April 4, 2005

Experts to discuss science and management
of American River watershed

Representatives from more than 30 public agencies and institutions, private consulting firms, and advocacy organizations with a role in the American River’s health and future will convene at Sacramento State’s University Union for the American River Watershed Conference, April 21 to 23.

Organized by Sacramento State’s College of Natural Sciences and Mathematics and Center for Regional Environmental Science and Technology, the conference, “The Roles of Science and Management,” will feature technical sessions on April 21 and 22 and a free session for the general public on April 23. The entire conference is open at no charge to Sacramento State students.

"We've gone out of our way to include as many organizations as possible that have an interest in the American River, including those that don't normally have the opportunity to communicate with each other,” says Tim Horner, conference organizer and associate professor in the University’s geology department. Horner says the goal of the conference is to share information and plan for the future. Horner helped organize a similar conference on the lower American River hosted by the University in 2003.

Among the speakers making keynote presentations on April 21, Mike Chrisman, secretary of the California Resources Agency, will describe the Schwarzenegger administration’s vision for the state’s environment and resources.

Technical sessions will cover dozens of topics ranging from climate change, floods, weather forecasting, fish habitats and fire to forest management practices, land use and recreational impacts, and water quality.

The free public session, “Sacramento: A River Runs Through It,” 8:45 a.m. to noon on Saturday, April 23, will include presentations on the history of American River gold mining, landscaping practices to help protect water quality, the state of the American River watershed, an overview of Folsom Lake and Folsom Dam operations, the American River Parkway and flood control.

On April 22, the University will also host the annual California Extreme Precipitation Symposium in the University Union. Running concurrently with the watershed conference and open to conference participants, the one-day meeting will focus on the impact of rainfall and floods on the American River watershed, with presentations on snow-melt runoff, a 50-year overview of flood-generating winter storms, the state of rain and flood forecasting methods, and other topics.

More information on the conference and how to register can be found at http://www.cce.csus.edu/cts/arwc. Media assistance is available from Sacramento State’s Public Affairs office at (916) 278-6156.

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