— Gary Gin, BSMAR18 Co-Chair, and Mike Block, AHS Board of Directors / BSMAR18 Sponsorship Chair
Thanks to all of our 33 sponsors, 17 premium exhibitors, and 22 raffle and auction prize contributors!
Well, BSMAR18 has come and gone, and it proved to be very successful. The event was held in Tucson with help from volunteers from the AHS corporate board and the Tucson, Phoenix, and Flagstaff chapters. Gary Gin (LRE Water) and Chad Lapora (Tucson Water), the co-chairs, organized the program schedule and coordinated the panel discussions, Thursday lunch program, and Saturday field trip.
Thursday’s morning program was sponsored by APS. This year’s conference started with two concurrent panel speaking sessions on new surface recharge technologies moderated by Chad Lapora and injection wells moderated by Gary Gin. For the injection well panel discussion, David Pyne (ASR Systems), Tracey Carpenter (ADWR) and Dean Alford (City of Tempe) provided their personal stories, and we addressed the following questions:
- What is their role and function of their respective organizations?
- How are injection wells utilized to solve water resources issues?
- What do you see in the future as injection well technologies/advancements?
- What is needed for the future to be successful from a regulatory, planning, design, and operational perspective?
We had great attendance and a lively discussion on the future role of injection wells. The future is bright on how we manage our injected subsurface supplies into aquifers, but we need to encourage pushing ourselves beyond our comfort zone, be curious, and challenge the status quo. Onward and upward. The surface recharge technologies panel discussion by Lacey James (SRP), Shannon Rief (ADWR), Adam Hutchinson (OCWD) and Phil Bachand (Bachand Associates) was well attended, engaging and insightful.
The 52 technical sessions were wide-ranging in topics, informative, and well attended. Approximately 255 people attended each day. Attendees came from across the U.S. and from six countries. A total of 12 posters were presented by students and professionals. The cash prizes for students were funded by the AHS Foundation.
Our Thursday luncheon, sponsored by Orange County Water District and Aqua Geo Frameworks, featured Sarah Porter, Director of the Kyl Center for Water Policy at ASU’s Morrison Institute for Public Policy, where she gave us a summary of findings from the Arizona Water Blueprint, an online hub of information about Arizona’s water resources and policy. She also spoke about her recent publication, “Groundwater Protection in the Valley of the Sun: Past, Present, and Future.” The common finding was that regional recharge activities and groundwater pumping are not hydrologically connected. As a result, groundwater pumping is not being replenished and localized groundwater supplies are being depleted. Sarah emphasized that the scientific community needs to place more attention on describing this phenomenon of hydrologic disconnection and that the solution is to couple aquifer replenishment with groundwater pumping.
In addition, Dr. Ty Ferré from the UA Department of Hydrology and Atmospheric Sciences (HAS) provided an interactive presentation with the lunch attendees on the wants and needs for a 1-year hydrology master’s program.
The Friday luncheon awards ceremony, sponsored by Central Arizona Project and GeoSystems Analysis, was heartfelt and emotional with a moving presentation by Dr. Martha Whitaker with the UA HAS on 2024 Lifetime Achievement awardee, Dr. Thomas Meixner. His spouse, Kathleen Meixner, gave a gracious and humbling acceptance speech on what Tom would have thought of receiving the award and thanks to AHS. Dr. Kathy Jacobs with University of Arizona Center for Climate and Adaptation Science and Solutions presented the Herman Bouwer Award to Mark Cross of Montgomery & Associates on his significant advancement on the understanding and use of MAR. Mark was able to have a photo taken with three of the four past Herman Bouwer Award recipients (Mario Lluria, Robert Rice, and David Pyne). AHS corporate president Nathan Miller presented to two ASU students this year’s poster awards.
The Saturday Field Trip to Tucson Water’s Central Avra Valley Storage and Recovery Project and Southern Avra Valley Storage and Recovery Project fully booked early and the registrants found informative.
A Footnote…
Organizing an event like this is a monumental undertaking. Thanks to the following people who made it all possible:
- Mike Block, a retiree from Metro Water District, spearheaded our fundraising efforts with sponsors and exhibitors (not to mention the fantastic raffle and auction that raised $2,825 for the AHS Foundation). He also provided support for the Friday awards program.
- John Villinski with Clear Creek Associates, our symposium treasurer and bean counter, kept our expenses in check and things running smoothly with the venue.
- Lori Block managed on-site registration and worked as the on-site symposium coordinator.
- Nancy Riccio with Plateau MediaWorks created the website, abstract submission portal, digital program, online registration, symposium brochure and slide-deck, koozie design, and symposium signage.
- Garrett Rapp with West Yost did a great job on recruiting and managing abstracts and organizing the Technical Program.
- Davian Peterson with Tucson Water expertly rounded up and loaded the presentations and quickly stepped in on audio visual issues to keep the talks flowing smoothly.
- Mike Hulst with NV5 was our amazing raffle prize announcer and auctioneer.
- Nathan Miller with Matrix New World Engineering (and who is also our AHS corporate president) expertly MC the Friday awards presentations.
- Shawn Calendine with hydroGEOPHYSICS again provided us with excellent photographic coverage of the symposium and presentation / storyboarding for the two concurrent kick-off sessions.
- Alex Wood with Natural Channel Design helped with exhibitor setup and teardown.
- Max Campos-Alveraz with Tucson Water did a great job with poster setup and judging, plus handling the distribution of the PDH forms.
- Stephanie Moore with INTERA coordinated the Herman Bouwer Award committee on the review and selection of this year’s awardee.
- Jeff Gawald, an independent hydrogeology consultant, and Faith Shelton with ADWR both helped at the BSMAR18 Registration Desk.
- Kathy Jacobs with the UA Center for Climate and Adaptation Science and Solutions presented the Herman Bouwer Award.
- Dr. Martha Whitaker with the UA HAS presented the AHS Lifetime Achievement Award, with the design help by Mekha Pereira of Montgomery & Associates.
- Beth Scully and Hector Zamora with Tucson Water led the Saturday field trip
Photos taken at the symposium are available online.