OSU Water Week set for March 23-27

Tuesday, March 17, 2015

Oklahoma State University is hosting OSU Water Week March 23-27 on its Stillwater campus, highlighting the importance of conservation practices and science-based knowledge in helping to protect the availability and quality of Oklahoma’s and the world’s water resources.

Activities will kick off on Monday, March 23, by calling for students, staff, faculty and community, county and state residents to take part in the 40-gallon water-use challenge.

Many people are surprised to learn the average American uses 100 gallons of water each day, said Garey Fox, director of the Oklahoma Water Resource Center, a part of the OSU Division of Agricultural Sciences and Natural Resources and the sponsor of OSU Water Week.

“The challenge encourages each of us to cut our daily water consumption by 40 gallons, and offers doable suggestions how to accomplish that goal,” he said. “Think of the savings to your water bill.”

A seminar series focusing on water and sustainable development will be featured on Tuesday, March 24. Recipients of the 2014 DASNR Water Grants program will provide insights and updates on their recently completed projects from 2 p.m. to 4 p.m. in 374 Agricultural Hall, located on the corner of Farm Road and Monroe Street. There is no cost to attend.

Presenters include Hailin Zhang and Jason Warren, both of the department of plant and soil sciences, and Justin Moss of the department of horticulture and landscape architecture. Their sessions will focus on developing an interactive online water quality interpretation program, management strategies for subsurface drip irrigation and responsible outdoor water use, respectively.

Friendly water trivia competitions and a social for students conducting water research will take place Wednesday, March 25, a precursor to the 4th Annual Student Water Conference taking place from 8 a.m. to 8 p.m. on Thursday, March 26. All conference events will take place in the Student Union’s French Lounge.

“The primary focus of the conference is its student presentations, judged by faculty members who are experts in their fields and who provide constructive feedback about the research projects,” said Saleh Taghvaeian, an OSU Cooperative Extension specialist in water resources and member of the OSU Water Week planning team.

This year’s conference includes presentations from 62 students representing OSU, the University of Alaska, University of Arizona, University of Kentucky, University of Maine, Kansas State University, South Dakota State University and Texas A&M University, among others.

The multi-institutional student conference is sponsored by the Buchanan Family Trust through the OSU Orville L. and Helen L. Buchanan Endowed Chair, USDA-NIFA through a National Integrated Water Quality grant and the Oklahoma Water Resources Center.

“We’re pleased to have J.D. Strong, OSU alumnus and executive director of the Oklahoma Water Resources Board, giving the Buchanan Lecture at 7 p.m. on Thursday evening,” Fox said. “J.D. will be sharing his experience and insights about key water issues and concerns. Everyone is welcome to attend.”

Additional information about the Student Water Conference is available by visiting http://studentwater.okstate.edu/content/swc online.

OSU Water Week will conclude on Friday, March 27, with alumna Maria Chu leading a discussion on a topic of great interest to students: water-related careers. Now a faculty member at the University of Illinois, Chu will begin her session at 6:15 p.m. in the Student Union’s French Lounge. There is no cost to attend and the session is open to the public.

Anyone seeking additional information about OSU Water Week activities should visit http://water.okstate.edu/osu-water-week online.