Now Trending: Innovations in Water Resource Management

WHEN: November 13 & 14, 2013
WHERE: Quest Conference Center, 8405 Pulsar Place, Columbus, OH 43240 (map)

Ohio continues to face serious water resource challenges. The recent emergence of Harmful Algal Blooms and other concerns related to nutrient runoff have focused much of our energies. The promise of abundant energy from previously untapped sources is an opportunity Ohioans want to foster while safeguarding water supplies and ecosystems. Climate change will require resilient watersheds and as yet unknown adaptations.

Fortunately, visionary Ohioans are working forward to meet these challenges, and in so doing, are creating and leveraging technologies and methods that would have sounded like science fiction just a few short years ago… and the pace of innovation is accelerating! How can water resource professionals use social media and mobile technologies, unmanned aerial vehicles, proliferation of GIS, water quality trading and other economic drivers, successional stream restoration, real-time monitoring networks, or sophisticated environmental modeling to name a few?

Call for Abstracts

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CALL FOR ABSTRACTS

Remembering the Great Flood of 1913 and Planning for the Future – 100 Years of Managing Ohio’s Floodplains

Deadline for submission: May 31, 2013

Submit Abstract

The North American Lake Management Society (NALMS) is asking for help in promoting lake awareness in your state by co-signing their “Lakes Appreciation Month” letter. This letter, addressed to the governor of your state, requests the following:

• That your governor issues a proclamation declaring July 2013 to be “Lakes Appreciation Month,” affirming the importance of lakes and reservoirs in your state.

• That your governor works with state agencies, legislature, and key environmental groups to secure funding for lake programs that help protect your local lakes.

• That your governor reaches out to congressional delegates and asks that they initiate and support legislation on the national level that protects lake programs.

NALMS will send the letter on May 15, 2013.

Click here to read the Lakes Appreciation Month letter

and

Click here to add your name to the letter

Read: Spring 2013 – The Ohio Water Table

Creating Value from Waste: Results of a Nutrient Recovery Pilot for the City of Columbus

WHEN: April 16, 2013 – 11:30am-1:00pm
WHERE: Wilma H. Schiermeier Olentangy River Wetland Research Park, Heffner Building, Columbus, OH (map)

The City of Columbus has evaluated the application of Ostara’s Pearl® Nutrient Recovery Process to recover nutrients and prevent struvite scale formation at the Southerly WWTP. They have also evaluated a similar application of the Multiform Harvest Nutrient Recovery System at the Jackson Pike WWTP. These processes are based on the initiation and control of struvite precipitation within an upflow fluidized bed reactor, utilizing nutrients like phosphorus and ammonia already present in wastewater dewatering operations. The rate of struvite formation is controlled in the process so that a range of products can be produced, ranging from a soft, sandy consistency up to a high quality product with desired physical properties (size, hardness, purity etc.), which can then be sold as fertilizer.

Have a question about this presentation? Contact skeckenwiler@columbus.gov
Presentation (.PDF)
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Read: Winter 2013 – The Ohio Water Table

Low-cost Treatment of Turkey-processing Wastewater

WHEN: January 15, 2013
WHERE: Wilma H. Schiermeier Olentangy River Wetland Research Park, Heffner Building, Columbus, OH (map)

Over $10 million dollars has been saved by an Ohio meat processor by treating their wastewater in a new way. A sand bioreactor system was developed based on research conducted at The Ohio State University. This university/industry partnership has saved jobs, money and is
protecting the environment with effluents exceeding the quality of conventional treatment systems. Quiet, clean and simple are the best words to describe the appearance of the new sand bioreactor system constructed at the meat processing facility. Some people might mistake the
treatment system for a park. No odor is a feature neighbors most appreciate.

Learn More

100 Years of Watershed Events

WHEN: November 14 & 15, 2012
WHERE: Quest Conference Center, 8405 Pulsar Place, Columbus, OH 43240 (map)

The Ohio water management community is familiar with how land divides the flow of water into watersheds. Likewise, our most significant shared experiences often alter the flow of history. Pearl Harbor, the Moon landing, and the fall of the Berlin Wall are all recognized as important watershed events.

Ohio has experienced many watershed events over the past 100 years that have advanced how we manage water resources. The 1913 Flood was so great it marks the beginning of our 100-year timeline, but many have followed. The Cuyahoga River fire of 1969 was a catalyst for the Clean Water Act; and Louis Bromfield of Malabar Farm wrote Pleasant Valley in 1945, inspiring soil and water conservation throughout the U.S. In fact, almost everything we do as water resource professionals today can be traced back to some similar shift.

We will highlight these turning points by asking each presenter to include a brief introduction to their presentation describing the watershed event most pivotal to their work today. In this way, we will reflect on the past, not to dwell there, but to remind us that the dramatic events of today hold within them opportunities that will shape tomorrow.

2012 WMAO Conference Brochure/Agenda

2012 WMAO Conference Agenda with Registration

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Sponsorship Opportunities

NEW – Up to 1.15 CEUs or 11.5 contact hours offered

Read: Fall 2012 – The Ohio Water Table

(Past Due)

WMAO is seeking an organization, company, or individual to modernize and establish new operations for daily business. For more information, read the formal request for proposal (RFP).

WMAO Request for Proposal (RFP) for Administrative Services Contract