The purpose of the Spring Water Seminar Series is to provide a forum to increase awareness of water issues and for thoughtful discussion of alternatives aimed at the wise management of Nebraska's surface and groundwater resources.

The Nebraska Water Center's long-running series began in 1968 as a spring semester program for students, faculty, water professionals and the public to hear experts address current water issues. Students can take the seminar for one hour of credit through the School of Natural Resources and other UNL departments. About 10 to 20 students a year exercise that option and typically, each of the 12 to 14 lectures in the annual series attracts an audience of 50 to 75, many of whom are seminar regulars.

In recent years, with the merger of the Nebraska Water Center into the School of Natural Resources, the focus of the seminar series has returned to a more generalized focus on current water, environmental and natural resources issues. The brochures list specific seminar topics.

Water Seminar Topics

If you need a transcript of any of the lectures as a reasonable accommodation under the Americans with Disabilities Act, please contact Lorrie Benson at 402-472-7372 or lbenson2@unl.edu for assistance.

  • 2013 - Videos and PowerPoints | Schedule
  • 2012 - Videos and PowerPoints | Schedule | News | Surface and Groundwater Modeling Lectures abstracts
  • 2011 - Videos and PowerPoints | Spring 2011 Brochure
  • 2010 - Videos and PowerPoints | Spring 2010 Brochure
  • 2009 - Videos and PowerPoints | 2009 Brochure | Updated Agenda
  • 2008 - Videos and PowerPoints | 2008 Brochure
  • 2007 - 2007 Brochure | Updated Agenda
  • 2006 - 2006 Brochure
  • 2005 - 2005 Agenda
  • 2004 - 2004 Agenda
  • 2003 - Nebraska's Drought Conditions and Other Current Water Issues | 2003 Agenda
  • 2002 - Current Water Issues in Nebraska | 2002 Agenda
  • 2001 - Social Sciences Effect on Allocation of Water and Natural Resources
  • 2000 - Cooperation and Tension: The History, Reality and Future of Nebraska's Interstate Agreements | 2000 Agenda
  • 1999 - Three Water Perspectives: 1) Creating a Significant Water Research Program; 2) Using the Findings from Water Research; and 3) Exploring Current Water Research | 1999 Agenda
  • 1998 - Interrelationships of Water, Native Grasslands and Wetlands
  • 1997 - When the Rains Don't Come: Drought, Climate Change and Water Management
  • 1996 - Platte River Management Goals
  • 1995 - Water Quality and Waste Management
  • 1994 - Flatwater: the History of Nebraska and Its Water
  • 1993 - Global Perspectives on Water and the Environment
  • 1992 - Cancer and Water Quality
  • 1991 - Farm Management Impacts on Ground and Surface Water Quality
  • 1990 - The Platte River: Analysis and Policy
  • 1989 - Water Quality in Nebraska
  • 1988 - Discussion of Various Water Topics, including Water Quality, Hazardous Waste, Leaking Underground Storage Tanks and Agricultural Chemicals
  • 1987 - Wildlife Habitat and Competing Water Demands
  • 1986 - Current Water Issues in Nebraska
  • 1985 - Aspects of Groundwater Quality
  • 1984 - The Sandhills of Nebraska - Yesterday, Today and Tomorrow
  • 1983 - Water Law and Policy in the Great Plains
  • 1982 - Current Water Issues in Nebraska
  • 1981 - Water Resources Research at NU
  • 1980 - Surface and Groundwater Quality in Nebraska
  • 1979 - Current Water Resources Planning and Management Issues
  • 1978 - National Water Policy Review and Its Impacts
  • 1977 - Water Resources Planning and Management Issues
  • 1976 - Water Resources Policy
  • 1974 - Energy, Water, Food, and the Environment
  • 1973 - Regional Planning for Natural Resources with Special Emphasis on the Missouri River Basin
  • 1972 - The Sandhills of Nebraska
  • 1971 - Water Resources Development and the Ecosystem
  • 1970 - Impacts of Large-Scale Water Resource Development
Paolo Cherubini, April 22, 2009.

Paolo Cherubini, 04/22/09.

Kremer Memorial Lectures

As part of the seminar, Kremer Memorial Lectures have been presented every year since 1983 in honor of former State Senator Maurice A. Kremer of Aurora. Kremer, known as Mr. Water, was on the forefront of state water resources planning for more than 20 years and was instrumental in initiating Nebraska's Groundwater Management Act (LB 577), which resulted in the creation of Nebraska's 24 (now 23) Natural Resources Districts in 1972. He also was a staunch and long-standing supporter of higher education.

The Kremer Memorial Lectures typically focus on water resources issues affecting Nebraska. Prominent state and national water resources experts are invited to present the lectures.

Williams Memorial Lectures

Also part of the seminar series since 1994 has been the Williams Memorial Lectures, funded by the Alan G. Irene Williams Fund, which supports the entire seminar series.