Viewed from a global perspective, with proper insight and planning, the world’s fresh water resources are sufficient to meet all the demands for agriculture, industry and domestic uses. However, at a local level, water professionals are facing new challenges related to increasing water scarcity and competing uses of water. These uses include water for food, energy and the environment. This Conference provides an opportunity for water professionals, managers, policymakers and others to share their experiences with balancing water demands.

Often water is viewed as a single use resource; however, given the increase in competition for water, opportunities may exist at the local level to use water for multiple purposes. Exploring these opportunities will require increased cooperation among local water users and even countries who share water basins.

The Conference seeks to bring together water resource professionals from the United States and their counterparts and supporters from other countries. Professionals from the U.S. and abroad involved in irrigation, drainage and water resources planning will find the multi-disciplinary Conference of interest.

The Fifth USCID International Conference on Irrigation and Drainage will be a premier international event for water resources professionals. Held every two years since 2000, hundreds of water agency officials and engineers from dozens of countries have participated in USCID international meetings by presenting oral and poster session papers and attending the conferences. U.S. water experts look forward to the opportunity to exchange information and knowledge at USCID international conferences. Conference Topics and Sub-Topics

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Who Should Attend?

The Fifth USCID International Conference on Irrigation and Drainage will be a premier international event for water resources professionals. Held every two years since 2000, hundreds of water agency officials and engineers from dozens of countries have participated in USCID international meetings by presenting oral and poster session papers and attending the conferences. U.S. water experts look forward to the opportunity to exchange information and knowledge at USCID international conferences.

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Conference Format

The four-day Conference will feature oral presentations in Technical Sessions and a Poster Session, plus keynote and meal speakers. Receptions, breaks and tours will provide excellent networking opportunities.

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Exhibition

An Exhibition will feature companies providing products and services related to irrigation, drainage and water resources; water management; environmental issues. The latest technologies and products will be showcased.

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Field Tours

A half-day field tour on Wednesday morning and a day-long Saturday tour will be Conference highlights.

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Call for Papers

Abstracts of proposed papers addressing the Conference Topics and Sub-Topics are invited. Abstracts will be accepted for either a 20-minute oral presentation, or for the Poster Session. Authors will submit a draft manuscript for peer review by the Conference Planning Committee prior to submitting the final manuscript. All accepted papers will be published in the Conference Proceedings.

Important Note: all accepted authors will be expected to prepare an electronic version of their paper for the Proceedings, which will be distributed during the Conference. Submittal of a final paper will constitute an agreement that the author will register for the Conference at the reduced author registration fee, attend the Conference and present the paper in person. USCID will not provide funding, nor seek funding from donors or other sources, for authors or other participants to attend the Conference. A publication fee will be charged if an author or representative does not attend the Conference to present the paper. Please do not submit an abstract if funding for your participation is unlikely.

Please submit a 200-400 word abstract by February 15, 2009, with this information at the top of the page:

the paper title

author and co-author names and affiliations

address, phone, fax and e-mail for each author

Your abstract should be submitted as an attached .doc file to USCID. Use the senior author surname as the file name, e.g., jones.doc.

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Conference Schedule

Abstracts Due February 15, 2009

Notify Authors March 1, 2009

Draft Papers Due June 1, 2009

Comments to Authors July 15, 2009

Final Papers Due Sepotember 1, 2009

Conference November 4-7, 2009

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Conference Topics and Sub-Topics

Food

Role of irrigated agriculture in meeting growing world food demand
Impact of rising fertilizer and commodity prices on irrigated agriculture
Productivity trends in irrigated agriculture
The future of supplemental irrigation in moderate rainfall areas
Change in relative prices of inputs to irrigation agriculture

Energy

Impacts of rising energy costs on irrigation
Integrating energy production within established irrigation systems
Operation of water delivery systems for energy production vs. operation for food production
Effect of the uncertainty of price and availability of energy on food supplies
Application of alternative energy sources in water delivery systems

Environment

Invasive species issues
Salinity and sustainability of irrigated agriculture
Carbon footprints of irrigated and rainfed agriculture
Competition for water — irrigation vs. environment
Environmental impacts of agricultural drainage projects
Effects of irrigation on wetlands
Habitat value of irrigated lands and irrigation-dependent wetlands
Cost of environmental mitigation and who pays the costs

Drainage

Technology and efficiency issues in sub-surface irrigation
Sub-surface drainage needs for higher intensity precipitation events
Cross drainage issues
Disposal of drainage water; selenium and other trace elements
Legal and quality issues in drainage water reuse

Policy

Globalizing markets for food
Policy coordination among agencies and other entities
Funding irrigation operations and maintenance and management
Conversion of land and water from agricultural to M&I use
Dealing with aging irrigation infrastructure — impacts, rehabilitation and replacement, funding
Adapting to declining water supplies for irrigation
What’s next for water conservation
Interstate/transbasin water transfer issues

Applications of Technology

SCADA
GIS
Flow measurement
Demand forecasting
Remote sensing
Water supply forecasting
Modeling
Reservoir operations models
Breeding for drought tolerance, reduced transpiration and increased water productivity

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Conference Planning Committee

Reed R. Murray, General Chairman, U.S. Department of the Interior, Orem, Utah

Clifford I. Barrett, Consultant, Stansbury Park, Utah

Franklin E. Dimick, Dimick Water Resources Engineering, Monroe, Utah

Robert H. Edwards, Bureau of Reclamation, Galt, California

Luis A. Garcia, Colorado State University, Fort Collins, Colorado

Rick L. Gold, Camp Dresser & McKee, Salt Lake City, Utah

Peter McCornick, Nicholas Institute, Duke University, Durham, North Carolina

Wayne Pullan, Bureau of Reclamation, Provo, Utah

J. Paul Riley, Consultant, Logan, Utah

Ted Shannon, HDR Engineering, Inc., Minneapolis, Minnesota

Thomas J. Trout, Agricultural Research Service, USDA, Fort Collins, Colorado

Wynn R. Walker, Utah State University, Logan, Utah

Dennis Wichelns, Indiana University Northwest, Gary, Indiana

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Please send any comments to Larry Stephens (stephens@uscid.org).

Last revised December 28, 2008