GMDA Was A Good Conference

Stanley Hotel

The Groundwater Management District Association (GMDA) has two conferences per year - a Summer session and the Winter Conference. The Summer event is smaller, and usually focuses on technical issues or specific programs or projects being undertaken by member districts.  The Winter Conference usually includes more policy issues and updates from state and federal water entities.  This year's Summer meeting just concluded in Estes Park, Colorado - at the Stanley Hotel.

I particularly enjoyed the talk by Dean Pennington of the Yazoo Mississippi Delta Joint Water Management District on the Mississippi River flooding adjacent to the West boundary of his GMD.  His staff has been assisting the Corps of Engineers in locating and marking levee leaks (called "boils") for monitoring and future repair if needed.  There are thousands of these leaks ranging from saucer-sized to 20 feet in diameter.  The more problematic ones are ringed with sand bags, or concrete, or whatever you can find, to raise the hydraulic head over them 2-4 feet - just enough to stop them from boiling water up through them.  Too many leaking leaks is not good for a levee system, it appears.

If you're interested in groundwater management, you may want to consider joining GMDA and participating in future conferences.  Let me know - I know those folks pretty well.