History

 

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Pursuant to the Water Resources Research Act of 1964, the Ohio Water Resources Center (WRC) is the federally-authorized and state-designated Water Resources Research Institute (WRRI) for the State of Ohio. The Ohio WRC was originally established in 1959 as part of the Engineering Experiment Station, at OSU’s College of Engineering, and conducted an extensive program of research on water and wastewater treatment processes. In 1964, the Water Resources Center at The Ohio State University was designated as the proposed Ohio WRRI by Governor James A. Rhodes. This designation was approved at the federal level March 9, 1965, when the Ohio Water Resources Center became one of fourteen institutes throughout the nation to receive the initial federal allotment for water resources research under the Water Resources Research Act. Currently, there are 54 WRRI nationwide--one in each state, in addition to District of Columbia, Guam and the Federated States of Micronesia, Puerto Rico, and the Virgin Islands. At OSU, the Ohio WRC continues to be administered through the College of Engineering and has maintained a tradition of placing special emphasis on encouraging and supporting research in the area of physical, chemical and biological treatment processes for water and wastewater.

Every five years since 1964, the WRRI program has been re-authorized, and each year Congress has appropriated funding. The WRRI program is currently administered through the U.S. Geological Survey, Department of the Interior. In January 2000, and extended in 2007 and 2012, the Ohio WRC obtained special funding from the Ohio Water Development Authority to support activities of the Ohio WRC. As part of this grant, the Ohio WRC annually has conducted an in-state, Special Research Competition in Water and Wastewater Treatment Processes and Management. This competition is in addition to the two federally sponsored research grant competitions administered by the Ohio WRC. Furthermore, since 2013 the Ohio WRC receives yearly funding from Ohio State University Office of Energy and Environment in order to support OSU research in the water and energy nexus area.

Past Directors

Past Directors of the Water Resources Center and their disciplines have been:

Feb.1965 - June 1969 Prof. George P. Hanna Environmental Engineering
July 1969 - July 1971 Dr. Donald R. Washington Environmental Engineering
Aug. 1971 - Aug. 1973 Dr. Kenesaw S. Shumate Chemical Engineering
Sept. 1973 - June 1995 Dr. Robert C. Stiefel Environmental Engineering
July 1995 - June 2006 Dr. E. Earl Whitlatch Environmental Engineering
July 2006 - August 2011 Dr. Linda Weavers
Dr. Harold Walker
Environmental Engineering
September 2011 - August 2012 Dr. Harold Walker Environmental Engineering
September 2012 - recent Dr. Linda Weavers
Dr. John Lenhart
Environmental Engineering