By Shelby Ruud
Controlling an invasive grass species was one topic discussed by researchers and guests who attended the Spring Runoff Conference poster session earlier today in the Eccles Conference Center on the Utah State University campus.
The ongoing Spring Runoff Conference is a two-day event where water resource professionals and researchers focus on water-related issues. The poster session was a chance for faculty and students to present results from their research studies.
Though the posters covered a wide range of water-related topics, multiple posters addressed the issue of monitoring and controlling phragmites, an invasive plant species sometimes called common reed.
Phragmites plants invade wetland areas and create a dense mat that blocks other plants from getting sunlight, according to Evan Pool, a student at the Quinney College of Natural Resources at USU.
“Across the state of Utah, managing phragmites costs nearly $5 million dollars,” Pool said. “It’s destroying the wetlands around the Great Salt Lake and wasting money. Any effort to control phragmites is helpful.”
Pool presented a poster that showcased money-saving ways to monitor phragmites, while other researchers presented posters about controlling and reducing patches of phragmites.
Other topics covered by the research posters ranged from water monitoring technology to changes in salinity in Utah streams.
“Presenting this information is a way for us to get ideas,” said Hyrum Tennant, who presented a poster on groundwater monitoring. “We can get people’s suggestions about what to do with our data and what steps to take in our research.”
Mitchell Rasmussen, an environmental studies student at USU, attended the event because it related to his work at the Utah Water Research Laboratory.
“There’s a lot more people here than I expected,” he said. “I guess that shows you that people actually care about water issues.”
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