

Institute Development Recap

The American Institute of Hydrology (AIH) played an important role at the American Water Resources Association (AWRA) Annual Conference that took place in Seattle, Washington, November 7-9, 2022. Salam Murtada (Director, Institute Development) and Dr. Zhong Zhang (Director, Academic Affairs) attended the conference and represented AIH.

On the first day of the conference, AIH facilitated a climate change contest during a 30-minute engagement break. The game involved grouping participants for brainstorming ideas on select climate change-related topics. An appointed spokesperson from each group then presented their team’s ideas. The level of engagement and dedication was remarkable; they were all winners!

During a technical session, Salam provided a presentation titled Certifying the Practice of Hydrology. Salam’s presentation was an overview of AIH – its mission, purpose, structure, membership, and process for certification of hydrologists.

Salam also participated as one of the panelists for the Student and Early Career Professional Development Luncheon to advise students and professionals about their careers in hydrology and benefits of certification for hydrologists.  

To promote our AIH membership and certification, AIH partnered with AWRA to offer 2022 Annual Conference attendees 50% off the membership application and examination fees. The collaboration also involved other benefits, such as featuring AIH information and items in conference materials, and e-mail blasts about AIH to all conference attendees.

As Gold Level Sponsors of the conference, AIH was able to present the 2022 AIH Awards during the conference Awards Luncheon. The Charles V. Theis Award for Groundwater, Ray K. Linsley Award of Surface Water, and Robert G. Wetzel Award for Water Quality were issued to Dr. Todd Halihan, Dr. Bruce Wilson and Dr. Vijay P. Singh, respectively, for their outstanding contributions to the field of hydrology. Dr. Halihan and Dr. Wilson accepted their awards in-person.  Dr. Singh accepted the award in absentia due to his residency overseas. The awardees offered important remarks during their acceptance speeches.

Dr. Todd Halihan, recipient of the Charles V. Theis Award for Groundwater, is a professor and Sun Company Clyde Wheeler Chair in Hydrogeology at Oklahoma State University, as well as Chief Technical Officer for Aestas, LLC. Dr. Halihan’s professional interests center in subsurface characterization using electrical hydrogeology and water supply sustainability.  He has been an associate editor for Groundwater and has served as the Secretary-Treasurer of the U.S. Chapter of the International Association of Hydrogeologists.  He served as the Chair of the Hydrogeology Division and the South-Central Section of the Geological Society of America. He was also the National Ground Water Association’s 2018 McEllhiney Lecturer. 

“This award,” remarked Dr. Halihan, “is named after C.V. Theis who had some serious negative feedback by establishing quantitative analysis for transient well hydraulics. In my work, I have tried to advance an approach similar to the energy industry of scanning, then drilling our groundwater sites to have a more comprehensive conceptual model. The negative feedback was surprising, but I found inspiration in the way Theis managed his detractors. The lesson I learned is to find guidance from supporters who want to see the science advance and change, which inspires me far more than those detractors that seem to like the status quo.”

Dr. Bruce Wilson,  recipient of the Ray K. Linsley Award for Surface Water, is a professor in the Department of Bioproducts and Biosystems Engineering at the University of Minnesota. Dr. Wilson’s research is focused on improving our understanding of hydrologic and water quality processes and erosion mechanics. Dr. Wilson has received awards from the American Society of Agricultural and Biological Engineering, Center for Transportation Studies, and the Erosion Control Association. Professor Wilson is also a recipient of the Distinguished Graduate and the Distinguished Undergraduate Teaching Awards, and the Charles E. Bowers Teaching Award.  He is a Fellow of the American Society of Agricultural and Biological Engineers.

“Our survival,” remarked Dr. Wilson, “the survival of human civilization – is dependent on the wise use of our water resources.  We should be proud – pat ourselves on our back – that our work is critically important.  But we should also be sober because our system is so complex – complex physical, chemical, biological components, and complex interactions among them.” Dr. Wilson acknowledged his colleagues, Dr. John Nieber (AIH Past-President) and Dr. Curt Larson, his graduate school advisor who happened to be Professor Ray Linsley’s PhD student.

