Recognizing the pressing global need to ensure future water resources and the relevant role of the Red River basin, the LSU System Board of Regents took decisive action on July 20, 2001. On that date, the Regents established the Red River Watershed Management Institute at LSU Shreveport.

The Regents' forward-thinking action places LSUS in the forefront of a cutting-edge effort to:

• conduct geological, biological and historic studies of one of the nation's major river systems
  
  
• establish related education and outreach programs to provide citizens with information about the significance of the Red River system as well as other wetlands
  
  
• develop a comprehensive management plan for the Red River Basin

The challenge is daunting; nevertheless, this nascent Institute has already attracted the attention of wetland scholars elsewhere. Scientists at LSU-Baton Rouge and Ohio State University are partnering with LSUS faculty to collaborate on a range of wetland-monitoring studies. Moreover, current research has resulted in funding and in-kind support from the U.S. Depatrment of Agriculture, Louisiana Dept. of Environmental Quality, National Science Foundation, Louisiana Board of Regents, U.S. Geol Survey's National Wetlands Center and the Environmental Protection Agency as well as from state and local agencies.

Business and industry, too, have joined this dynamic team. In early February, a consortium that included MHC X-Ploration, of Tyler, Texas, and Halliburton drilled and evaluated a truly innovative monitoring well at one of the Institute's three research sites. It was the first time some Halliburton's unique wire-line logging tools (Magnetic Imaging Resonance Log) have been used for environmental evaluation.

Initially, the Institute's interdisciplinary studies are concentrated on the environment and ecology of three sites and are conducted in close collaboration with the City of Shreveport:

• Red River Education and Research Park or "Sunflower Point"- Includes the city's C. Bickham Dickson Park-This urban park, adjacent to the LSUS campus encompasses an ox-bow lake that floods seasonally and therefore offers unparalled opportunities for environmental studies of floodplain wetland areas. The park is one of the Red River's wetland "kidneys".
  
  
• Cross Lake-This man-made lake serves as the sole water supply for Shreveport, which is the largest metropolitan area located within the Red River basin.
  
  
• Wallace Lake-This lake, developed for flood control, is designated for fishing and recreation but is being impacted by various non-point source pollutants. The Institute is presently conducting the Wallace Lake Watershed Restoration Project, which is funded by La DEQ and the EPA.