Conference Field Tour Registration Closes March 27

Step beyond the conference and into the field with a guided, full-day experience at LCRA’s Buchanan Dam and Mansfield Dam. Travel with peers, gain insight into system operations and design, and experience these landmark facilities up close as part of your conference week. 

Buchanan Dam
Explore a multi-arch concrete dam built in the 1930s on Valley Spring Gneiss bedrock, stretching nearly 11,000 feet and standing 145 feet tall. The structure features multiple spillway sections, 37 radial tainter gates, and a powerhouse generating 54.9 MW. Designated a Texas Landmark by ASCE, Buchanan Dam showcases historic engineering paired with ongoing operational significance.

Mansfield Dam
Visit this composite structure of mass concrete and earth-filled sections, rising 278 feet above the Colorado River. Mansfield Dam forms Lake Travis and includes 24 flood tubes with a complex double-gated control system, along with a powerhouse generating 108 MW. The dam represents large-scale flood control, water supply, and hydropower integration.

Lower Colorado River Authority—Serving Texans for More Than 90 Years

🗓️ May 7, 2026 | 8:00 AM to 5:00 PM
💲 Available as a conference add-on for $130
🎯 Register now before the deadline: 2026 Registration

New! Field tour lunch supported by Campbell Scientific, with their team onsite to connect with attendees and show instrumentation.

What Your Conference Week Looks Like

Four days. One place. The best dam community. 

Your week is built to move between big-picture insight and real-world application. Start with pre-conference workshops and campfire discussions, then kick off the week at the Welcome Reception. From there, join main stage sessions and dive into technical tracks.

Explore the exhibit hall, with engagement prizes waiting during Tuesday’s Social Hour, and carry those conversations beyond the room into exploring Austin and the Conference Wrap Party celebration offsite.

Not ready to be done? Extend your experience with Thursday workshops or the Field Tour (a full-day, behind-the-scenes look at LCRA’s Buchanan Dam and Mansfield Dam). 

Across the week: 

• Workshops, committee meetings, and plenary sessions shaping the profession
• Technical tracks addressing today’s dam safety challenges
• Campfire sessions for open, peer-driven discussion
• Continuous exhibit hall access woven into the week through meals and breaks
• Networking across receptions, the Young Professionals Social, and the Wrap Party
• Extend your experience with Thursday workshops or the Field Tour at Buchanan and Mansfield Dams

Earn CE in from 200+ speakers bringing real-world experience from across the industry!

Registration is moving fast as March 31 approaches

If registering is still on your to-do list, now’s the time. Current rates for the 2026 USSD Annual Conference & Exhibition end March 31, with late/onsite pricing starting April 1.

Be there when the industry comes together. We look forward to seeing you in Austin! Register here.

What’s New on the USSD 2026 Conference Site

    > Full Conference Agenda 
    > Workshops Overview
    > Wrap Party invitation
    > Exhibitor's Resource Guide 
    > Create Your Own Austin Experience  
We’ll keep this eNews space updated with monthly highlights of content on our event site: https://www.accelevents.com/e/2026-  ussd-annual-conference-exhibition  

Upcoming Webinars & Workshops

View a full list of USSD upcoming events 

2026 USSD Annual Conference—New Workshop Announced!

“Long-Term Reservoir Sedimentation Analysis using HEC-HMS” offers a unique opportunity for professionals to stay at the forefront of sediment management technology. Click here to read more.

Vote for the LEGO Dams project! 

French Dam and Hydro professionals recently launched an original initiative for the public: the design of a LEGO set dedicated to the theme of dams and hydropower. For this project to be considered by LEGO and brought to reality, it must reach 10,000 votes on the LEGO Ideas platform.
 
 We invite you to get involved and support this project. The process is quick and easy:

1. Go to the LEGO idea project webpage :
   https://beta.ideas.lego.com/product-ideas/f2af67c0-1819-4f05-a5b5-f8a3274f9129
2. Click-on “Support Idea”.
3. Create a LEGO account (with a personal email address).
4. Important: Once the account is created, go back to the project page and click again on “Support Idea” to validate your vote. The message “Thank you for supporting” should pop up.

We count on your participation and on spreading the word about this initiative to your teams and networks.

Let us mobilize collectively to support this project and widely promote dams, hydropower, and the know-how of our sector to enhance public awareness.

