Waterways Conference

Shall we sit idly by as our most precious natural resource is wasted? Water is not only vital to sustain life, but is also the back bone of agriculture, manufacturing, and power generation. It would be quite difficult to cool a nuclear reactor with Evian or to quench a thirst with the hot liquid discharge of a powerplant.

March 13 - 15, the Waterways Conference is to be hosted at the University of North Texas Environmental Science and Technology building. The purpose is to bring together the worlds leading minds to solve the worlds growing problem of water usage.

Hydrologists, artists, hydro-engineers, politicians, and philosophers will come together at this event to call fourth problems associated with water constraints. The main focus this year will be the valley which shelters nearly one – tenth of the world’s population. The water is running thin in the Ganga – Brahmaputra – Meghna Basin. This watershed extends into India, Tibet, Nepal, Bhutan, and Bangladesh and will soon be poisoned preceding extinction.

Robert F. Kennedy Jr. will headline the conference. He represents the environmental organizations Waterkeeper Alliance and the Hudson Riverkeeper. Mr. Kennedy will be speaking twice, so if you miss his sociologic panel discussion with John A. McLachlan over the cultures surrounding rivers fear not, you can still catch his speech as the distinguished speaker for the evening.

Awareness is the benefit of this conference. To let the people know what is going on, both affliction and action, what better way to bring events to light than with art. There will be photography and painting, all centered on water, as well as musical performance. Functional art will also be presented as Daniel Bozhkov lectures on his rain gathering system recently installed on the UNT art building. Awareness is the benefit; functionality is the gain.

Through local, national, and global efforts, the people of the world look to preserve their most valuable resource. It is with intellect, creativity, and action that the Waterways Conference aims to help. It is their duty, and it is your duty. We are all stakeholders in the preservation of the world’s fresh water.