"Water
is the true wealth in a dry land."
-- Wallace Stegner
"Whisky's for drinkin'; water's for fightin' over."
-- Mark Twain
The Water Resources Program's main focus is the Master of Water Resources (MWR) degree, the nation's only professional master's degree in water resources. The WRP does other things too, so read on for a description of all that we accomplish.
A
note from Dr. Michael Campana:I am pleased to announce that the Ann Campana Judge Foundation is now online at www.acjfoundation.org. Please take a look to see what we are about and what we want to do to improve the lives of those less fortunate.
If you want to make a contribution, that would be greatly appreciated - you can send us a check or make a secure donation online through PayPal. All contributions to the ACJF are tax-deductible to the fullest extent of the law.
"A fool and water will go the way they are diverted."
-- South African proverb
Why should you study Water Resources at the University of New Mexico?
"Upstream doesn't suffer."
-- Chinese saying about water rights
As of Spring 2006 we have over 55 students pursuing the MWR degree. They come from all over the USA with diverse backgrounds: biology, environmental science, public administration, geology, ecology, engineering, chemistry, international studies, mathematics, business, agriculture, environmental studies, management, hydrogeology, and law. Seventeen students graduated in 2005!
If you are from out of the area, Albuquerque, called a "high-desert jewel" by The Christian Science Monitor (August 24, 2001) will surprise and delight you with its livability and lifestyles. With a metropolitan area population of 700,000, the Duke City is large enough to offer big-city services without all the concomitant hassles. The culture of Santa Fe is just 60 miles up the road; Taos, about 125 miles. If you like the outdoors, New Mexico is for you. Skiing, hiking, horseback riding, climbing, backpacking, exploring, boating, biking, etc., abound. The gorgeous sunsets alone are worth the price of admission.
"Civilization exists by hydrological consent,
subject to change without notice."
-- apologies to Will Durant
Besides offering the MWR degree, the Program is also involved in a number of projects: rural water supply and sanitation in Honduras and other Central American countries; a project that is monitoring stream water quality and quantity in the Kura-Araks basin of the South Caucasus - Georgia, Armenia and Azerbaijan. We are also proud to be a founding partner of the Universities Partnership for Transboundary Waters (UPTW), a 10-university partnership spanning five continents. The UPTW will expand opportunities for our students interested in the challenging field of transboundary water resources.
We also have a a number of publications, produced by our students and faculty, that you may find useful. Our summer 2000 WR 573 class produced a report to help residents of rural Bernalillo County understand the county's septic-tank ordinance. Kathy Grassel's (MWR, April 2002) professional project report on the removal of jetty-jacks in the Rio Grande is helping guide policy. Kathy Brown's professional project report documented pharmaceuticals in Albuquerque-area waters, and Kelly Bitner's project examined the cost of complying with the new arsenic drinking-water standard. Ann Demint developed a GIS-based dynamic simulation model of the Middle Rio Grande, and Alyssa Neir's report describes the role of the Federal government in water resources. Andi Hunter's research into bacterial indicators of fecal contamination in the pools of Lechuguilla Cave was published in a scientific journal [Hunter, A.J., D. Northrup, C.N. Dahm, and P.J. Boston, 2004. Persistant coliform contamination in Lechuguilla Cave Pools. J. of Cave and Karst Studies, 66(3): 102-110]. A report on a workshop on the valuation of water in the Americas is also available. Click here for links to our currently available reports.
Our WWW site has a many useful links that are a resource to all.
The WRP Speaker Series provides the community with the opportunity to hear thought-provoking talks on the important water issues facing not just our region but other areas as well.
"In the world there is nothing more submissive and weak than
water.
Yet for attacking that which is hard and strong,
there is nothing that can surpass it."
-- Lao-tze, 6th century BC
I value your comments, not only on this WWW site, but on the Program as a whole. Please don't hesitate to contact us at 505 277-7759 or wrp@unm.edu. Thanks for visiting us.
As the Albert and Mary Jane Black Professor of Hydrogeology in the Department of Earth and Planetary Sciences, I have a web page in E&PS which provides some more information about my research interests and courses I teach there. Please feel free to visit there also.
One final item - in May 2006 I will depart UNM after 17 years and over 9 years as the Director of the WRP. On June 1, 2006 I will become the Director of Oregon State University's new Institute for Water and Watersheds (water.oregonstate.edu). I will miss UNM and the arid West (almost 35 years here!), but the OSU position is just too challenging to bypass. The search for my successor is underway, and she or he will be announced as soon as possible. Thanks for all the wonderful memories!
Michael E. Campana, Director
Next Page: General Information
Return to Water Resources Program Index