As one of the longest running and most successful American Water Resources Association (AWRA) chapters in the country, the Wisconsin chapter provides a structure for water professionals and those studying to enter the discipline to learn from each other and a broader, national water community about the latest in research and management. The chapter is made up of those in private industry, scientists, students and water managers at the local, state and federal level.
A hallmark of the Wisconsin chapter’s educational commitment to professional development and informational exchange is an annual conference, conducted in the state continuously since 1977. Each year, the University of Wisconsin Water Resources Institute (WRI) is a co-sponsor of the event.
Recently, to preserve and share 45 years of Wisconsin’s water resources legacy, Mike Parsen and Brad Gottschalk of the Wisconsin Geological and Natural History Survey (WGNHS) assembled the collection of conference proceedings. The pair collaborated with Anne Moser and Maya Reinfeldt of the Wisconsin Water Library, which is housed at WRI, to create a permanent digital repository.
Maureen Muldoon, a hydrogeologist at WGNHS, generously donated her hard-copy programs as a starting point and the team filled in historical gaps where needed.
The collection now resides at MINDS@UW and includes digital copies of the proceedings from 1978 to today. It is accessible through the University of Wisconsin-Madison’s online library catalog.