Dr. Vijay P. Singh (AIH Past President), recipient of the Robert G. Wetzel Award for Water Quality, is a University Distinguished Professor, a Regents Professor, and Caroline and William N. Lehrer Distinguished Chair in Water Engineering at Texas A&M University. Dr. Singh has published extensively in the areas of hydrology, groundwater, water quality, irrigation engineering, hydraulics, and water resources (more than 1470 journal articles; 35 textbooks; 85 edited reference books; 121 book chapters; and 330 conference papers). He has received more than 107 national and international awards, and three honorary doctorates. He has served as President of AIH, Chair of Watershed Council of American Society of Civil Engineers (ASCE), and President of American Academy of Water Resources Engineers (AAWRE). He has served as editor-in-chief of three journals and two book series and serves on editorial boards of more than 25 journals and three book series. Dr. Singh is an Honorary diplomat of ASCE-AAWRE, a distinguished member of ASCE, a Distinguished Fellow of AGGS, a Distinguished Honorary Member of IWRA, and an Honorary Member of AWRA.

“I am deeply humbled to receive the award for two reasons,” remarked Dr. Singh. “First, Dr. Wetzel was a giant in the water quality field, and it is a rare honor for me to have my name associated with Dr. Wetzel. Second, I have long been associated with the American Institute of Hydrology, almost since its beginning years.  AIH is like my home institute inception and to be recognized by it is very special to me.” Dr. Singh acknowledged the support of his family, especially his late wife Anita, students and colleagues, among others.

The award ceremony concluded after honoring outstanding hydrologists and giving tribute to the leaders of the past, who paved the way for them to continue their important work.

Thanks to its leaders and organizers, AWRA delivered a very successful Annual Conference in 2022!

Former AIH Presidents Deliver Keynote Addresses at IWA Conference in Istanbul, Türkiye

Dr. Miguel A. Medina, Jr., PH, F.ASCE (Professor Emeritus, Duke University)

Dr. Mustafa Aral, PH, F.ASCE (Professor Emeritus, Georgia Tech University)

The Republic of Türkiye changed its official name from The Republic of Turkey on 26 May 2022, in a request submitted to the United Nations Secretary-General by the country’s Minister of Foreign Affairs. It was indeed unique that two former American Institute of Hydrology presidents, Dr. Miguel Medina Jr (2009-2010) and Dr. Mustafa Aral (2015-2016) presented keynote addresses in a country far away from the USA! The events unfolded at the International Water Association (IWA) 4thRegional Conference on Diffuse Pollution and Eutrophication (IWA DIPCON 2022) in Istanbul, Türkiye, held at the Istanbul University main campus, from October 24-28, 2022.

Drs. Aral and Medina enjoying a traditional Turkish meal.
The Bosphorus Straight.

Lunches for conference speakers, organizers and participants were held at the historic and ornate Istanbul University faculty dining room.

A conference welcoming cruise along the Bosphorus proved to be one of the highlights of the conference social activities. The Bosphorus Strait is an internationally significant waterway. It forms part of the continental boundary between Asia and Europe. However, there are now three bridges and a tunnel connecting the European side of Istanbul to the Asian side. A brand-new cruise ship terminal (Galataport) is illustrated below. The Bosphorus allows shipping from the Black Sea to the Sea of Marmara and vice versa. A field trip to dams and aqueducts providing water to European Istanbul was organized on the last day of the conference, October 28th.

A view of Galataport from the cruise ship.

