Submitted by Walter Grayman, Ph.D., P.E., BC.WRE(Ret.), F.EWRI, M.ASCE to the Winter 2024 Currents.
Since 1984, EWRI’s International Council (and its predecessor under ASCE) has sponsored an informal biennial international seminar and study tour on water resources and the environment. The purpose of these seminars has been to bring together engineers and scientists from the United States, other countries and from the host country for presentations, discussions and technical/cultural tours on water resources and environmental management issues. The most recent seminar in this series was held in Panama City and at the Gamboa Rainforest Reserve in January 2024. The seminar was organized by the University of Wisconsin-Green Bay with co-sponsorship by EWRI and local participation by INDICASAT-AIP (Instituto de Investigaciones Científicas y Servicios de Alta Tecnología). Past seminars in this series have been held in Scotland (2018), Chile (2016), Spain (2013), China (2011), Peru (2010), Vietnam (2008), Mexico (2006), Hawaii (2004), Germany (2002), and England (2000).
The technical sessions were attended by about 75 professionals and students in water resources and the environment and allied fields. A wide range of topics was discussed including local issues such as environmental, economic and political aspects of mining and the effects of recent droughts on the operation of the Panama Canal. A keynote presentation on the Great Lakes was given by Dr. Jack Day, founder of the seminar series 40 years ago. Other topics that were discussed included climate change, sustainability, hydrology and water quality. Technical and cultural tours included Old Panama City, the Panama Canal, and rainforest animals, birds and plants.
