Congratulatory Message from President of WASER, Prof. Des Walling

WASER/IAHR-APD/IRTCES Study Tour to the Three Gorges Project (TGP),8-15 August 2005, Yichang, Hubei Province , China

As I hope many of you will know, the World Association for Sedimentation and Erosion Research (WASER) was founded in October 2004, on the occasion of the ninth International Symposium on River Sedimentation (ISRS) held at the Three Gorges Dam site in China . WASER builds on the long and very successful tradition of the triennial International Symposia on River Sedimentation, which stretch back to 1980, and aims to promote international collaboration and cooperation in the field of erosion and sedimentation and to facilitate the bringing together of scientists and engineers from the many different disciplines with interests in this field. The encouragement and training of young scientists and engineers is a key priority for WASER, since erosion and sedimentation problems are likely to assume even greater importance in the future, as human demands on land and water resources intensify.

It is therefore a great pleasure for me to welcome you to this WASER/IAHR-APD/IRTCES Study Tour of the Three Gorges Project. This Study Tour represents the first major training initiative for WASER and it is particular appropriate that it should focus on the Three Gorges Project. This is partly because you it brings you to the venue of the very successful 9th ISRS, where WASER was inaugurated last year. More importantly, however, it provides you with an opportunity to gain first hand experience of this world-leading and multi-faceted engineering project and to benefit from the long and valuable experience of Chinese engineers and scientists, who are pre-eminent in the field of erosion and sedimentation. From its very beginning, WASER has recognised the need to collaborate, rather than compete, with other bodies active in its field and it is particularly pleased to have this early opportunity to collaborate with IAHR-APD and IRTCES.

I hope that you will all benefit from the outstanding opportunities offered by this Study Tour for extending your technical and scientific knowledge and expertise and that you will promote the spirit of international and interdisciplinary collaboration, which is central to the aims of WASER. This Study Tour would not have been possible without the efforts of many people from WASER, IAHR-APD and IRTCES, but I would like to extend special thanks to the WASER Secretariat of IRTCES for their key role in its conception, planning and organisation.

Prof. Des Walling

President, WASER