Author: justin

Introduction to the GroundwaterU Video Public Library | July 13 Webinar

AWRA and AIH | Introduction to the GroundwaterU Video Public Library – a new and free educational resource.

Please join us for a special AIH webinar on July 13, 2022 | 1:00 – 2:00 PM ET

DESCRIPTION
The GroundwaterU Video Library is a free, online catalogue of high-quality educational videos for all things groundwater – from science and engineering to law and policy, in multiple languages and from around the world. An educational platform that serves to make groundwater knowledge accessible globally by way of high-quality and engaging educational videos. This presentation will describe the goals and value of the GroundwaterU education initiative, how to use the website, and how volunteers can share their own expertise with a global audience via customized videos at no cost.

LEARNING OBJECTIVES
Advocate the use of the GroundwaterU Video Library to help facilitate the spreading of groundwater knowledge. Give attendees the knowledge about the need for global groundwater education. Prepare attendees with the necessary directions for using the online library.
WEBINAR RECORDING & PDH CERTIFICATE
Included with your webinar registration is access to a recording of the program and a fillable certificate to self-report your Professional Development Hour (PDH)/Continuing Education Credit (CEU). Your certificate will be available to download and a link to the recording of this webinar will be sent within a week of the live program from membership@awra.org. The recording is exclusively for you, the registrant of the webinar. They are not to be shared or forwarded.

Promo codes AIH members (and non-members) should use to register for the webinar are as follows:
AIHM22 – AIH Members to pay $0.00
AIHNON22 – AIH nonmembers to pay $25.00 (used for tracking purposes only as this is the same price as AWRA nonmembers)

Register Today

About The Speaker: Andrew Cohen is a hydrogeologist located in New Jersey, USA. He received a Ph.D. from the University of California at Berkeley. His focus is hydrogeologic investigations, contaminant fate and transport, conceptual site models, and groundwater education. Prior to his current roles in the environmental consulting industry and Adjunct Professor of Contaminant Hydrogeology at the New Jersey Institute of Technology, he was a Research Associate at Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, where he focused on hydrogeologic characterization and modeling of groundwater in fractured and faulted bedrock. He is now focused on the development of a free, online library of groundwater educational videos called the GroundwaterU Video Library, which he founded in January of this year.

AIH Call For Articles – Deadline Extended!

The next issue of the AIH Bulletin is scheduled to be published in the Summer 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 May 27, 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.

EXTENDED – The American Institute of Hydrology (AIH) is issuing this Request for Proposals (RFP)

Update: We’ve extended the deadline from April 12 to April 19th!

The American Institute of Hydrology (AIH) is issuing this Request for Proposals (RFP) to invite entities with specialized hydrology experience in hydrology and qualifications related to development of and training to support hydrology-related examination preparation. Responses are due April 19, 2022.

AIH intends to enter a multi-year contract with a single entity to provide certification exam support services. Note that the single contracted entity may enter into agreements with other entities or individuals to propose on services in responses to the RFP and for performance of services.

The American Institute of Hydrology (AIH) was founded in 1981 as a non-profit scientific and educational organization dedicated to the certification and registration of professionals in all fields of hydrology. AIH is the only nationwide organization that offers certification to qualified hydrologic professionals. AIH’s goal is to promote hydrology as a science and profession and to help protect public interest from non-professional practices.

View the Revised RFP

AIH – The Recertification Process

American Institute of Hydrology certified members provide expert knowledge, specialized skills, and adhere to the highest standards and ethics in the field of hydrology. Recertification of members assures that they have continued to keep updated with current research, standards and practices. This ongoing educational requirement helps protect public interests and the profession from non-professional, sub-standard or unethical practices in a field involving complex water issues. Because of the continually changing nature of the field of hydrology and societal challenges, certified members need to continue their professional development throughout their careers and keep current in their specialty fields by engaging in professional practice, participating in continuing education courses, keeping up with technical literature, and attending professional meetings and seminars. Professional Development Hour (PDH), or Professional Development Credit (PDC), is defined as one contact hour of instruction, presentation, or study towards the goal of staying current in the field of practice. Specific competency requirements are determined by the Executive Committee on a periodic basis.

