Call for Abstracts & Student Posters

Submission Deadline: Closed

Read these instructions entirely before submitting your abstract at the end of the page.

The multidisciplinary variety of conference topics provide presenters the opportunity to develop sessions to satisfy interests in a variety of water-related topics. The successful outcome will satisfy the interests of seasoned and young professionals, academics, students, non-profit groups, and the general public.

Abstracts should relate to the various interdisciplinary causes, options and solutions to help mitigate climate-change impacts related to water uses and management. Abstracts addressing the science, legal, institutional and public perspectives should also include integration of overarching socioeconomic and cultural considerations when applicable.

Below are some highlighted topical sessions that have been selected for the conference. Enter the session code (A, B, C, and so forth) during your abstract submission. If your abstract would fit well in one of these sessions, please let us know.

• A) Water Security in a Changing Climate: Integrating Water Footprint, Land Use, and Water Quality from Local to Regional Scales
• B) Informational Design for Water Resources
• C) Promoting University Student Water Resources Learning, Service, and Research
• D) Social Resilience for Climate Justice: Centering Community Voices in Adapting to Climate Change
• E) Navigating Physical, Legal, Administrative, and Operational Challenges On the Arkansas River in Pursuit of Colorado Springs Utilities’ Lower Arkansas Water Sharing Program
• F) Citizens of the Colorado River Watershed: Education and Our Water Future
• G) Taking Action with Nature-Based Solutions: Translating Modeling and Mapping Analysis into Decision Support
• H) Managing to Extremes: Improved use of meteorological data for managing water resources under flood and droughts
• I) Connections between urban development and water resources
• J) Addressing Unequal Outcomes in Urban Water Management
• K) Transboundary water management
• L) Advances in Community Water Modeling: Data, Models, and Frameworks
• M) Buying Down Demand: A Growing Management Tool for Over-Allocated Systems
• N) Overcoming Obstacles to Delivering Water and Wastewater Service To Underserved, Disadvantaged Communities through Collaboration And Creative Funding Solutions
• O) Building Regional Resilience to Manage Reliable Water Resources in Coastal Communities
• P) The Nature-Based Solutions Explorer – An Update on the Publicly Accessible Tool for Louisiana

We have shared examples of possible session topics below. If your abstract would fit well in one of these topics, please list the topic below.

Examples related to water resources in any field:

• Colorado River Compact challenges and opportunities
• Water Laws and their impact on western water supplies
• Planning Hydroelectric Infrastructure (Dams) – Planning for 50 to 100 years
• Land Hazards and Risks – Mitigating landslides, subsidence and other risks
• Winter Snow and Ice Processes – Changes in timing, magnitude, avalanches, ice breakup
• Housing, Transportation, Communications, and Energy Infrastructure
• Technology Innovations – to improve understanding and mitigating changing climate and hydrologic conditions
• Community Perspectives and Approaches – Observations of changes mitigation practices used with respect to housing, local infrastructure, fishing, etc.
• Research Needs – Recent and projected changes
• Energy and Water Supplies impacts and mitigation
• Agriculture and Farming impacts and mitigation
• Land Hazards and Risks – Landslides, avalanches, subsidence and other risks and mitigation
• Extreme Precipitation and Flooding to Drought – Mitigation options and solutions
• Water Quality – Impacts to water quality and mitigation to maintain water quality
• Intersecting water laws and aquatic habitat conservation and development
• Challenges for Coastal Communities – Rising tidal levels, frequent floods, changing groundwater supplies, changing coastal dynamics, saltwater intrusion

AWRA's commitment to community, conversation, and connection guides our efforts in putting this specialty conference together. Compelling presentations are the foundation of any conference, and the AWRA 2025 Annual Water Resources Conference is no exception. We look forward to your abstracts, which will help provide insights and inputs to stimulate informative conversation.

Come to our conference, make connections, and contribute to these important conversations!

Types of Presentations

Individual Oral Presentations
Oral Presentations are typically organized with four to a 90-minute session (sometimes fewer) grouped according to the same or similar topics. This typically allows 20-minutes for each presentation with 10 minutes for questions (for all session presenters combined).

Panel Sessions
Panel sessions focus on a unified topic, with multiple brief (10 -15 minutes each) presentations and a moderated discussion by the panel organizer. Panel sessions require just one abstract, submitted by the organizer. Please advise panelists that they must pay the registration fee.

Other Ideas – Workshops, etc.
If you would like to organize a workshop or field trip, please contact the Technical Program Co-chairs right away. We are looking for creative, original, and compelling ideas.

Abstract Preparation

Before submitting your abstract online, please have all of the following information with you:

• Name, title, employer, full mailing address, email address, phone number of the main contact, presenter, and co-presenters. Note: Co-author(s) information will not be collected nor included in the conference program/abstract summaries.
• If you are submitting an abstract for a topical session, please include the Topical Session title in your submission.
• Type of presentation: oral, poster, or panel.
• Abstract title.
• Abstract (350 words or fewer).
• Credit card information for payment of non-refundable abstract submittal fee ($25). Payment of the abstract fee must be made before abstract submission. Multiple abstracts can be submitted but can only be made ONE AT A TIME after paying for each abstract separately. Each abstract is a non-refundable $25 fee.
• All presentations are in-person only. Presenters not registered for the conference will have their information removed from the program before the conference.

Membership in AWRA is encouraged but is not a requirement for presentation. However, registration and relevant registration fees are required. Oral and poster abstracts are being sought on any topics dealing with, or related to, the conference themes.

Abstract Submission Process: Closed

• Start the abstract submission process by paying the abstract submission fee. You must be signed into your AWRA account.
• Do NOT select more than one abstract submission fee at a time.
• After payment is submitted, you will receive a link to the Abstract Submission Form in your confirmation email and on the confirmation page.
• If you would like to submit another abstract, you may click on the link on the Thank You page. 

Please note:

• Purchase only ONE abstract submission fee at a time.
• You must use the same AWRA account to submit the abstract fee and submit the abstract.
• Abstract fees are non-refundable.

Acceptance Notification

The Program Committee will review abstracts for originality, technical merit, currency, and relevance to the Conference topics. Authors' suggestions for topic and format placement (oral, panel, or poster) will be considered, but the Committee will make the final decision. The quality of the submitted abstract will be viewed as an indication of the quality of the presentation. Previous performance or failure to give timely notification of cancellation at previous annual and specialty conferences may influence the decision for acceptance. Abstracts received after the deadline may not be considered or accepted. All conference attendees, including presenters, must pay the conference registration fee.

Before submitting an abstract, authors should be confident they will have funding to pay the registration fee, attend the meeting, and make the presentation. If the presenter finds he/she can't attend, they should try to find another person to make the presentation. If you must cancel your presentation, note that the cancelation date is September 12, 2025 and will be subject to a processing fee of 30% of total fees. If cancelation is unavoidable, the presenter should notify AWRA by September 12, 2025. No refunds will be given after September 12, 2025, but registrations can be transferred to someone else. The transfer must be completed by November 3, 2025. Once the technical program is complete, we cannot accommodate personal schedules. Please note that topics, themes, and sessions arranged for the program are placed where they most make sense for the flow of the entire program. Late cancellations and failure to give scheduled presentations are disruptive and leave gaps in the program that distract all attendees.

Questions?

If you should have any questions about abstracts, please contact [email protected]. If you have questions related to conference registration and AWRA Membership, please contact [email protected].