Welcome to October! Here’s what’s new from the Critical Issues Program:

•  The 2016 Critical Issues Forum is rapidly approaching. The roster of speakers is complete, the agenda is available online, and registration is now open. The topic of the forum is “Addressing Changes in Regional Groundwater Resources: Lessons from the High Plains Aquifer”. If you are interested in issues of water supply, usage, policy, and management, we invite you to join us in Golden, Colorado on October 27-28.

•  We hosted our latest webinar, “Desalination as a Source of Fresh Water” on September 20th. If you missed it (or want a refresher) you can find a video recording and further resources here.

•  We’ve expanded our Maps & Visualizations page, adding 5 new maps covering water resources in Georgia and Oklahoma, environmental monitoring and management in Utah, global climate information, and geoscience features in Puerto Rico.

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•  We are updating a number of our Frequent Questions pages to make them more useful and informative. We have newly updated answers on water use in the United States, El Niño and La Niña, the role of coal in U.S. energy production, and the differences in damage caused by tornadoes and hurricanes.

•  Our Research Database continues to grow. There are now 4,000 freely available reports, maps, and other documents from AGI member societies and state and federal agencies, covering geoscience issues across the country and further afield.

•  We are now posting regularly here on the Geotimes blog. In addition to our Map of the Day posts, we will be sharing information about recent or upcoming events in our five main topic areas: water, natural hazards, energy, climate, and mineral resources, as well as updates on new products and information sources from our program, federal and state agencies, and AGI member societies.

•  Last but not least, we welcome our fall intern, Joe Lilek, who joined us on September 6th and will be with us through December. Joe is helping to co-ordinate the 2016 Critical Issues Forum, and will be posting to the Geotimes blog as geointern3.