Certified members are responsible for keeping records of the number of PDH/PDC they earn along with associated documentation that can be validated by AIH. Documentation is due by January 15 of every 5 years, computed from the anniversary year of the individual member, in order to remain in compliance with certification. A minimum of 60 PDH/PDCs is required over 5 years to be eligible for recertification.

https://www.aihydrology.org/continuing-education-guidance/

Dates & Deadlines

Certemy has a notification system implemented for those in the recertification phase which notifies those who are approaching their application deadline 3 months ahead of time and again one month ahead. Given the recertification process spans over a 5-year period and requires professionals to provide proof of continuing education over this period of time, we understand that the notification process we currently have in place may not have been an appropriate amount of time to obtain the prerequisites for recertification – specifically the professional development credits component. As a result of this, we have restructured our notification process so that, moving forward, our members will receive notifications beginning 6 months ahead of time rather than 3 months. This will then be followed up by a 3-month notification with an additional final notification 1 month ahead of application due dates.

AIH is revising the recertification process to make it easier for members to upload their recertification data. Implementation of this process is underway but not yet completed. This will be completed within the next 90 days. With that said, the Executive Committee recently voted on extending the recertification deadline an additional 6 months for any of our AIH professionals that are currently in the recertification phase. It is our hope that this will allow time to obtain the proper material needed to recertify.

Certified members whose recertification is due in 2022 now have until July 15, 2022 to complete the process.

Membership Dues

Annual membership dues are required every year, regardless of if you are in a recertification phase or not, in order to continue practicing under your earned credential.

Recertification Fees

Every 5 years, certified members must provide proof of eligibility to recertify, along with recertification fees. These fees are separate from your annual membership dues.

The points above regarding dates & deadlines, membership dues, and recertification fees are what we hope is captured as a main takeaway from our members reading this message. We greatly value each of our members and we thank you for your continued support of AIH!

Awards Nominations

The American Institute of Hydrology (AIH) recognizes individuals for outstanding accomplishments in the fields of groundwater, surface water, water quality, and institute development. These awards are named after prominent scientists and engineers, who have made numerous lasting contributions to the hydrologic sciences. AIH Awards include:

Charles V. Theis Award for Groundwater
Ray K. Linsley Award for Surface Water
Robert G. Wetzel Award for Water Quality
Founders Award for Institute Development

Nominees Do Not Need to Be a Member of AIH!

The nomination packet for each award should contain the following:

A formal nomination letter by the nominator, outlining the education, career, and a record of performance detailing accomplishments and noteworthy impact achieved by the potential candidate.
A current resume of the nominee.
A minimum of two and maximum of four supporting letters with a limit of three pages each.

The supporting letter writers should state briefly how they know the nominee and describe why the nominee is deserving of the award. Please submit your nomination to admin@aihydrology.org by Friday, March 25, 2022. Award winners will be notified and the awards will be presented at an upcoming conference to be determined later in the year.

The Charles Vernon (C.V.) Theis Award was established in 1986, to recognize individuals who have made outstanding contributions in groundwater hydrology. Charles V. Theis graduated with a PhD from the University of Cincinnati in June 1929 and made numerous contributions to the field of groundwater science throughout his life.

The Ray K. Linsley Award was established in 1986, to recognize individuals who have made outstanding contributions in surface water hydrology. Dr. Linsley made numerous contributions to surface water hydrology and was the principal author of the textbook Applied Hydrology, published by McGraw-Hill in 1949. He directed the PhD dissertations of 35 students at Stanford University covering research on mechanics of overland flow, rainfall synthesis, stochastic hydrology, and modeling of the hydrologic cycle. These efforts led to the development of the Stanford Watershed Model, a state-of-the-art tool of hydrologists worldwide.

The Robert G. Wetzel Award recognizes individuals who have made outstanding contributions in the field of water quality. This award was dedicated in 2006, to the family of the late Robert G. Wetzel. Dr. Wetzel was a true leader in the field of freshwater science. His thoughts and brilliant synthesis of all aspects of lakes and streams are included in more than 30 books and 400+ publications including the definitive college textbook of this field, Limnology.

The AIH Founders Award was established in 1990, to recognize individuals who have provided outstanding, long and dedicated service to the Institute. It was established to honor the AIH founders Sandor Csallany, Alex Zaporozec, and Roman Kanivetsky. The award is given at the discretion of the AIH Executive Board to a member in good standing.

