Riyadh, Dhu-AlHijjah 18, 1435, October 12, 2014, SPA -- Prince Khalid bin Sultan bin Abdulaziz, Chairman of Prince Sultan International Prize for Water, announced the names of winners of the prize who will be handed over their awards at a reception to be held in the first of December this year. In a press conference in Riyadh today attended by a number of ministers and members of the Board of the prize, Prince Khalid spoke about the importance and objectives of the prize, while its Secretary General Dr. Abdulmalik bin Abdulrahman Al Al-Shikeh announced the prize six session's laureates as follows: In the field of innovation, the prize worth SR2 million, was awarded to two scientific teams: Dr. Erick F. Wood and Dr. Joston Sheffield from the University of Presniston of the United States of America for their anti-drought control system, and another team led by Dr. Christine Larsen of the University of Colorado, USA, for her discovery of a new technology to reduce the cost of measuring soil humidity, ice depth and the water plant content to an unprecedented level. The other four specialist prizes, each worth SR500,000, went to Dr. Larry Mez of the University of Arizona, USA, for his long-serving scientific production in the field of Hydrology, surface water and water resources engineering, as he used his science in solving two major contemporary water problems, the first is in the field of ideal discharge of dams water during floods and the other is in developing water falls in urban regions. The underground water prize will be given away to Dr. Hesson Krera Ramz of the Environmental Evaluation Institute of Barcelona, Spain for his great contribution in developing samples of mathematical hydrology, and creating a sample for transferring water in underground water systems. The alternative water resources prize was given to Dr. Polycaryos Flaris from the National Center for Scientific Research of Athens, Greece. Dr. William G. Baya from the University of California, Los Angeles, USA, has won the prize of managing and protecting water resources for his world-wide successful applications in this field. As many as 186 candidates from 47 countries, universities and renowned research and scientific institutions have applied for this year's prize, organizers said. The prize, which was initiated by late Prince Sultan bin Abdulaziz in 2002, is a two-year competition, open for the whole world. --SPA 22:44 LOCAL TIME 19:44 GMT www.spa.gov.sa/w