It Takes a Village: Managing Water in a Time of Climate Change

Rouzbeh Berton, PE (Hydrologist, Stantec)

Carmen Bernedo-Sanchez, PE (Hydrologist, Stantec)

Rouzbeh Berton, PE
(Hydrologist, Stantec)
Carmen Bernedo-Sanchez, PE (Hydrologist, Stantec)

Though dams have existed for centuries, many large dams were built throughout the United States as early as 100 years ago. Initially, dams mainly stored excess water for later use—typically during a drier part of the year. However, dams have grown to become multipurpose infrastructures supporting hydropower generation, drinking water demands, and industrial water supply. Now, we are highly dependent on our dams and the water they store.

Scientists caution that climate change, and the increasing number of extreme weather events, will significantly impact our water resources. In recent years, weather patterns have changed so much, that the rainfall is not as predicable (e.g., Salas et al., 2020; Xu et al., 2022). Many places are getting most of their annual rainfall in a few intense events, while the rest of the year is dry (e.g., Ingram, 2016). Instead of slowly gaining and releasing water throughout the year, in some areas, reservoirs are seeing an influx of a year’s worth of rainfall all at once (e.g., Fleming & Weber, 2012; Maddu et al., 2022; Naz et al., 2018; Yu et al., 2014). This change might not seem significant, but existing dams were simply not designed to accommodate storm water like that.

Imagine a dam is almost full, and a major rainstorm happens. If the dam fills more, it could overflow, and dam safety would be a concern. Likely, you would open the dam gates to release some of the extra water. This prevents water from spilling over the top and prevents the dam from failing entirely. But, if you open the gates, you are losing water. Then, what happens during the dry months?

There are many stakeholders who can contribute to a sustainable watershed. Let us take a closer look at some potential solutions for managing water in a time when precipitation patterns are changing. We can design for excess water, store as much water as possible, and be responsible water stewards.

Designing for Excess Water

This is where urban planners step up—by planning how the city fits into the watershed and how water moves in and around the city. The closer buildings, parking lots, and asphalt roads are to the reservoir inlet, the more quickly large amounts of runoff will enter the reservoir. When impervious surfaces—like concrete and asphalt—are evenly distributed across a watershed, instead of being concentrated in specific locations, it slows down the movement of water (e.g., Ariano & Oswald, 2022; de la Cretaz & Barten, 2007; Roodsari & Chandler, 2017). This concept allows for sustainable development while mitigating the excess flow and delaying the amount of water entering the reservoir (e.g., Liu et al., 2022; R et al., 2020; Wang et al., 2021).

In addition to planning where major developments are built in relation to the reservoir, green spaces within a city are also important. In a dense cityscape, think of green spaces like small sponges. The vegetation can soak up some of the water where it slowly drains into the groundwater system, instead of running off as stormwater and entering a reservoir.

Some urban areas even plan for water collection in and on areas that typically would have just been a source of runoff water. For example, landscape architects can incorporate water-absorbing green roofs where appropriate. Some locations that are prone to flooding might want to consider porous asphalt, where water slowly seeps through roads and parking lots instead of running off or pooling up.

Lastly, from a planning perspective, accounting for how the city will grow can lessen flood consequences. Planners can limit urban expansion to areas outside of potential flooding areas. Landscape architects working together with engineering designers can create resilient watersheds. This will help minimize the impact of climate change to our reservoirs.

Maximizing Water Storage

Sometimes, dam owners can raise the height of the dam to accommodate for more intense rainfall. Though, this solution is not always a viable option. As such, we should think about managing the water before it enters the reservoir. Upstream management measures can be innovative and cost-effective. For instance, several detention ponds can be built to temporarily store the incoming water and gradually release it to reduce the pressure on the main reservoir during an extreme event. Appropriate measures can vary from one watershed to another, but ponds might be a simple and cost-effective solution.

While detention ponds offer a good potential solution, there are also two key drawbacks that make them a less-attractive option. First, dam owners often do not own the upstream lands in the watershed, so trying to build a dam and manage water on someone else’s land might not be possible. Second, from a risk perspective, adding upstream detention ponds increase the risk downstream. If a smaller upstream dam failed, it would release that water all at once, adding greater strain on the main reservoir dam.