President’s Message

Greetings! The end of the calendar year is a common period for self-reflection by individuals and organizations. As I look back while concluding the first year of my two-year term as your American Institute of Hydrology (AIH) President, I’m delighted about the accomplishments of your AIH leadership team during 2021. Our achievements this year, however, are not just a function of what we did during 2021 – they consider the steps taken by AIH over the past few years to address challenges and introduce new perspectives, along with the great work of your leadership team.

We did great things in 2021! Thank you to all who contributed. Here’s a snapshot of our accomplishments:

Boosted AIH’s membership by 22% compared to 2020 and received 35% more new member applications during 2021 compared to the previous year.
Held the Institute’s first virtual meet-and-greet event with AIH members.
Connected our AIH community through in-person Water New Year celebrations in Minneapolis, Minnesota and Sacramento, California. One of the three co-founders of AIH, Roman Kanivetsky, joined in the Minneapolis event!
Welcomed our first Hydrologic Technician (HT) to serve as a member of AIH’s leadership team on our Executive Committee (EC).
Completed a widely popular and informative webinar series on the topic of Forecast Informed Reservoir Operations (FIRO). Our FIRO series, provided in collaboration with the American Water Resources Association (AWRA), featured our nation’s top experts on FIRO, an innovative strategy for water resources management that leverages use of advanced hydrological and meteorological data.
Convened a new Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) Task Force composed of AIH members and members from the EC. Stay tuned – you will have an opportunity to learn more and support the important activities our DEI Task Force will be initiating within the next few months.
Revamped our membership application and database system. Despite the glitches our administration team encountered after the rollout, we’re confident our modernization changes will improve ease of application development by prospective members, application review and processing by our Board of Registration, and provide enhanced member benefits through access of information and content.
Presented to audiences at professional conferences about AIH and the importance of Professional Hydrologist (PH) certification for hydrologists and HT certification for hydrologic technicians, including: Groundwater Resources Association of California’s (GRAC) Future of Water Conference; Consortium of Universities for the Advancement of Hydrologic Science’s (CUAHSI) Biennial Colloquium; AWRA’s 2021 Annual conference; and the University of Minnesota’s 2021 Minnesota Water Resources Conference.
Improved social media presence and member connectivity.
Coordinated with researchers for the U.S. Department of Labor on development of information on hydrologist and hydrologic technician occupations.

Also, we are nearly complete with revisions and updates to AIH’s Bylaws and a contracting solicitation for AIH examination support services–both scheduled for distribution early in 2022.

Again – Thank you to all who have stepped forward to take on roles to help advance the mission of AIH. Member participation is vital to AIH’s success and we are eager to engage more members in AIH activities. Even if not interested in taking on a leadership role for AIH or getting involved in various subcommittees or groups, we request all our members to be ambassadors for AIH and its certified members. Please contact me or others on our leadership team to learn more about how to get involved.

Sincerely,

Jamil S. Ibrahim PH, PMP, ENV SP

AIH President, 2021-2022

Former AIH President Delivers a Keynote Address at the Latin American Congress of Civil Engineering Students

Former AIH President Delivers a Keynote Address at the Latin American Congress of Civil Engineering Students

From November 14-20, 2021, over 120 civil engineering students from nine Latin American countries attended the COLEIC (Latin American Congress of Civil Engineering Students) 2021 event in Tarija, Bolivia.

Dr. Miguel A. Medina, Jr., PH (AIH President, 2009-2010) delivered a keynote presentation on November 17th titled “Water Resources of Bolivia, Integration of Hydrologic Cycle Processes, Climate Change Challenges, Adaptation and Professional Opportunities.” That same day he was invited to the Municipality of Tarija and presented with an ordinance declaring him a Distinguished Visitor. While at the Tarija City Hall, he was interviewed by a local journalist regarding his findings of potential climate change in Tarija.

The following morning a national Bolivian TV (UNITEL) news crew interviewed him live at the Hotel Vendimia lobby on the topic of Bolivian water resources and management, as well as potential climate change implications. The broadcast was also presented again that evening on a national news segment.

On November 18^th, Medina also participated in a forum discussion on climate change implications for the civil engineering and hydrology professions.

For his presentation, Medina examined the annual maxima series of precipitation at three recording stations in the region: Tarija (1944-2020), Juntas (11976-2020) and Cañas (1977-2020).

