January, 2001


Dear Members and Friends of the IWRA:

At the dawn of this new millennium it seems appropriate to open this letter with good news and some fanfare. Thanks to the energetic support by you, our members and friends, the IWRA enjoyed one of our most successful years ever. Our year-2000 President, Cyndi Wagner, organized an outstanding Spring Symposium at Spring Mill State Park. There was a large turnout to hear the excellent presentations that focused on "Improving and Protecting Water Quality: Assessment, Regulation and Policy," (and an even larger turnout came to hear Kevin Strunk plunk a mean mandolin as he sat in with the band at the cookout). We were treated to a tour of the Twin Bridges Landfill near Danville at the Fall Meeting. It was a brisk winter day, and I particularly welcomed the inside look at the warm engine rooms where Waste Management Inc. used methane drawn from the landfill to generate electrical power. After the tour, Greg Overtoom, of the Office of Land Quality at IDEM, described the tremendous challenges faced in managing vast amounts of data, and presented some of his proposed solutions to meeting those challenges. A hearty thanks goes to Cyndi for all the hard work and solid leadership she offered during the past year. She provided us with some great opportunities to learn new things, and the chance to have plenty of fun along the way.

Of course many others contributed to a successful 2000. The Board of Directors has asked me to speak on their behalf to thank all those who have graciously volunteered their time and talents. Particular thanks goes to Ken Luther, our faculty liaison and current Web Master; Larry Theller, our former Web Master; Harold Templin, our liaison with the American Water Resources Association; Jeff Martin, who oversees our membership tasks; and Siavash Beik, Jane Frankenberger, and Jerry Liston, who serve on the Bechert Award committee.

The IWRA Student Scholarship fund continues to be supported by many IWRA members and friends. The fund provides economic incentive and assistance to students attending Indiana colleges and universities who present papers at the biennial Spring Symposium. Many thanks go out to the following individuals who contributed in 2000:

Sharon Adams         Robert J. Houghtalen  Rae Schnapp
Rodney L. Allen      Gale L. Jamison       Cheryl A. Silcox
Leslie D. Arihood    Paul Johnson          John N. Simpson
Mark E. Basch        Bruce A. Kirschner    John B. South
Siavash E. Beik      David Knipe           Jon D. Stolz
Gary Bennett         Dan R. Knowles        Harold R. Templin
Steve Champa         Sally Letsinger       Ronald F. Turco
Jacques W. Delleur   Ernest T. Loveless    Cynthia L. Wagner
Trent K. English     James R. Luckiewicz   David M. Wagner
Larry Feazell        Jeffrey D. Martin     Philip N. Ward
Shiaw-Fen Ferng      Becki Moffett-Moore   Lee R. Watson
John E. Fisher       John A. Mundell       Roy Wheat
Jane Frankenberger   Greg Nethery          John T. Wilson
Arthur C. Garceau    John R. Noel          Jack Wittman
Bill E. Giles        Lesley Oliver         Matt Wittman
Robert B. Gillespie  Greg Overtoom         Pam Wolsiefer-Leak
Karl W. Glander      Glenn D. Pratt        Lorraine Wright
Rajindra Gosine      Jim Richards
Henk M. Haitjema     Martin Risch
Rosemarie Hansell    Linda S. Schmidt
Jan Henley           Robert Schmidt

Preparations are well under way for the 2001 Spring Conference and Field Trip. We will meet June 20-22 at the luxurious and historic French Lick Springs Resort Hotel in French Lick, Indiana (hey, just because it's a field trip doesn't mean we have to rough it). While the general theme of the conference will be the role of water in Indiana's infrastructure, there will be a diverse set of topics that should catch the interest of most everyone.

On Wednesday morning, June 20, there will be an IWRA business meeting and everyone is encouraged to attend. The conference will begin about 1:00 p.m. In addition to hearing about the activities of the Patoka South Fork Watershed Steering Committee, we'll hear talks about dam safety and rehabilitation, alternative septic designs, and the new generation of streamflow-measurement technology. The folks at the French Lick Winery have agreed to talk to us about wine making in Indiana (and because we are such an analytical group, of course, there will be ample opportunity for some hands-on analysis). Thursday morning we'll load the buses. Tracy Branam, of the Indiana Geological Survey, will lead us on a tour of reclaimed mine land and Augusta Lake, then we'll visit the Patoka River National Wildlife Refuge and Management Area and the Patoka Lake Regional Water and Sewer District facilities. On Friday morning we'll tour the restored former West Baden Springs Hotel, and finish off the conference with a train ride through the rolling hills of scenic Southern Indiana.

So mark your calendars now and plan to attend. A detailed announcement for the conference and field trip will be mailed out in late April. The French Lick Springs Resort Hotel has reserved a block of rooms for us at a discount rate of $80.00 per room. You are encouraged to make reservations now by calling 1-800-457-4042. Be sure to tell them you're with the IWRA in order to get the special room rate. You can visit their web site www.frenchlick.com and explore the many attractions the resort has to offer. Frankly, as fun and informative as this IWRA Conference will be, I think a visit to the resort itself is worth the trip.

With the new year comes the opportunity to renew your membership in the IWRA. Membership dues are still the outstanding bargain of only $10.00, or only $2.00 for students. (It makes going to school all worthwhile, doesn't it?)

Our members and friends may have noticed a new feature on the mailing label of this letter. The last line of the label contains two fields: The first indicates your IWRA membership status for 2000. The second indicates whether or not you are active in IWRA. One of the ways we keep our membership costs low is to limit our mailings to people that have paid dues or attended a meeting since 1995. If you are not an active participant in IWRA, your name will be removed from our mailing list this March. Don't let that happen to you! Send in your dues. The mailing labels for the program for the Spring meeting will indicate your IWRA status for 2001.

If you would like additional information about the IWRA, or if you have questions about the upcoming conference and field trip, please call me at 317-290-3333 extension 139. You can visit our web site at www.valpo.edu/organization/xiwra. Thanks for your continued support, and I look forward to seeing you all this June in French Lick.