Global Water Initiative
Global Water Initiative - Events
Events
Global Water Events
The World Water Events were first organized in the spring of 2014 and have been held at UVA every year since. The World Water Events highlight for the UVA community and the broader public key water-related issues that touch upon various disciplines. Typically, the events are centered around World Water Day (22 March) and organized by various departments across the University.
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World Water Event Details
2020 Event Details
TROUBLED WATER, WHAT'S WRONG WITH WHAT WE DRINK
Speaker: Seth Siegel, New York Times Bestselling Author
Time: Tuesday, March 3, 5:30 -6:30 pm,
Place: Clark 108,
Free Book Copies. Sign upSeth Siegel will talk to us about his newest work, Troubled Water: What's Wrong with What We Drink, which sets forth an ambitious agenda for a fundamental rethinking of America’s drinking water system. Alarmed by our exposure to potentially thousands of contaminants (chemical compounds, plastics, etc.) in our water, he investigates how we should protect our drinking water, and why we are currently not doing this adequately. What could the EPA do, and why isn’t it acting? How can water utilities protect our drinking water, and why are few neglecting to? And what does the popularity of bottled water tell us about how we perceive the quality of our water, and is bottled water a solution?
BECHTEL CORPORATION'S BUSINESS CARE FOR WATER: ENGINEERING, CONSTRUCTION, AND SOCIETY
Speaker: Tam Nguyen, Global Sustainability Officer, Bechtel Company
Time: Wednesday, March 25, 12:30 – 1:30
Place: Darden Business School, Rm 50.Water Security in a world with a changing climate and a growing population is a global challenge.
Bechtel Corporation is a multinational with expertise in engineering, construction and project management and a focus on water. Notable projects include the Hoover Dam, the Channel Tunnel and its current work at Fukushima. Tam Nguyen, Bechtel’s global head of sustainability,
will discuss water security and the balance between industry operations and society’s access to water as a human need.GROUNDWATER GOVERNANCE AND MANAGEMENT IN THE U.S. AND BEYOND
Speaker: Prof. Sharon Megdal, Director Water Resources Research Center, University of Arizona
Time: Thursday, April 23rd 1-2:30 pm
Place: Great hall in Garrett HallReliance on groundwater -- the “invisible water” – is growing in the United States and globally. Consequently, there is interest in identifying good water governance and management practices. Global organizations such as UNESCO and OECD have undertaken significant efforts to identify "best characteristics" of (ground) water governance and management approaches. Characterizing "best practices" is difficult due to the localized nature or groundwater resources. The presentation will draw upon a large body of work that includes surveys of state-level groundwater experts in the United States, case study analysis of three growing areas in the sunbelt of the United States, work on groundwater assessments at the United States- Mexico border, and other experience. The presentation will highlight some of the challenges associated with analysis of groundwater governance and management where authorities are decentralized and governance practices are evolving.
THE COLORADO IN A CHANGING CLIMATE: ASSESSING THE CHALLENGE
Speaker: Prof. Jonathan Overpeck, Dean Environmental Sciences, University of Michigan
Time: Tuesday, April 28th, 3:30 – 5 pm
Place: Clark 108Many current assessments of future climate and hydrologic change suggest that current drylands around the globe could become drier with continued anthropogenic climate change. In some regions, such as the southwest U.S., there is an observed trend in this direction. This is particularly true for the Colorado River, where the nature of drought is shifting to a more temperature-dominated climate extreme. At the same time, however, some recent and influential scientific assessments suggest that temperature-driven drying could be compensated by precipitation increases with little net increase to water supply or ecosystem risk. A new approach integrating the examination of temperature, precipitation and drought risk indicate that Colorado River flows, water supplies, and ecosystems in the Southwest are already being seriously affected by warming, and that continued warming could result in much larger water supply losses than widely thought, even if mean precipitation increases. The implications of these results have serious implications for terrestrial systems in many parts of the globe.
- Speakers
2020 Event Details
TROUBLED WATER, WHAT'S WRONG WITH WHAT WE DRINK
Speaker: Seth Siegel, New York Times Bestselling Author
Time: Tuesday, March 3, 5:30 -6:30 pm,
Place: Clark 108,
Free Book Copies. Sign up
Seth Siegel will talk to us about his newest work, Troubled Water: What's Wrong with What We Drink, which sets forth an ambitious agenda for a fundamental rethinking of America’s drinking water system. Alarmed by our exposure to potentially thousands of contaminants (chemical compounds, plastics, etc.) in our water, he investigates how we should protect our drinking water, and why we are currently not doing this adequately. What could the EPA do, and why isn’t it acting? How can water utilities protect our drinking water, and why are few neglecting to? And what does the popularity of bottled water tell us about how we perceive the quality of our water, and is bottled water a solution?
BECHTEL CORPORATION'S BUSINESS CARE FOR WATER: ENGINEERING, CONSTRUCTION, AND SOCIETY
Speaker: Tam Nguyen, Global Sustainability Officer, Bechtel Company
Time: Wednesday, March 25, 12:30 – 1:30
Place: Darden Business School, Rm 50.
Water Security in a world with a changing climate and a growing population is a global challenge.
Bechtel Corporation is a multinational with expertise in engineering, construction and project management and a focus on water. Notable projects include the Hoover Dam, the Channel Tunnel and its current work at Fukushima. Tam Nguyen, Bechtel’s global head of sustainability,
will discuss water security and the balance between industry operations and society’s access to water as a human need.
GROUNDWATER GOVERNANCE AND MANAGEMENT IN THE U.S. AND BEYOND
Speaker: Prof. Sharon Megdal, Director Water Resources Research Center, University of Arizona
Time: Thursday, April 23rd 1-2:30 pm
Place: Great hall in Garrett Hall
Reliance on groundwater -- the “invisible water” – is growing in the United States and globally. Consequently, there is interest in identifying good water governance and management practices. Global organizations such as UNESCO and OECD have undertaken significant efforts to identify "best characteristics" of (ground) water governance and management approaches. Characterizing "best practices" is difficult due to the localized nature or groundwater resources. The presentation will draw upon a large body of work that includes surveys of state-level groundwater experts in the United States, case study analysis of three growing areas in the sunbelt of the United States, work on groundwater assessments at the United States- Mexico border, and other experience. The presentation will highlight some of the challenges associated with analysis of groundwater governance and management where authorities are decentralized and governance practices are evolving.
THE COLORADO IN A CHANGING CLIMATE: ASSESSING THE CHALLENGE
Speaker: Prof. Jonathan Overpeck, Dean Environmental Sciences, University of Michigan
Time: Tuesday, April 28th, 3:30 – 5 pm
Place: Clark 108
Many current assessments of future climate and hydrologic change suggest that current drylands around the globe could become drier with continued anthropogenic climate change. In some regions, such as the southwest U.S., there is an observed trend in this direction. This is particularly true for the Colorado River, where the nature of drought is shifting to a more temperature-dominated climate extreme. At the same time, however, some recent and influential scientific assessments suggest that temperature-driven drying could be compensated by precipitation increases with little net increase to water supply or ecosystem risk. A new approach integrating the examination of temperature, precipitation and drought risk indicate that Colorado River flows, water supplies, and ecosystems in the Southwest are already being seriously affected by warming, and that continued warming could result in much larger water supply losses than widely thought, even if mean precipitation increases. The implications of these results have serious implications for terrestrial systems in many parts of the globe.