Nonstationary time series analysis with the Generalized Extreme Value Distribution (GEV) was applied to the three stations.

Both Tarija and Juntas exhibited a slight decrease in precipitation. However, at a higher elevation over a mountain ridge, Cañas exhibited a substantial increase in precipitation.

Both deterministic and statistical methods were discussed, as well as surface-subsurface interactions across the hydrologic cycle. The presentation ended with recommendations for infrastructure adaptation to climate change, increased monitoring needs, and a review of current standards. Specific recommendations followed for future training of civil engineers and hydrologists to enhance their professional opportunities.

Institute Development Recap

Institute Development Recap

This past fall, the American Institute of Hydrology participated in two hydrology related conferences: 2021 Minnesota Water Resources Conference (MWRC) on October 19, 2021 and the American Water Resources Association (AWRA) on November 10, 2021.

At the MWRC conference, Salam Murtada (VP of Institute Development), Brennon Schaefer (VP of Communication) and John Nieber (past president of AIH) co-authored a presentation titled “American Institute of Hydrology: Certifying the Practice of Hydrology”. The presentation provided an overview of AIH, history, current membership composition, certification process and on-going activities. It was attended by over 100 people. The conference, which was held virtually this year, was attended by over 800 water resources professionals representing students, university teachers, consultants and government officials at the federal, state and local levels. The MWRC is held annually around the middle of October in St. Paul, Minnesota.

At the AWRA conference, AIH participated at the gold level sponsorship. During the reception, Salam Murtada gave a brief presentation about AIH followed by award announcements for three outstanding hydrologists: Vicki Kretsinger Grabert who was awarded the Charles V. Theis Award for contributions to groundwater, Dr. Phil Bedient who was awarded the Ray K. Linsley award for contributions to surface water and Dr. Ying Ouyang who was awarded the Robert G. Wetzel award for contributions to water quality. The AWRA conference was also held virtually this year due to the pandemic.


Vicki Kretsinger Grabert, PH	Dr. Phil Bedient	Dr. Ying Ouyang, PH
Charles V. Theis Award for Contributions to Groundwater	Ray K. Linsley Award for Contributions to Surface Water	Robert G. Wetzel Award for Contributions to Water Quality

We hope to continue collaborating with MWRC, AWRA and other organizations such as the Consortium of Universities for the Advancement of Hydrologic Science, Inc (CUAHSI), Groundwater Resources Association (GRA) and the American Geoscience Institute (AGI) among many others.

Membership Renewals

Membership Renewals

Please be reminded that your membership with AIH will expire on January 15, 2022. We encourage you to renew your dues now. Renewal of dues should be completed through the Certemy platform.

We hope you will take the time to renew your membership and remain part of our community. AIH’s dedication to the organization and commitment to the hydrology industry is unprecedented. You want to continue to be a part!

We value all contributions to AIH, as we recognize that without committed and involved members, AIH would not be where it is today. Your involvement is important and very much appreciated.

AIH offers numerous reasons to continue to stay involved:

Continuous membership is required to maintain current status as a certified member.
AIH offers access to its online membership directory in a member portal environment.
Receive peer, employer, industry, and client recognition of technical expertise in hydrology.
Hydrologist certification satisfies requirements for jobs in many states.
Access to National Registry of Certified Professional Hydrologists network.
Discount on AIH publications and events.

We would like to thank the entire American Institute of Hydrology (AIH) organization for its involvement and support this past year. We accomplished a lot!

If your certification type has changed since you last renewed, or you find yourself having issues accessing your Certemy profile, please contact the AIH office at admin@aihydrology.org or call (916) 231-2149.

Spotlight on Recent AIH Exams and on New Members

Spotlight on Recent AIH Exams and on New Members

Congratulations to those who recently passed their exams during November 2021 and all new members welcomed during the second half of 2021!

Hydrologist-in-Training

Dillon Vogt, HIT

Professional Hydrologist

Megan Arpino, PH (surface water)
William Chatron, PH (surface water)
Justin Coffman, PH (surface water)
Rheannon Hart, PH (surface water)
Matt Sparacino, PH (surface water)
Max Strickler, PH (surface water)
Kaveh Zamani, PH (surface water)