Water Resources Timeline

This timeline document provides a chronology of events in the history of the Water Resources Program.
 
September 2004 – UI faculty Jan Boll, Barbara Cosens, Fritz Fiedler, Tim Link, Karen Humes, Jerry Fairley and others begin brainstorming the Water Resources concept. Boll is a professor of biological and agricultural engineering, Cosens is a professor of law and Fiedler is a professor of civil engineering.

March 2006 -- University of Idaho administration selects Waters of the West Initiative to receive $1.5 million in funding paid out over five years to establish the academic program, Water Resources, along with a research and outreach arm, Waters of the West (WoW). WoW is one of five UI blue-ribbon initiatives selected for funding. The initiatives are aligned with the university's overall strategic mission, which includes advancing multi- and interdisciplinary areas.

March 2007 -- Law faculty member, Jerry Long, hired with initiative funding from University of Idaho.

April 2007-- Idaho State Board of Education approves creation of the Water Resources graduate program at the University of Idaho.

August 2007 -- Fifteen students begin studies in the Water Resources graduate program of WoW. This is the first class of students.

December 2008 -- Four new students begin graduate studies, bringing the program total to 19.

March 2009 -- The Whitman County, Washingon, and Latah County, Idaho, Palouse Basin Aquifer Committee engages in Participatory Modeling workshops with WoW.

April 2009 -- National Science Foundation awards WoW $2.94 million for the GK-12 program that puts students into middle-school and high-school classrooms to improve water resources education.

May 2009-- First three students graduate from the program with master's of science degrees.

August 2009 -- Thirty-five students are enrolled in the Water Resources graduate program.

August 2011 – Fifty-two students are enrolled in the Water Resources graduate program.