PAST MEETINGS:

Vicksburg, Mississippi
October 5-7, 2006

The South Central Chapter held its' Annual Fall Meeting October 5th through the 7th in Vicksburg Mississippi. The meeting was hosted by Sally Yost, Buddy Clarain and others who work at the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers Engineer Research and Development Center (ERDC, Waterways Experiment Station). There were 41 attendees including nine new members.

There was a one-day workshop in which new regionalization efforts to delineation were introduced, an afternoon field trip exploring the geomorphology of wetlands, technical presentations, and a student presentation competition. Technical presentations addressed a range of issues from alligators and nutria (Paul Keddy, Professor, Southeastern Louisiana University), through potential impacts of the SWANCC decision on regulatory wetlands (Beth Guynes, Chief, Regulatory Division, Vicksburg District, COE). Melinda Coogan (University of North Texas) won the student presentation competition with her presentation of "Algal Bioaccumulation of Antimicrobials in a North Texas Wastewater Treatment Plant Receiving Stream." Ms. Coogan was awarded a $600 travel stipend so that she can present her research at the upcoming meeting in Sacramento, California.

One of the presentations was by Dr. Jeneke Visser (Associate Professor, Lousiana State University) regarding her participation 10-13 January 2006 in a delegation of federal, state, and local elected officials, as well as business leaders, scientists, and non-governmental organizations to the Netherlands. They were invited by the Dutch Ambassador Boudewijn Johannes van Eenennaam to observe first-hand the operations and planning of their world-class flood protection system. The South Central Chapter paid for her travel costs to and from The Netherlands, but the Dutch government paid all expenses while the delegation was in The Netherlands. A summary of that trip and the itinerary were provided at last years' mid-year Board Meeting. Dr. Visser noted that the Dutch illustrate that an economy can be built on land below sea-level. But they realize that as land subsides and water levels rise, the struggle to protect investments will get increasingly difficult. She also noted that Dutch scientists are advocating a new strategy that is less about fighting the water and more about finding ways to live with the water. New efforts include the allocation of more space to riverbed and restoring the wetlands that absorb excess water during floods. Coastal protection planning includes creation of marshes, can maintain their elevation relative to sea-level, in front of levees to protect the levee footing and reduce levee maintenance costs - visit www.comcoast.org for more information.

At the business meeting, members voted to split the duties of the Secretary/Treasurer. Elections for those new offices, and all other offices, will be solicited in the spring.

In addition to brining in nine new members (6 regular, 3 student), the meeting brought in approximately $1,900 more than it cost. The low cost of the meeting largely resulted from holding the meeting at the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers Engineer Research and Development Center (ERDC, Waterways Experiment Station). Sally Yost and Buddy Clarain are the members who work there and also worked long and hard to host our meeting there.