Professor Fort Shares Expertise in Water Issues at Annual Water Resources Conference
November 24, 2014
Emeritus Professor Denise Fort shared her expertise in water law as an invited presenter at the American Water Resources Association (AWRA) 2014 Annual Water Resources Conference, held November 3 -6, 2014 in Vienna, VA.
The AWRA invited prominent water scholars to address the topic of “The Future of Water Policy in the United States” for a special issue of its monthly publications. The authors, including Professor Fort, discussed these papers in a series of presentations at the meeting.
The conference attracts a diverse group of water professionals, from science, engineering, economics, and law, among other disciplines. Fort says that New Mexico’s water challenges are daunting and the exchange of ideas with others is always useful.
In a session on climate change, Fort spoke on “Climate Change, Western Agriculture, and Water Policy.” She was also a panelist on “Efficient Water Use: Then, Now, and the Future.” Fort’s topic was “Role of Efficiency in Western Water Resources.”
“Climate change is affecting water resources now, from more acute and longer periods of drought, to floods that are causing property damage to homes and roads in the arid southwest,” says Fort. “It is forcing us to rethink water policy, and to question some of our basic assumptions about water use.”
