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IECA Announces 2021 Conference Presenter of the Year

Parul Dubey on April 23, 2021 - in Announcement, Events, News, People

Denver, Colo – The International Erosion Control Association (IECA) is proud to announce the 2021 Presenter of the Year Andrew Macleod, CPESC, CPSS for his session Down Under Erosion and Sediment Control presented at the 2021 IECA Virtual Annual Conference.

His session looked at why Australia encounters extensive erosion and sediment control problems. “While Australia is the oldest, most geologically stable continent on the earth, it also has the oldest, most nutrient-depleted soils with extensive revegetation challenges,” explained Macleod. Soil dispersion affects more than 30 percent of soils in populated areas, acid sulfate soils are common in coastal areas and dryland salinity is also a major problem. These soil conditions render most sediment retention devices ineffective apart from sediment basins. However, with Australia’s rainfall pattern of either little to no rainfall or large-scale rainfall events, creating a more effective basin is paramount. IECA’s Australasian chapter therefore focused on creating “high-efficiency sediment basins” as the industry standard. Macleod explained “IECA’s role in pushing the standards and raising the bar.”

Macleod explaining the importance of IECA in Australia and New Zealand due to the regulatory structure within the region. The government does the regulating and allows the industry to define how to meet the standards. To support these standards, the Australasian Chapter published a comprehensive best practice guide to provide standards, fact sheets, drawings and field guides for professionals in 2008. The document is well regarded with the government and regulators and is generally referred to for specifics and conditions on a wide range of construction projects. In fact, the Queensland Government provided financial support to the chapter in 2018 to update the guide to recognize high efficiency sediment basin standards.

“This session shows the growing importance of IECA on a global scale,” stated IECA CEO, Samantha A. Roe, IOM, “We announced reunification with the Australasian Chapter, formerly Region Two. The timing of his acknowledgment by peers as the most engaging session helps all industry professionals understand how soils and water resources are different around the globe, we are all in this together to protect these resources. And, to Andrew’s point we’re all part of the IECA community and therefore part of the solution.”

About IECA

The International Erosion Control Association (IECA) is the world’s oldest and largest non-profit, member organization that provides education, resource information and business opportunities for professionals who specialize in natural resource protection. For more information about IECA, please visit ieca.org.

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