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AWRC RESEARCH PROGRAM
In 1964, Congress passed the Water Resources Research Act, establishing water research institutions like Arkansas Water Resources Center (AWRC) at land-grant universities throughout the United States. AWRC, located at the University of Arkansas in Fayetteville, is part of a network of 54 water institutes. AWRC has helped local, state and federal agencies learn to manage Arkansas' water resources for more than 30 years.
AWRC research projects have studied irrigation and runoff, innovative domestic wastewater disposal systems, ground water modeling and land-use mapping, erosion and pollution, water quality, and ecosystems.
The Center's statewide mission is to:
- Plan and conduct water resource research, cooperating closely with colleges, universities, and other institutes in Arkansas to address the state's water and land-related problems.
- Promote the dissemination and application of research results.
- Provide for the training of scientists in water resources.
- Formulate a research program that is responsive to state water issues.
- Work closely with state and federal agencies.
Each year more than 25 principal investigators participate in AWRC projects with the help of more than 60 students who gain valuable experience doing environmentally related work across the state.
Information on water research and other water-resource-related topics are disseminated by the Center through public presentations, conferences, and publications.
Research, training and information dissemination are supported partially with U.S. Geological Survey institute program funds. AWRC, however, obtains and administers grants from state and federal agencies and others. Research affiliations usually involve a cooperative partnership focusing on a water topic requiring near-term answers.
A Technical Advisory Committee (TAC) made up of professionals from educational institutions, environmental organizations, industrial operations and government agencies throughout Arkansas, meets once a year to select proposals for regional competition and to provide general advice for the Center's operation.
Priority research categories established by AWRC's TAC are:
Geographical Information Systems (GIS) have quickly become an essential tool for water quality assessments today. AWRC is fortunate to have access to state of the art technology here on campus:
- The Center for Advanced Spatial Technologies is developing GIS data layers for the management and protection of water.
- The GIS Laboratory in the Department of Crop, Soil and Environmental Sciences emphasizes GIS technologies in the natural resources and in agriculturally related issues.
Cooperators that have been involved with projects funded through AWRC are:
- Arkansas Department of Health
- Arkansas Department of Pollution Control and Ecology
- Arkansas Game and Fish Commission
- Arkansas Soil and Water Conservation Commission
- Arkansas State Plant Board
- City of Little Rock
- Cooperative Extension Service
- State of Arkansas
- U.S. Army Corps of Engineers
- U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development
- U.S. Environmental Protection Agency
- U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service
- U.S. Forest Service
- U.S. Geological Survey
- U.S. National Park Service
- U.S. Natural Resources Conservation Service