The global groundwater community – including experts from the National Centre for Groundwater Research and Training (NCGRT) – will unite to discuss, debate and explore solutions to the groundwater challenges of the 21st century at the 2013 International Association of Hydrogeologists (IAH) Congress, which starts this weekend in Perth.
As a partner in the annual event, held from September 15-20 at the Perth Convention and Exhibition Centre, the NCGRT is heavily involved in the program with many of its 150-plus researchers involved in plenary speeches, keynote presentations and approximately 50 talks.
In particular, NCGRT Director Professor Craig Simmons will give a plenary address on Monday (September 16) on the ‘groundwater grand challenge’, while NCGRT Deputy Director Professor Peter Cook will discuss ‘groundwater interaction with rivers: current understanding and research needs’ on Tuesday (September 17) and Professor John Doherty will give the final plenary address on Friday (September 20) on ‘groundwater modelling: numerical subjectivity with convergence difficulties’.
In the three days leading up to the congress, the NCGRT presented a short course on solute and reactive transport on Rottnest Island, which was designed to introduce participants to the model-based quantification of groundwater quality problems from various industries and disciplines, including contaminant hydrology, mining and water supply.
Professor Craig Simmons, the inaugural Schultz Chair in the Environment, said the NCGRT was delighted to play a leading role in what is “the biggest international congress on groundwater”.
“The last time Australia hosted the congress was in 1994 and this year’s event is expected to draw approximately 700 attendees across the five days,” Professor Simmons said.
“It’s great the Centre is playing such a key role in not only organising the event but showcasing the fantastic work our researchers, including postdoctoral researchers and PhD students, are currently undertaking,” he said.
The first thing the Congress needs to do is to require further study of the Columbia University report that found that arsenic was being drawn into the groundwater aquifer used by Hanoi, Vietnam. Apparently so much water is being drawn so quickly that arsenic is increasingly leached out of the soil and into the aquifer. This is a huge issue for major cities around the world and the Congress needs to look into it ASAP.