As water issues continue to make headlines both close to home and far away, a White House Water Summit on March 22 will gather leading stakeholders that have innovative solutions for U.S. water issues—including The Ohio State University.

Marty Kress, Interim Director of the Global Water Institute at Ohio State, will represent the university at the event.

“Ohio State was chosen because of its integrative, solutions-oriented approach to tackling harmful algal blooms in a program we call Field to Faucet,” said Kress. The program consists of a diverse suite of activities, from developing a new rapid field sensor for algal toxins, to training farmers on the smartest ways to use fertilizer, to detecting where runoff comes from based on its chemistry. These projects involve a broad consortium of university and agency partners funded by both Ohio universities and the Ohio Department of Higher Education.

“The White House wants to emphasize the interconnectedness of water with other aspects of life—like food, energy and health,” said Kress, “and the hundreds of researchers at Ohio State working on these issues understand that.”

The Water Summit is part of a series of activities organized by the Obama Administration to raise awareness of water issues and catalyze ideas to build a sustainable and secure water future for the U.S. In December 2015, the White House launched a national challenge to boost technology development and private investment to solve some of the nation’s most pressing water issues.

Ohio State’s Global Water Institute has these and other issues on its radar. “Although the Field to Faucet program has many applications here in the U.S.,” said Kress, “water issues don’t stop at the border.” The initiative integrates the university’s portfolio of water-related strengths to tackle global issues such as rural water access in developing nations, freshwater harmful algal blooms, and coastal resilience during sea level rise.

This event will be live streamed on www.whitehouse.gov/live and will use the hashtag #WHWaterSummit.

Contact Maureen Langlois at langlois.8@osu.edu for additional information.