WORLD ASSOCIATION FOR SEDIMENTATION AND EROSION RESEARCH (WASER)

2009 NEW YEAR GREETING MESSAGE

December 20, 2008

Dear WASER Members and Friends,

As the year 2008 draws to an end, we feel that we can look back on a? successful and eventful year for WASER, and its Second Council would like to take this opportunity to thank you for your continuing support for the Association and wish all members a happy and prosperous New Year for 2009.

During the last year there have been several new developments and achievements for the ssociation, including:

(1) As the official Journal of both IRTCES and WASER, the quality of the International Journal of Sediment Research (IJSR) has been further improved. The number and range of contributors have increased significantly over the past two years and IRTCES has made important improvements to the compilation of the Journal. Following the agreement signed in 2007 between ELSEVIER and WASER and IRTCES, the visibility and quality of the Journal have been greatly increased.

Thomson Reuters announced on May 27, 2008 that 700 new regional journals were to be added to the Web of Science. The International Journal of Sediment Research (IJSR) is one of the journals that have been added to the Web of Science.

(2) The Association is continuing to grow and now has over 330 members. Another 13 new members joined our Association in 2009. MARA University of Technology, Malaysia became a life corporate member in 2009.

(3) WASER co-sponsored the 8th International Conference on Hydro-Science and Engineering (ICHE, 2008), held in Nagoya, Japan in September 2008.

(4) WASER co-sponsored the Third US-China Workshop on Advanced Computational Modeling, held in Honolulu, Hawaii, USA in May 13, 2008. A Chinese delegation headed by Prof. Yu Qiyang, Secretary General of WASER attended the workshop.

(5) WASER was a co-sponsor of the High-level International Forum on Water Resources and Hydropower held in Beijing from October 17 to 18 as part of the celebrations to mark the 50th Anniversary of the China Institute of Water Resources and Hydropower Research (IWHR). Professor Des Walling, President of WASER, represented the Association at this event and gave addresses on behalf of WASER at the opening ceremony for the Forum and at the ceremony to mark the 50th anniversary of IWHR. He also presented a keynote paper at the Forum.

(6) A Training Workshop on Reservoir Conservation co-sponsored by WASER was successfully held at IRTCES, Beijing from September 18 to 28, 2008. Over 30 participants from universities and institutes attended the event. Prof. George W Annandale, President of Engineering and Hydrosystems Inc delivered a lecture on the RESCON Approach.

(7) Congratulations are extended to Prof. Chih Ted Yang, Vice President of WASER, on his receipt of one of the 2008 Prince Sultan Bin Abdulaziz International Water Prizes His award was for the Surface Water Branch, in recognition of his work related to Sedimentation Control in Surface Water Systems. Prof. Yang was presented with his award and delivered a keynote address on Nov. 16th, 2008 at the Third International Conference on Water Resources and Arid Environments in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. The honour comes with a personal award of 500,000 Saudi Riyals, or about $133,000.

Looking to the future, in 2009, WASER will co-sponsor the Third International Conference on Estuaries and Coasts to be held in Japan in September 14-16, the International Conference on Green Hydropower to be held in India, the International Conference on Land Conservation (LANDCON 0905) to be held in Serbia in May 26-30 and the Workshop on Sediment Problems and Sediment Management in Asian River Basins, which will be held in Hyderabad, India, in September as part of the International Association of Hydrological Sciences Scientific Assembly. All members of the WASER are encouraged to participate in the above events. Work is also now beginning on the organization of the 11th International Symposium on River Sedimentation and General Assembly of WASER which will be held in Stellenbosch, South Africa in September 2010. Please plan to attend.

Meanwhile, WASER will continue to develop its initiatives on the production of “White Papers on the Status of Global Soil Erosion and Sediment Transport” and the standardization of terminology and technological criteria on soil erosion and sedimentation, to extend its participation in relevant international initiatives, to organize training courses, research meetings and workshops, and to conduct relevant work on award reviews.

The Officers and Council of WASER will do their best to promote the Association and its activities during 2009, but your support for our Association will be very important in ensuring success.

We remind you to visit the WASER web site (http://www.waser.cn)for new features such as News, Photos, Meeting Announcements and Information and much more. We also hope that members will send the news, photos, and announcements related to soil erosion and sedimentation to the Secretariat of WASER (E-mail to: liuxy@iwhr.com or waser_secretariat@yahoo.com.cn), so that they can be posted on the WASER website and shared with our all members.

With very best wishes

WORLD ASSOCIATION FOR SEDIMENTATION AND EROSION RESEARCH (WASER)

Desmond E. Walling, (UK), President of WASER

Giampaolo Di Silvio, (Italy), Vice President of WASER

Chih Ted Yang, (USA), Vice President of WASER

INTERNATIONAL RESEARCH AND TRAINING CENTRE ON EROSION AND SEDIMENTATION (SECRETARIAT OF WASER)

Shangfu Kuang, (China), Director of IRTCES

Chunhong Hu, (China), Vice Director and Secretary General of IRTCES

Qiyang Yu, (China), Vice Director of IRTCES and Secretary General of WASER

THE SECOND–TERM OFFICERS AND COUNCIL MEMBERS OF WASER:
President: Des E. Walling (UK)

Vice Presidents: G. Di Silvio (Italy), C.Ted Yang (USA)

Secretary General: Qiyang Yu (IRTCES, China);

Treasurer: Xiaoying Liu (IRTCES, China)

Council Members: Chunhong Hu (China), Zhaoyin Wang (China), Ulrich C.E. Zanke

(Germany), S.P.Sen (India), F. Yazadandoost (Iran), H.E.Nakagawa (Japan), Jim

Bogen (Norway), Wojciech Froehlich (Poland), Roman S. Chalov (Russia), Gerrit

Basson (South Africa), Sam S.Y.Wang (USA), John R. Gray (USA), A. Szollosi Nagy
(Hungary)

Download: Annex1 Renewal and application form  of  WASER for 2009

Download: Annex2 Instructions for accessing to IJSR for WASER Members

Note: Upon request, the application form can be sent to WASER Members through E-mail, Fax or Mail, Please feel free to contact: liuxy@iwhr.com ; or waser_secretariat@yahoo.com.cn or fax:+86 10 68411174