Salt Contamination of Water Supplies in Tidal Rivers

Virtual Panel Discussions

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A series of virtual panel discussions will be held between June 2023 and August 2024. We will discuss and review the case studies of saltwater intrusion and salinization of freshwater in tidal rivers in the U.S. and around the world. 

Specific objectives include:

  1. To better understand the interacting hydrological and oceanographic processes affecting the salt transport to tidal rivers. 
  2. To better understand how human-accelerated weathering and salt pollution contribute to the salinization of freshwater.
  3. To document and assess how local anthropogenic processes (e.g. navigation channel deepening and land use changes) and global climate change (e.g.drought and sea level rise) drive the saltwater intrusion different estuaries in the U.S. and around the world.
  4. To explore how management strategies such as freshwater releases from upstream reservoirs and reduced road salt use can be adapted to protect water supplies in a changing climate with extended drought, episodic extreme precipitation and accelerating sea level rise.
  5. To gain a better comprehension of the challenges, tradeoffs and conflict resolutions facing water resource managers and other stakeholders in tidal rivers.

PAST VIRTUAL PANELS:

Webinar I: Salt contamination of water supplies in tidal rivers of Chesapeake Bay
Date: 27 June 2023

Moderator: Ming Li, University of Maryland Center for Environmental Science
Panelists:

  • Cheryl Dieter, Hydrologist, U.S. Geological Survey
  • Jian Shen, Research Professor, Virginia Institute of Marine Science
  • Sujay Kaushal, Professor, University of Maryland, College Park
  • Robert Peoples, Chief of Source Protection and Water Appropriation Division, Maryland Department of Environment
  • Andrew Staley, Program Chief, Hydrogeology & Hydrology Program, Maryland Geological Survey
  • Karl Berger, Consultant, Metropolitan Washington Council of Government

More info about this panel can be found here. 
Follow this link to a recording of Webinar I (passcode: QXE0.X*u)

Webinar II: Salt intrusion into the Delaware River
Date: 28 September 2023

Moderator: Robert Chant, Rutgers University
Panelists:

  • Salme Cook, Research Oceanographer, U.S. Geological Survey
  • Molly Hesson, President, Sage Services LLC
  • Namsoo Suk, Director of Science and Water Quality Management, Delaware River Basin Commission
  • Dave Bushek, Director of Haskin Shellfish Research Lab, Rutgers University

More info about this panel can be found here.
Follow this link to a recording of Webinar II. 

Webinar III: Salt contamination of water supplies in the tidal Hudson River
Date: 13 December 2023

Moderator: David Ralston, Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution
Panelists:

  • Randy Alstadt, Water Plant Administrator, Poughkeepsie Water Treatment Facility
  • Robert Chant, Professor, Rutgers University
  • Salme Cook, Research Oceanographer, U.S. Geological Survey
  • Stuart Findlay, Senior Scientist Emeritus, Cary Institute of Ecosystem Studies

Follow this link to a recording of Webinar III.

Webinar IV: Managing salinity and saltwater intrusion in the San Francisco Bay-Delta
Date/Time: 26 April 2024

Moderator: Sujay Kaushal, Professor, University of Maryland, College Park
Panelists:

  • Laurel Larsen, Associate Professor, University of California, Berkeley
  • Brett Milligan, Professor, University of California, Davis
  • John Durand, Professor, University of California, Davis
  • Eli Ateljevich, Senior Water Resources Engineer, California Department of Water

Resources:

  • Lisamarie Windham-Myers, Systems Ecologist, U.S. Geological Survey

Please follow this link to learn more about this panel.
Follow this link to a recording of Webinar IV (passcode: %Un65i+^) 

Webinar V:  Basin-ocean interactions in a semiarid context: The case of Central Chile
Date/Time:  May 16, 2024, 4:00 - 5:30 PM (EDT)

Moderator: Alfonso Mejia, Associate Professor, Penn State University
Panelists:

  • Sebastián Vicuña, Associate Professor, Pontificia Universidad Católica de Chile
  • Sarah Leray, Assistant Professor, Pontificia Universidad Católica de Chile
  • Megan Williams, Assistant Professor, Pontificia Universidad Católica de Chile
  • Sebastián Aedo, Research Associate, Stockholm Environment Institute

Please follow this link to learn more about this panel.

Webinar VI: Salinity intrusion in the Rhine-Meuse River Delta
Time: 26 June 2024 (10:30 – 12:00 EDT; 16:30 – 18:00 CEST)

Moderator: David Ralston, Senior Scientist, Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution

Panelists:

  • Julie Pietrzak, Professor, Delft University of Technology
  • Meinte Blass, Senior advisor, Rijkswaterstaat
  • Ymkje Huismans, Specialist, Deltares
  • Johan van de Koppel, Senior Scientist, Royal Netherlands Institute for Sea Research (NIOZ)

Please follow this link to learn more about this panel.

Follow this link to a recording of Webinar VI (passcode: =D8J04YV) 

UPCOMING VIRTUAL PANELS:

Webinar VII: Drought and saltwater intrusion in the Po River
Time: 2 December 2024 (10:00 – 11.30 am EST)

Moderators: Bob Chant (Rutgers) and Ming Li (UMCES)

Panelists:

  • Luca Brocca, Director of Research, Research Institute for Geo-Hydrological Protection
  • Nicolò Colombani, Associate Professor at the Università Politecnica delle Marche Italy.
  • Debora Bellafiore, Researcher at the Institute of Marine Scienze – National Research Council
  • Gerardo Sansone, Presidency of the Council of Ministers, Italy, public officer

Please follow this link to learn more about this panel.

Register to receive information about the upcoming virtual panel discussions: REGISTER HERE

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