Dear friends and colleagues,

As reported in my previous Notes to the Council (copied below for your reference), several critical problems  facing WASER discussed in our earlier communications have eventually been successfully resolved. Thus I feel that we can now look forward  with satisfaction to the completion of our term as members of the WASER Council and devote ourselves to the tasks that need to completed before the closing Council meeting on  September 18, 2016 and the subsequent General Assembly of September 22, 2016, to be held during the next ISRS in Stuttgart.

1) WASER COMMUNITY

.

Following the proposal by the Secretary General, transmitted with my 4th Note of 21/01/2016 and unanimously approved by the Council, the membership fee has been temporarily waived for the members of the WASER Community, namely for the individuals who have explicitly accepted the invitation to join the Community. This gives them the right to vote in the forthcoming elections. It is understood however that the members of the Community will not enjoy the monetary benefits of the regular (paid up) members of WASER, like  the reduced registration fee to ISRS or the reduced subscription to IJSR.

2) ELECTION

OF WASER COUNCIL AND OFFICERS FOR 2016-2019.

The Nomination Committee (comprising myself, terminating President;  Des Walling, past-President; Ulrich Zanke and Ted Yang, past vice-Presidents; and Hu Chunhong, Secretary General), is currently working to prepare the slate of candidates to be voted on in the forthcoming elections.  You are again invited to propose possible candidates to the Nomination Committee, via the WASER Executive Secretary, Liu Cheng, <chliu@iwhr.com>. Proposals must be received by April 20th, 2016.  The elections will be called by the WASER Secretariat as soon as the slate of candidates has been finalised by the Nomination Committee.

3) WASER HONORARY MEMBERS.

The WASER Statutes provides for the possibility of conferring Honorary Membership of the Association on persons who are seen as having made a major contribution to the Association or to the field of erosion and sedimentation. Honorary Membership is conferred at the triennial Assembly of the Association. The Nomination Committee will soon consider potential candidates for Honorary Membership to be conferred at the Stuttgart General Assembly later this year. The name or names will be communicated to Council, who will make the final decision.

4) VENUE OF THE 14th ISRS IN 2019.

I remind you of the call for proposals for the venue and organizers for the 14th International Symposium on River Sedimentation (ISRS) which will take place in 2019. The deadline for proposals is March 31st, 2016. Proposal are being collated by the WASER Executive Secretary, Liu Cheng <chliu@iwhr.com>. Following a careful examination and assessment of the proposals the final decision will be taken jointly by IRTCES (the Permanent Secretariat of ISRS) and WASER, ahead of the General Assembly in Stuttgart, where the venue will be announced.

5) BEST PAPERS PUBLISHED IN THE IJSR.

With the support of vice-President Wang Zhaoyin, IJSR Advisor, and Fang Hongwei, Chief Editor, a committee of experts has been established to undertake the lengthy task of selecting the best papers published in recent volumes of the International Journal of Sediment Research (IJSR).The results will be submitted to Council for approval.

6) QIAN NING FOUNDATION FOR EROSION AND SEDIMENTATION TECHNOLOGY

The "Qian Ning International Prize" awarded by the Qian Ning Foundation for Erosion and Sedimentation Technology will be presented at the WASER General Assembly in Stuttgart. The Council is represented on the Foundation Committee that considers candidates for the Prize and contact is being made with the Committee.

I will keep you informed on the development of these and other possible items regarding our association.

With my kind regards