News | May 13, 2011

NGWA Exec To Lead Delegation Of Groundwater Professionals To Russia

A delegation of groundwater professionals led by National Ground Water Association Executive Director Kevin McCray, CAE, will visit Moscow and St. Petersburg, Russia, October 13-22 under the People to People Citizen Ambassador Program.

For more information, visit www.peopletopeople.com/kevinmccray.

Subjects of particular interest to the delegation include:

  • National and/or regional schemes for monitoring groundwater quantity and quality
  • Efforts to locate and develop new groundwater reserves
  • Impacts of oil and gas exploration and development on groundwater resources, particularly with respect to hydraulic fracturing techniques, saltwater intrusion, and brackish water usage
  • Carbon sequestration plans and their impact on groundwater resources
  • Remediation of contaminated groundwater and environmental restoration of contaminated soils, especially impacts of ash dumps on groundwater quality and other groundwater-pollution control initiatives
  • Stabilization of rising groundwater levels in urban and industrial regions
  • Overexploitation and subsequent management responses, including artificial recharge
  • National human resources to provide, protect, remediate, and manage groundwater
  • Utilization of geothermal heat pump technology for heating and cooling, as well as aquifer thermal energy storage and borehole thermal energy storage
  • Water well maintenance and rehabilitation, including well acidization
  • Dewatering of marshy lands.

While the itinerary is still being shaped, it could include visits to the Federal Agency for Water Resources, the Institute for Water Problems of the Russian Academy of Sciences, Sysin Scientific and Research Institute of Human Ecology and Environmental Hygiene at St. Petersburg State University, and those engaged in water well construction and in the manufacture of water well industry equipment, such as rigs and pumps.

Founded in 1956 by President Dwight Eisenhower as a vehicle to expand international relations beyond the structure of government agencies, People to People International is a nonpolitical, private sector organization dedicated to promoting international peace and understanding. As a citizen ambassador, you represent your profession while continuing in the tradition of high-level professionals who have helped shape, during the past 50 years, international dialogue within your profession.

About NGWA
NGWA, a nonprofit organization composed of 12,000 U.S. and international groundwater professionals — contractors, equipment manufacturers, suppliers, scientists, and engineers —is dedicated to advancing groundwater knowledge. NGWA's vision is to be the leading groundwater association that advocates the responsible development, management, and use of water.

SOURCE: NGWA