Call for Election (ICOLD Young Professionals)

Nominations are now open for two (2) ICOLD–YPF Board positions for the 2026–2029 term. Elections will take place during the ICOLD 2026 Annual Meeting in Guadalajara, Mexico (21–30 May 2026), at the YPF meeting on 24 May 2026.

Key requirements:

• Endorsed by the candidate’s ICOLD National Committee (max. 1 candidate per NC)
• Under 40 for the entire duration of the 2026–2029 term
• Active participation throughout the term (including the ICOLD Annual Meeting)

 To be included on the ballot, please submit by 4 May 2026:

• National Committee endorsement
• CV
• Proof of age
• Short introduction + motivation statement

Send nominations to: mateja.klun@fgg.uni-lj.si | lara.gehrmann@huelskens.de | board.yef@gmail.com

ICOLD Newsletter 25 is out!

Our latest newsletter is now available.

 44 pages about ICOLD and the dams’ world !

 In this newsletter:

• Foreword from Humberto Marengo Mog'ollon, President of the Mexican Committee on Large Dams
• ICDSME 2025: Advanced dam safety for energy transition and water transformation
• CFBR : A century of expertise
• ICOLD Mexico 2026 in Guadalajara in May 2026
• Hydropower engineering and clean energy integration on the Dadu River (China)
• Innovation Awards 2025
• ICOLD Bulletins: 5 new bulletins released.
• The importance of earthquake safety of dams
• Seismic Safety of Dams and Sustainability
• 2nd International Conference on Sustainable Hydropower Development in the Himalayas
• Dams finally at the COP
• Hydro 2025: Partnership for global solutions
• International Conference: Dam Safety 2026, held in Bengaluru, India
• A networking luncheon on gender diversity and inclusion in the dam engineering profession
• Hydro hybridization & Hydro 2026 advertisment

To download it, visit this link: ICOLD Newsletter 25

Workshop on Smart Dams | ICOLD 2026—94th Annual Meeting

Date: 26th May 2026, 13:00-17:00
Place: Meeting Room TBD

At the 28th ICOLD Congress, the Chengdu Declaration on Dams and Reservoirs for Energy Transition and Adaptation to Climate Change was released. It calls for safer, smarter, and more eco-friendly dams towards a significant increase in global water storage capacity and hydropower generation to meet the climate change induced rising demands for water supply, addressing the heightened risks of extreme flood and drought events and balancing the intermittent renewable energy sources.

As the development of technologies, such as artificial intelligence, the Internet of Things, and big data, has been driving a digital and intelligent transformation in dam engineering—a trend that has gained wide recognition within the dam society—ICOLD and CHINCOLD co-organize the Workshop on Smart Dams to promote the Declaration.

The workshop aims to foster global exchange and collaboration on smart dam technologies, accelerate the intelligent transformation of dam engineering, and enhance the safety and sustainability of dams throughout their full lifecycle and will focus on the latest advances and best practices in smart dam design, construction, retrofitting, operation, and maintenance. It will serve as a platform for dam engineers and professionals to engage in collaborative discussions and promote both theoretical innovation and practical applications of smart dam technologies.

Intended attendance
Approximately 80 attendees, including invited speakers and delegates from various countries.

Host
International Commission on Large Dams (ICOLD)
Chinese National Committee on Large Dams (CHINCOLD)

Organizers:
China Institute of Water Resources and Hydropower Research (IWHR)
Power Construction Corporation of China (PowerChina)

Schnabel Engineering Achieves CMMC Level 2 Certification

Schnabel Engineering Achieves CMMC Level 2 Certification

(GLEN ALLEN, VA)—Schnabel Engineering has officially earned Cybersecurity Maturity Model Certification (CMMC) Level 2 certification—a Department of Defense (DoD) program that ensures defense contractors meet existing information security requirements to help protect sensitive unclassified information.

Achieving CMMC Level 2 is a significant milestone for any contractor working with the DoD because it verifies that an organization can reliably protect sensitive defense information from modern cyber threats. For Schnabel, this certification expands its ability to pursue and deliver projects that involve Controlled Unclassified Information (CUI) and federal contract data.

