An article described a new facility being built at The University of Alabama to expand the university’s water research.

Main point: “The new Hydrologic Instrumentation Facility, a partnership between the University of Alabama and the U.S. Geological Survey, will be built on the north side of campus near the Black Warrior River.”

More about it:

  • The partnership “will provide countless teaching, research and service opportunities for our students and faculty.”
  • “The $38.5 million facility will include a hydraulics lab, water quality labs, field testing facilities, environmental chambers, sensor innovation space, a warehouse, training labs, a network operations center and administrative offices.”

Why it matters:

  • Notice the change in location, a boon for Alabama: “The Tuscaloosa facility will replace the aging U.S. Geological Survey facilities at the National Aeronautics and Space Administration Stennis Space Center in Bay St. Louis, Mississippi.”
  • It shows the importance of having friends in Congress: “The Tuscaloosa facility will replace the aging U.S. Geological Survey facilities at the National Aeronautics and Space Administration Stennis Space Center in Bay St. Louis, Mississippi.”