Collaboration is central to water research at Utah State University, and the USU Water Initiative provides a forum for USU researchers to make a difference—together. The collegial interdisciplinary community of water scholars at USU engaged in water education, research and outreach includes academic departments, centers, and labs in six colleges.
Partners
USU departments and centers contributing to Water Research at USU, listed alphabetically:
Spring Runoff Conference
The USU Spring Runoff Conference is held annually to provide a forum for interdisciplinary sharing and exchange of ideas on water-related issues in Utah and the Intermountain Region extending to all aspects of water science, ecology, policy, engineering, and management. The Conference is held each March at the USU Eccles Conference Center on the Logan campus. Registration and abstract submissions are accepted starting in mid-January.
Water Research in the News
Find more Water Research News at Utah State Today.
![A scientist holds a petri dish.](https://www.usu.edu/today/images/stories/xl/24_UWRL_Plastisphere_Petri_UST.jpg)
Utah State Today | June 6, 2024
The effects of microplastics on human health have been researched across the globe. At the Utah Water Research Laboratory, Joanna Hou is exploring the joint effect of microplastics with another complex harmful substance: antibiotic-resistant bacteria. And her lab is a wastewater treatment plant.
![Snowmelt at Second Dam in Logan Canyon, Utah, a karst mountain watershed](https://www.usu.edu/today/images/stories/xl/24_UWRL_Karst-Study_UST.jpg)
Utah State Today | May 30, 2024
Researchers from Utah State University and the Utah Water Research Laboratory recently published a new study that aims to help communities more accurately predict streamflow patterns in karst mountain watersheds.
![The Colorado River on April 25, 2024.](https://www.usu.edu/today/images/stories/lg/ILWA_Colorado_River_April_25.jpg)
Journalists, researchers, and Colorado River experts gathered at the Utah State University Moab campus in late April to launch the Colorado River Collaborative, a statewide media group to help train, inform, and support news organizations in telling solutions-focused, local-perspective news stories on the Colorado River. The group’s efforts will significantly expand Utah-based coverage of another critical water issue in the state.
Mission & History
The USU Water Initiative provides an overarching umbrella for the activities of the water community aimed at fostering interdisciplinary collaboration and collegial sharing of ideas related to water across the departments and colleges of Utah State University. Water related seminars in a number of colleges and departments occur on a regular basis.
The USU Water Initiative emerged from a task force appointed by University President Kermit Hall in Fall 2002 charged with recommending ways to strengthen water programs at USU that take advantage of the diversity and breadth of water activities at USU. The task force initiated a number of collaborative activities that advanced water strengths at USU and persist in the research and education activities of Water Initiative Partners, and the Spring Runoff Conference.