2026 Spring Runoff Conference Agenda

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March 24-25, 2026 | Cache County Event Center | USU Logan Eccles Conference Center

Conference Registration

Registration closes March 23.

Tuesday, March 24

Water in Utah: Policy and Outlook

Time Event
8:00 Arrivals & Registration
8:50 Welcome Remarks
Chance Baxter, Bear River Water Conservancy District
9:00 Water in 2026
Governor Spencer Cox, State of Utah Governor
9:20 Legislative Summary Panel
Brian Steed, Jill Koford, and others
9:40 Water Supply Update
Jordan Clayton, NRCS

10:00 Break

Northern Utah Water

Time Event
10:30 Cache Water District Conservation Program
Autumn Mathews
10:50 Logan River Watershed Draft EIS
Zan Murray, J-U-B Engineering
11:20 Pheasant Forever Loan Program
Will Benkelman, Pheasant Forever Loan Program

11:50 Lunch & Poster Session

State Projects and Programs

Time Event
1:15 Agricultural Water Leasing Opportunities & Updates
Hannah Freeze, Deputy Great Salt Lake Commissioner, Great Salt Lake Commisioner’s Office
1:40 Great Salt Lake Integrated Plan - Longeterm Actions
Jake Serago, Engineer, Utah Divison of Water Resources
2:00 Drone Based Operational Cloud Seeding
Jared Smith, Project Director, Rainmaker
2:30 Adjourn

Wednesday, March 25

Water at USU

Time Event
9:00 Welcome Remarks
Anna McEntire, Managing Director, Institute for Land, Water, and Air
9:05 USU’s Water Legacy
Brad Mortenson, President, Utah State University
9:10 Utah Water Champion Award
9:25 Utah’s Water Network

10:00 Break

Balancing Utah’s Water Needs

Time Event
10:30 Balancing Water Needs in Walker Basin
Peter Stanton, CEO, Walker Basin Conservancy
11:00 What’s Next in Water Leasing
Panel, Great Salt Lake Commissioner’s Office
11:30

12:00 Lunch & Poster Session

Breakout Sessions

Session Event Option 1 Event Option 2 Event Option 3
Session 2
1:00-1:45		 Great Salt Lake Basin Planning
Room 1

Water QualityRoom 2

Water Supply and Hydrology
Room 3

Break
2:00-2:30

Time Event Option 1 Event Option 2 Event Option 3
Session 2
2:30-3:15		 Great Salt Lake Water Management
Room 1

Irrigation and Agricultural Water Use ResearchRoom 2

Water Use Tools and Technologies
Room 3

Session 1

Room 1

Great Salt Lake Planning

Time Event
1:00 Great Salt Lake Basin Integrated Plan
Lauren Vernon
1:15 Water Needs and Recovery Pathways for the Great Salt Lake
David Tarboten
1:30 Supporting the Great Salt Lake: M&I Water Conservation Opportunities
Easton Hopkins
1:45 Agriculture Water Optimization in the Great Salt Lake Basin Integrated Plan
Matt Yost

Room 2

Water Quality

Time Event
1:00 Microplastics as Platforms for Antiobiotic Resistance in Wastewater and Reclaimed Water Systems
Liyuan Hou
1:15 Rethinking Harmful Algal Blooms in Utah Waters: A Paradigm Shift in Water Quality and Management
Kabilan Mani
1:30 Impacts of Biochar and Zero Valent Fe/Zn- Doped Biochars on the Transformation of PFAS in Wastewater Biosolids Compost
Chase Fry
1:45 Effect of Automated Surge Irrigation on Soil Moisture and Nutrient Levels in Crop Production
Ngoni Mufute

Room 3

Great Salt Lake Planning

Time Event
1:00 Integrating Hydrology and Human Water Footprints: A Case Study of the Great Salt Lake Watershed
Rocky Seeley
1:15 Hydrodynamics of Bear Lake: Waves, Currents, Circulation, and Residence Times
Jeff Nielson
1:30 Impacts of Biochar and Zero Valent Fe/Zn- Doped Biochars on the Transformation of PFAS in Wastewater Biosolids Compost
Eric Humphrey
1:45 Multi-year Impacts of Climate on Water Supply
Paul Brooks

Break 2:00-2:30

Room 1

Great Salt Lake Water Management

Time Event
2:30 Great Salt Lake, Virtual Water, and the Reform of Prior Appropriation
Christopher Lant
2:45 Leasing Water for Great Salt Lake: Water Savings and Producer Impacts
Conner Hardwood
3:00 Water Banking for the Great Salt Lake: Using Immersive Modeling to Elicit Strategies from Water Users
Hadia Akbar
3:15 Evaluating Alternative Water-Saving Scenarios for Alfalfa in the Great Salt Lake Basin Using Integrated Climate Model Predictions
Saddy Pineda Castellanos

Room 2

Irrigation and Agricultural Water Use Research

Time Event
2:30 Enhancing Precision Agriculture Via Real-Time Aerial Meteorological Monitoring
Htoo Poe Sar
2:45 What Makes Smart Irrigation Work? Lessons from Producers in the Upper Colorado River Basin
Tejinder Singh
3:00 An Estimation of Crop Evapotranspiration Using Soil Water Balance in Vineyards
Tarique Aziz
3:15 Sprinkler Package Runoff Risk Tool for Center Pivot Irrigation Systems
Will Bowers

Room 3

Water Use Tools and Technologies

Time Event
2:30 Utah Prototype for Visualizing Vulnerabilites Downstream of Dams
Courtney Flint
2:45 Making Water Visible: Neutral, Verification-First Infrastructure for Basin-Scale Water Accountability
Eric McCulley
3:00 UAS Cloud Seeding in the Bear River Basin
Jared Smith
3:15 Floating Solar- Water Conservation and Energy Opportunities in Northern Utah
Lee Adams

Sponsors

  • Janet Quinney Lawson Institute for Land, Water, & Air
  • Utah Water Research Laboratory
  • USU Ecology Center
  • USU Quinney College of Agriculture and Natural Resources
  • USU College of Arts and Sciences
  • College of Engineering
  • Cache Water District
  • Bear River Conservancy District
  • Utah Water Users Association
  • Center for Water Efficient Landscaping
  • Bear River Valley Co-Op
  • Franson Civil Engineers
  • J-U-B Engineers
  • Sunrise Engineering
  • Hansen, Allen, & Luce Inc.
  • Horrocks
  • Circle B Irrigation