The 2022 Water Chats webinar series featuring statewide professional and student research has concluded. The virtual sessions encouraged networking among participants and speakers, exposure to current water-quality research, and research-to-application opportunities across four focus areas: contaminants of emerging concern, harmful algal blooms, stormwater control measures, and source-water protection. A total of 475 people participated in the eight webinars, and represented government agencies, non-governmental organizations, private sector industries, academic institutions, and natural-resource management organizations.
The Water Chats program was created in partnership with Clemson Cooperative Extension Service and Clemson University’s South Carolina Water Resources Center to share water-quality research that can inform natural-resource management decisions. In October 2022, a Water Chats panel session was convened at the South Carolina Water Resources Conference to help gather information needs from various stakeholders for the next cycle of the webinar series. In addition, the organizers of Water Chats are coordinating a special issue of the Journal of South Carolina Water Resources, to be published in summer 2023, that will highlight water-quality research, management applications, and communication and outreach strategies.
Contact Brooke Saari, Coastal Environmental Quality Program specialist, at (843) 953-6406 for more information.