New facility will transform water research at the University of Alabama
USGS moves to new research facility at the University of Alabama.
The USGS has opened the new hydrologic instrumentation facility at the University of Alabama.
As astronomers search the universe, there are repeated “Eureka!” moments when they make discoveries that suggest the presence of water.
With the trio of the USGS’s new Hydrologic Instrumentation Facility (opened August 14) and the Alabama Water Institute and National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s National Water Center on the University of Alabama campus, future research on H20 can also take place closer to home.
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“Everyone here understands the value of water resources and the impact their abundance or scarcity can have on individuals, cities, states and the country,” said David Applegate, director of the U.S. Geological Survey, at the opening of the 90,000-square-foot hydrologic instrumentation facility on the UA campus.
Humans and fish cannot imagine life without water. It makes up half of our body weight and 71% of the Earth’s surface, here in what scientists call the Goldilocks zone, far enough from the sun that much of it remains liquid rather than evaporating.
Agriculture requires enormous amounts of water. Fishing accounts for 6.5 percent of the world’s protein needs. Add to that shipping and transportation, heating and cooling, cooking, washing and leisure activities – swimming, skiing, boating, surfing, diving, fishing – and it becomes clear that water is not only the basis of all life, but also essential for its preservation.
The UA was chosen for the facility, a modernized version of the similar 50-year-old facility in Bay St. Louis, Mississippi, in part because of its proximity to the Alabama Water Institute, which conducts new and applied research and trains new water scientists, and to the NOAA center, which produces forecasts for floods, droughts and other water-related disasters.
“By bringing this facility here and partnering with the USGS,” said Matt Womble, director of the Alabama Water Institute, “we’ve effectively achieved that we’re connecting water modeling and forecasting that’s being done at the NOAA National Water Center with water observations that are happening here (at the newly opened hydrology facility).”
The 8.8-hectare, 8,800-square-meter facility has been under construction since March 2022. To replace the hydrological facilities built in 1970 at the National Aeronautics and Space Administration’s (NASA) Stennis Space Center in Bay St. Louis, the U.S. Congress has approved $38.5 million for the facility, contingent on cooperation with the UA and federal partners.
The two-story building will house approximately 50 USGS employees, along with UA faculty, staff and students.
“This partnership between the U.S. Geological Survey and the University of Alabama, a national leader in water research and science, will result in important, groundbreaking discoveries as demand for innovative water research increases across the country and beyond,” said former U.S. Senator Richard Shelby of Tuscaloosa in a written press release.
“The university’s decision to make water – a national security issue – a central focus of research and study will enrich lives in the great state of Alabama and across the country,” he said.
The new facility contains:
- A 32,000 square foot hydraulic laboratory with a 350 foot tow tank, a 230 foot tipping flume capable of holding 50 cubic feet of water per second, a 100 by 24 foot test basin, and groundwater demonstration wells. The tow tank, with still, calm water, helps calibrate instruments. The test basin literally creates waves for study; the tipping flume can show how streams respond under different conditions.
- Three training rooms, including wet chemistry and electronics configurations.
- Laboratories and workshops for testing, developing and repairing hydrological instruments.
- An 11,000 square meter warehouse.
- An auditorium for 150 people.
- Network Operations Center.
The staff and operations department of the USGS Lower Mississippi Gulf Tuscaloosa Field Office will also be housed there.
Nate Booth, USGS senior advisor for water resources, said at the opening: “… we expect significant innovations from this facility in the coming years.”
UA students and faculty in fields such as geography, civil engineering and electrical engineering will be connected to the hydrology facility, in addition to connections with other water facilities and staff. The research conducted there will help train and guide future generations of water scientists.
The number of water partnerships with the UA has increased significantly in recent years, including this spring’s Water Observing Technology Forum, hosted by the Alabama Water Institute and the USGS, which showcased innovative technologies and methods for measuring water quantity, quality and availability.
“Water information is fundamental to national and local economic well-being, the protection of life and property, the health and diversity of ecosystems, and the effective management of the nation’s water resources,” Applegate said.
“The new facility will strengthen our partnership with the University of Alabama and is a major investment in the future, ensuring that USGS water science and data will meet the needs of all Americans for decades to come,” he said.
Reach Mark Hughes Cobb at [email protected].
