50 years old today, President Lyndon B. Johnson signed into law the Water Resources Research Act, which established a Water Resources Research Institute in each state. The Virginia Water Resources Research Center, which is my home appointment at Virginia Tech, is Virginia’s mandated WRRI. Let’s hope the WRRA and the institutes continue to “enlist the intellectual power of universities and research institutes in a nationwide effort to conserve and utilize our water resources for the common benefit” for another 50 years! The WRRI’s are responsible for training future water scientists and engineers, and transferring the results of sponsored research to water managers and the public.
For more information, see the USGS news release on this anniversary.