If building a pond or additional reservoir is not feasible, there could be a middle-ground approach of reclaiming or expanding wetlands. A wetland area can provide a natural buffer to soak up excess water upstream of a reservoir. Wetlands also bypass the two major concerns of the temporary detention ponds. Wetlands may be easier to get permission to create or expand, and there is less risk since there are no additional dams to monitor.

Responsible Water Stewardship and Applying Ancestral Lessons

With weather forecasting, we can all be aware of rain patterns, and can even be notified not to water our lawns and outdoor plants before an extreme rainfall event. Some sprinkler systems run from a timer and will go at the same time every day even if it is raining! Rainwater that is absorbed into your yard recharges our groundwater system instead of flowing directly into a reservoir.

Some of the most sustainable and effective measures are not necessarily the most high-tech. Humans have been managing water for centuries, adopting effective means of storing water to survive droughts, even in arid climates. Community members can contribute to effective water management by understanding and applying lessons learned from our ancestral past. Do not discount your role in managing our limited water resources; we all play a part!

References

Ariano, S. S., & Oswald, C. J. (2022). Broad scale assessment of key drivers of streamflow generation in urban and urbanizing rivers. Hydrological Processes, 36(4), e14579. https://doi.org/https://doi.org/10.1002/hyp.14579

de la Cretaz, A. L., & Barten, P. K. (2007). Land Use Effects on Streamflow and Water Quality in the Northeastern United States (0 ed.). CRC Press. https://doi.org/10.1201/9781420008722

Fleming, S. W., & Weber, F. A. (2012). Detection of long-term change in hydroelectric reservoir inflows: Bridging theory and practise. Journal of Hydrology, 470–471, 36–54. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jhydrol.2012.08.008

Ingram, W. (2016). Extreme precipitation: Increases all round. Nature Clim. Change, 6(5), 443–444. http://dx.doi.org/10.1038/nclimate2966

Liu, W., Qian, Y., Yao, L., Feng, Q., Engel, B. A., Chen, W., & Yu, T. (2022). Identifying city-scale potential and priority areas for retrofitting green roofs and assessing their runoff reduction effectiveness in urban functional zones. Journal of Cleaner Production, 332, 130064. https://doi.org/https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jclepro.2021.130064

Maddu, R., Pradhan, I., Ahmadisharaf, E., Singh, S. K., & Shaik, R. (2022). Short-range reservoir inflow forecasting using hydrological and large-scale atmospheric circulation information. Journal of Hydrology, 612, 128153. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jhydrol.2022.128153

Naz, B. S., Kao, S.-C., Ashfaq, M., Gao, H., Rastogi, D., & Gangrade, S. (2018). Effects of climate change on streamflow extremes and implications for reservoir inflow in the United States. Journal of Hydrology, 556, 359–370. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jhydrol.2017.11.027

R, M. K., L, H. S., Jia, L., Trevor, H., & Shawn, H. J. M. (2020). Spatial Configurations of Land Cover Influence Flood Regulation Ecosystem Services. Journal of Water Resources Planning and Management, 146(11), 04020082. https://doi.org/10.1061/(ASCE)WR.1943-5452.0001294

Roodsari, B. K., & Chandler, D. G. (2017). Distribution of surface imperviousness in small urban catchments predicts runoff peak flows and stream flashiness. Hydrological Processes, 31(17), 2990–3002. https://doi.org/10.1002/hyp.11230

Salas, J. D., Anderson, M. L., Papalexiou, S. M., & Frances, F. (2020). PMP and Climate Variability and Change: A Review. Journal of Hydrologic Engineering, 25(12), 3120002. https://doi.org/10.1061/(ASCE)HE.1943-5584.0002003

Wang, Y., Zhang, X., Xu, J., Liang, C., She, D., & Xiao, Y. (2021). Evaluating effects of urban imperviousness connectivity on runoff with consideration of receiving pervious area properties. Urban Water Journal, 18(8), 598–607. https://doi.org/10.1080/1573062X.2021.1918182