“Cybersecurity is a governance priority for our organization,” said Patrick Vanderpool, Assistant
General Counsel and Vice President at Schnabel Engineering. “Completing our CMMC audit
reflects our commitment to protecting federal information, strengthening internal controls, and
maintaining trust with our clients and partners.”

“Achieving CMMC Level 2 certification is a critical milestone for Schnabel Engineering,” added
Scott Narron, Chief Information Officer at Schnabel Engineering. “This reinforces our
commitment to protecting client data and meeting the highest standards of cybersecurity
expected by our federal and defense-sector clients. In addition, this certification reflects
executive leadership’s sustained investment in security, compliance, and internal controls.”

Schnabel is now among the first 1,000 companies—out of roughly 100,000 federal contractors expected to need certification—to achieve this three-year certification, which became a requirement by the DoD in November 2025. Schnabel received the official CMMC Level 2 certification following a rigorous assessment by third-party vendor C3PAO, Ignyte Platform Inc.

About Schnabel Engineering
Schnabel Engineering provides consulting expertise and design for dam, geotechnical, and tunneling engineering projects worldwide. With 31 offices across the United States, Schnabel’s industry experts have led and managed projects for public and private organizations in remote locations, challenging environments, and for communities large and small across the U.S. and in more than 130 countries.

USSD Winter Bulletin Available

Bringing timely insights and technical learnings from across the dam safety community, this issue covers:

🔹 Lessons learned from applying the Material Point Method to dam failure analysis
🔹 An update on the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers’ low-head dam inventory
🔹 A new white paper on replacing 5,000-lb trunnion pins on a giant radial spillway gate

From advanced modeling techniques to practical, boots-on-the-ground engineering solutions, this Bulletin delivers knowledge you can put to work.

📖 Explore the Winter Bulletin now and stay informed on the latest developments shaping dam engineering and safety: https://www.ussdams.org/resource-center/bulletin/

USSD Career Center

• Subscribe to receive job posting notifications in your inbox! Sign up on the USSD Career Center.
• Contact us for member pricing on job posts!

Update Your Membership

Ensure your membership is current ahead of the Annual Conference!

Individuals can verify their status, and organizations are encouraged to review and update member rosters so their attendees can engage and access member benefits. You can reply directly to this email to reach membership assistance. 

HYDRO 2026

Bologna, Italy ~ 14-16 October 2026
Adapting to change ~ Embracing opportunities

Dear Colleagues and Friends

Abstracts from all around the world are arriving at an impressive rate for HYDRO 2026, which will take place in the elegant and serene city of Bologna, northern Italy, in October this year. The conference and exhibition, with the theme ‘Adapting to change—Embracing opportunities,’ will be a forum for hydropower experts from all parts of the world to discuss the current potential, priorities, challenges, and achievements in advancing conventional and pumped-storage hydro, both playing a vital role in the global energy transition. The latest information about the event can be found on our website here.

If you or a colleague would like your voice to be heard by participants from more than 70 nations by sharing your expertise and experience in a presentation in one of the sessions, then the Call for Papers brochure can be found here. The deadline for submitting abstracts is approaching rapidly: 16 March. Please make sure to follow the guidelines on the final page of the brochure when submitting an abstract—thank you.

Some of the key technical topics on the agenda are safety of hydraulic infrastructure; the increasing importance of pumped storage to support all forms of renewable energy development and ensure stable grid operation; innovations in machinery design; wide-ranging applications of artificial intelligence; and, maintenance and upgrading of hydro plants and civil works.

Other important session topics will include project finance; legal and contractual issues; climate change resilience; natural hazard management; environmental aspects, including sedimentation management and fish protection; social aspects; and capacity building.

Social networking events and tours arranged for delegates and accompanying persons will provide opportunities for participants to experience some examples of Bologna’s cultural heritage: stunning palaces, arcades, and historical landmarks.

The HYDRO 2026 Exhibition is nearly fully booked, but there are still some stands available. Those wishing to book a stand can do so via the exhibition plan on our website here or should get in touch as soon as possible.

For any enquiries about the HYDRO 2026 conference programme and abstracts, please contact Summer Logarta at: Hydro2026@hydropower-dams.com
For enquiries about the HYDRO 2026 Exhibition or to book a stand, please contact Seumas Grey or Huw Ellis via: Sales@hydropower-dams.com

We hope to welcome you in Bologna in October.

With kind regards from
the Aqua-Media conference team

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