Ice Jam Response and Mitigation: The Need for Cooperative Succession Planning and Knowledge Transfer

• Main Authors: K. D. White, F. E. Hicks, S. Beltaos, G. Loss
• Other Authors: The Pennsylvania State University CiteSeerX Archives
• Format: Text
• Language: English
• Subjects: Cold Regions Research and Engineering Laboratory
• Online Access: http://citeseerx.ist.psu.edu/viewdoc/summary?doi=10.1.1.502.6055; http://cripe.civil.ualberta.ca/Downloads/14th_Workshop/White-et-al-2007a.pdf

The international community of engineers and scientists involved with river ice hydraulics, exemplified by those participating in the activities of the Committee on River Ice Processes and the Environment, is relatively small and collegial. The many years of experience represented by those gathering for the workshops is both a strength and a reminder that the river ice community is aging. This is particularly true in the smaller group dedicated to emergency response to ice jams and the design of ice mitigation measures. For example, in 1990, the US Army Cold Regions Research and Engineering Laboratory (CRREL) had twenty staff either active in river ice response and mitigation, or with enough experience to support these activities. By the end of 2006, eight active staffers remained and only one is entirely funded by river ice research. Given the aging of the river ice community, we suggest that active succession planning and knowledge transfer begin now to assure a robust and experienced future river ice community. This paper proposes that the Committee on River Ice Processes and the Environment form the nucleus of a cooperative effort in succession planning and knowledge transfer to support ice jam response and mitigation.- 2-1.