Xu, Z., Chang, A., & di Vittorio, A. (2022). Evaluating and projecting of climate extremes using a variable-resolution global climate model (VR-CESM). Weather and Climate Extremes, 38, 100496. https://doi.org/https://doi.org/10.1016/j.wace.2022.100496

Yu, P.-S., Yang, T.-C., Kuo, C.-M., Chou, J.-C., & Tseng, H.-W. (2014). Climate change impacts on reservoir inflows and subsequent hydroelectric power generation for cascaded hydropower plants. Hydrological Sciences Journal, 59(6), 1196–1212. https://doi.org/10.1080/02626667.2014.912035

Congratulations to AIH Hard Studiers!

Congratulations to those who recently passed their examination offered by the American Institute of Hydrology!

  • Arielle Gervasi – Fundamentals Part 1
  • Kaitlyn Chow – Part 2 SW
  • Ryan Edglely – Part 2 SW
  • Andrew Daus – Part 2 SW
  • Ryan Gilliom – Part 2 SW
  • Beau Downing – Part 2 SW

AIH Call For Articles | Winter 2022 Edition

The next issue of the AIH Bulletin is scheduled to be published in the Winter of 2022, for which the editorial team invites contributions from members.

Original articles on any aspect of hydrology (e.g., administrative, technical, socioeconomic) will be considered for publication. It is not required that the article be based on academic or scientific work; however, it should not be published elsewhere. Book reviews may also be submitted under this category.

  • Please provide an unformatted word document of your story without embedded images. You can signify where you’d like a submitted image using brackets.
  • Images you wish to be included with your article must not be embedded in the Word document; send them separately and labeled with names corresponding to where you’d like them used in the Word document.
  • Articles must have a brief title and a byline.
  • Authors must have the full name, title and agency or association. 
  • Supply a high-resolution head-shot of the author.
  • Article length must be between 500 – 1000 words.
  • Please include an “About the Author” post script, to provide our audience with the context of your perspectives. Include how you would like your name and title to be presented.
  • Avoid using too many bulleted lists, diagrams or graphs in your article.

Beside original articles, members may also submit leads to items of interest to the hydrologists’ community. Such items may include news related to the field of hydrology, conferences, new publications, etc.

If you are interested in contributing, please send articles or other items of interest via the Dropbox link below by October 25, 2022. Please ensure submissions are identified properly (example: TitleofArticle-FirstLastName.doc) and that supporting graphics/images are of the highest possible quality and attached, not embedded in the word document. Be sure to include your contact information within your submission as well.

Should you have any questions, do not hesitate to contact our office at admin@aihydrology.org.

President’s Message – Fall 2022

AIHPresident Jamil IbrahimThis is an overdue update to our AIH members and community about what your AIH leadership team has been up to this year. I am thrilled to announce completion of critical and timely updates to the governing documents for our organization – our AIH Articles of Incorporation (formerly, Constitution) and AIH Bylaws. We initiated the review and update process in 2016. Over the past six years, past and current AIH leadership team members devoted many, many hours to completing a comprehensive review and developing suggested revisions to these documents. This review and update provided a great opportunity to reflect on how we have operated and how we will function in the future. In the spirit of these changes, Leonardo Da Vinci once remarked (translated to English): “When you put your hand in a flowing stream, you touch the last that has gone before and the first of what is still to come.” It is extremely gratifying to see the results of our review/update process in our new governing documents, and I look forward to the next steps.

There are many other great updates to share:

·        Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) Committee – Our DEI Committee developed and prioritized a list of initiatives and solicited feedback/input on implementation through a virtual meeting held in March of 2022. Please reach out to Julé Rizzardo (President-Elect) to join the DEI Committee and learn about these great initiatives.

