The Research and Extension Regional Water Quality Conference held in Vancouver, Washington, February 20 and 21, 2002, was the first of its kind in the region. The conference provided an excellent opportunity for research, Extension, and agency personnel to exchange information on water quality issues, such as total maximum daily loads and animal waste management, that are important for the region. The main objective of the conference was to present current science and scientific advances as well as their application for technology transfer and outreach. Leading professionals from Alaska, Idaho, Oregon, Washington, and other states came together to debate the emerging water issues that will shape the future of the region and the nation. Overall, results from evaluation forms collected at the conference showed attendees thought that the conference agenda, oral and poster presentations, and conference organization were good to excellent despite some minor technical difficulties. In addition, of those attendees who responded, 100 percent agreed that there should be more conferences in the future with more emphasis on total maximum daily loads, monitoring, restoration, and storm water and watershed issues, to name a few. The entire summary of conference evaluation results is located on the State of Washington Water Research Center website at http://www.swwrc.wsu.edu/conference/. What’s more, the proceedings, program, and some photographs taken at the conference are also located there. Plans for the next Research and Extension Regional Water Quality Conference are in the works. The next conference is tentatively scheduled for the fall of 2003 and will again likely be held in the Portland-Vancouver area. Information regarding this event will be posted as soon as it is available on the State of Washington Water Research Center website listed above. We hope you will join us because the next conference should prove to be both fun and interesting.

Pacific Northwest Regional Water Quality Coordination Project Partners Land Grant Universities Alaska Cooperative Extension Service Contact Fred Sorensen: 907-786-6311 http://www.uaf.edu/ces/water/index.html University Publications: http://www.alaska.edu/uaf/ces/publications/ Idaho University of Idaho Cooperative Extension System Contact Bob Mahler: 208-885-7025 http://www.uidaho.edu/wq/wqhome.html University Publications: http://info.ag.uidaho.edu/Catalog/catalog.html Oregon Oregon State University Extension Service Contact Mike Gamroth: 541-737-3316 http://extension.oregonstate.edu/ University Publications: http://extension.oregonstate.edu/catalog/ Washington Washington State University WSU Extension Contact Bob Simmons: 360-427-9670 ext. 690 http://wawater.wsu.edu/ University Publications: http://pubs.wsu.edu/ Northwest Indian College Contact Michael Cochrane: 360-392-4299 mcochrane@nwic.edu or http://www.nwic.edu/ Water Resource Research Institutes Water and Environmental Research Center (Alaska) http://www.uaf.edu/water/ Idaho Water Resources Research Institute http://www.boise.uidaho.edu/ Institute for Water and Watersheds (Oregon) http://water.oregonstate.edu/ State of Washington Water Research Center http://www.swwrc.wsu.edu/ Environmental Protection Agency EPA, Region 10 The Pacific Northwest http://www.epa.gov/r10earth/ Office of Research and Development, Corvallis Laboratory http://www.epa.gov/wed/ For more information contact Jan Seago at 206-553-0038 or seago.jan@epa.gov
	National Water Quality Program Areas The four land grant universities in the Pacific Northwest have aligned our water resource extension and research efforts with eight themes of the USDA's Cooperative State Research, Education and Extension System. 1. Animal Waste Management 2. Drinking Water and Human Health 3. Environmental Restoration 4. Nutrient and Pesticide Management 5. Pollution Assessment and Prevention 6. Watershed Management 7. Water Conservation and Agricultural Water Management 8. Water Policy and Economics
	The Project Land Grant Universities, Water Research Institutes and EPA Region 10 have formed a partnership to provide research and education to communities about protecting or restoring the quality of water resources. This partnership is being supported in part by the USDA’s Cooperative State Research, Education and Extension System (CSREES). Our Goal and Approach The goal of this Project is to provide leadership for water resources research, education and outreach to help people, industry and governments to prevent and solve current and emerging water quality and quantity problems. The approach to achieving this goal is for the Partners to develop a coordinated regional water quality effort based on, and strengthening, individual state programs. Our Strengths The Project promotes regional collaboration by acknowledging existing programs and successful efforts; assessing program gaps; identifying potential issues for cross-agency and private sector collaboration, and developing a clearinghouse of expertise and programs. In addition, the Project establishes or enhances partnerships with federal, state and local environmental and water resource management agencies, such as by placing a University Liaison within the offices of EPA Region 10.
	CSREES is the Cooperative States Research, Education and Extension Service, a sub-agency of the United States Department of Agriculture, and is the federal partner in this water quality program.

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