ATHENS, GA – Interdisciplinary knowledge is a critical aspect of solving big environmental problems. That’s why, for the 2025 Georgia Water Resources Conference, we brought everyone together. We do mean everyone: ecologists, hydrologists, engineers, geoscientists, lawyers, anthropologists, consultants and certified fish enthusiasts.
On March 25 and 26, the University of Georgia hosted the 2025 Georgia Water Resources Conference, welcoming scientists and practitioners from across academia, nonprofits, industry, and government to explore complex challenges, growing opportunities and potential solutions in the world of water science and policy in the Southeast.
Across 125 talks/panels and 68 posters, faculty and students from the University of Georgia and beyond brought knowledge in flood modeling, green infrastructure, nature-based solutions and more to the conference’s extensive program. The conference, hosted by UGA’s River Basin Center, welcomed well over 350 attendees.
The biennial Georgia Water Resources Conference has been a collaborative effort between the River Basin Center and the Georgia Water Resources Institute at Georgia Tech since May 1989. The goal of the event is to provide an open forum for the discussion of current water policies, research, projects, and water management in Georgia and beyond.
The conference welcomed a plenary speaker on each day; on Tuesday, Katherine Zitsch, Water Policy Advisor for the Georgia Water Planning & Policy Center at Albany State University (and previous podcast guest here at IRIS!) spoke candidly on the challenges and opportunities shaping water governance in Georgia, exploring potential avenues for better water resource management on a local and statewide level.
On Wednesday, plenary speaker Anna George, Vice President of Conservation Science and Education at the Tennessee Aquarium, closed out the conference by telling the story of the Aquarium’s efforts to save the laurel dace, a tiny fish endemic to the Tennessee River Basin. George emphasized that a key part of their mission was active involvement of local communities in water science and conservation.
The Georgia Water Resources Conference will convene again in 2027.
This event was supported by 31 sponsors: The Georgia Water Resources Institute, Georgia Power, U.S. Geological Survey, Nutter & Associates Environmental Consultants, UGA Institute for Resilient Infrastructure Systems, Georgia Flow Incentive Trust, Georgia State University Department of Geosciences, Kleinschmidt, The Jones Center at Ichauway, Chemours, RES, Frontier Precision Unmanned, UGA Warnell School of Forestry and Natural Resources, University of North Georgia Lewis. F. Rogers Institute for Environmental and Spatial Analysis, UGA Odum School of Ecology, UGA College of Agricultural & Environmental Sciences, UGA Carl Vinson Institute of Government, UGA Franklin College of Arts and Sciences, UGA Marine Extension and Georgia Sea Grant, Corblu Ecology Group, Xylem, Trutta Environmental Solutions, The Nature Conservancy, In-Situ, American Rivers, Albany State University Georgia Water Planning & Policy Center, Flint Riverkeeper, Georgia Soil and Water Conservation Society, Upper Oconee Watershed Network, Brown and Caldwell, and Chattahoochee Riverkeeper.