·        Annual Meeting – Our leadership team held our (delayed) Annual Meeting virtually during March 2022. The meeting was supposed to be held during December 2021, to set our trajectory for 2022, but was delayed due to COVD concerns. In addition to specific tactics associated with strategies and goals that were identified by the Executive Director and members of our Board of Directors, we established three “working groups” to address: (1) Technical Journal/Conference Collaboration; (2) promotions, swag, and marketing; and (3) coordination with affiliate organizations. Contact myself or our management office to learn more and get involved. We are scheduled to get back on track and hold our Annual Meeting in December of 2022 (hopefully, in-person) and set plans for 2023.

·        AIH Webinars – Continued our AIH webinars with great presentations by AIH members Richard Koehler (PhD, PH) and Andrew Cohen( PhD, PH).

·        Engagement with Affiliate Organizations – Continued our engagement with other organizations through promoting PH certification for hydrologists and HT certification for hydrologic technicians at the 2022 World Environmental & Water Resources Congress (EWRI); Frontiers in Hydrology Meeting co-sponsored by the American Geophysical Union (AGU) and CUAHSI (Consortium of Universities for the Advancement of Hydrologic Science, Inc.); and 11th International Symposium on Managed Aquifer Recharge (ISMAR).

·        AIH 2022 Awards – We Issued our distinguished AIH awards to our 2022 award winners: Bruce Wilson, PhD (Ray K. Linsley Award for Surface Water); Todd Halihan, PhD (Charles V. Theis Award for Groundwater); and Vijay P. Singh, PhD, PH (Robert G. Wetzel Award for Water Quality). Note, we will present these awards to our award winners this year at the American Water Resources Association (AWRA) 2022 Annual Conference during their Awards Luncheon on November 9, 2022, in Seattle, Washington.

·        Examination Questions Database Update – We have a plan in place and are about to embark on a comprehensive update to our database of examination questions for our AIH certification exams. Updates will be completed prior to our next round of examinations, scheduled for November 2022.

As I’ve stated in each of my messages previously, member participation is vital to AIH’s success. We are eager to engage more members in AIH activities. Please reach out to our Secretary/Membership Liaison, Jolyne Lea, at membership@aihydrology.org, to get involved.

Sincerely,

Jamil S. Ibrahim PH, PMP, ENV SP
AIH President, 2021-2022

Spotlight on Recent AIH Exams and on New Members

Congratulations to those who recently passed their exams during May 2022!

Hydrologist-in-Training – Fundamentals (Part I)

Madeline Richards, HIT

Kaiylyn Chow, HIT

Robert Sheridan, HIT

Professional Hydrologist – Principles and Practices (Part II)

John Shuler, PH (Surface Water)

Benjamin Von-Thaden, PH (Surface Water)

Congratulations to New Members

Congratulations to those who have been recently certified as Professional members of the American Institute of Hydrology!

Max Strickler, PH (Surface Water)

Matt Sparacino,  PH (Surface Water)

John Shuler, PH (Surface Water)

Benjamin Von-Thaden, PH (Surface Water)

Recap of AIH Webinars

AIH was honored to feature two webinars by outstanding hydrologists and AIH members, Richard Koehler, PhD, PH, and Andrew Cohen, PhD, PH.

On June 16th, Dr. Richard Koehler presented a webinar titled, “A Novel Approach to Quantify Streamflow Properties”. During the webinar, Dr. Koehler presented a novel approach using autocorrelation lag (k) plots and sequence summations to quantify several stream flow properties, including magnitude, frequency, duration, timing, and rate of change. To learn more about the approach, please refer to his article featured in this Bulletin titled, “The Lag 1 Hydrograph – Alternate Way to Plot Streamflow Time-Series Data”.

In collaboration with the American Water Resources Association (AWRA), AIH presented a webinar on July 13th by Dr. Andrew Cohen titled, “Introduction to the GroundwaterU Video Public Library – a new and free educational resource”. During the webinar, Dr. Cohen introduced GroundwaterU as an educational platform that serves to make groundwater knowledge accessible globally by way of high-quality and engaging educational videos. For more information about GroundwaterU, please visit the following link: Home – GroundwaterU