A dozen experts on lakes and reservoirs from around the world will be at UC Davis today through Friday, March 22-24, for a workshop co-sponsored by the United Nations. Led by Geoffrey Schladow, a UC Davis associate professor of civil and environmental engineering, the group will discuss the development of a three-dimensional computer model to help predict when human activities around a lake may begin to threaten water quality. Activities such as development, logging and agriculture can increase the runoff of mineral and organic nutrients into a lake or reservoir, promoting overgrowth of tiny plants called algae. In a process called eutrophication, excess populations of algae can deplete the oxygen in the water, killing fish and making the water smell and taste bad. "Presently, most of the expertise and facilities for modeling three-dimensional hydrodynamics of lakes and their impact on eutrophication requires resources only available to a few universities in the more developed countries," Schladow said. "UC Davis is uniquely poised to play a lead role in expanding access to these models, because of both its longstanding leadership in water-quality modeling and the campus's established ties to international projects." Schladow said the group hopes to have a working model finished within three years. Future meetings at UC Davis are being planned, and the scientists hope that the project will culminate with an international conference on water-quality modeling in developing countries. The workshop is a joint effort by the United Nations Environment Program and the International Lake Environment Committee Foundation (ILEC). ILEC is a nongovernmental organization involved in the sound management of the world's lakes and reservoirs, with particular emphasis on aid for developing countries.