ENVS 560
Watershed
Systems

Overview

Lecture: 3 hours (3 credits)--Thursday 3:00-4:50 & Tuesday 1:00-1:50
Lab: 3 hours (1 credit)----------Tuesday 2:00-4:50

Spring Semester
Classes start January 22

Introduction
Water-centric terrestrial environmental issues are at the heart of sustainable land use and ecosystem health.  Water quality, water quantity, pollutant loading, coastal pollution, floodplain management, wetland function, urban and agricultural runoff, environmental restoration, impact mitigation, and natural ecosystem function are topics of regional and global concern.  In Watershed Systems (ESSP 560) the student is exposed to broad spectrum of watershed issues and the modern tools for solution seeking. 

In lectures, the student will form a clear understanding of an array of watershed issues impacting California and the world beyond.  The student will place these issues in the modern regulatory framework and attendant over-arching environmental policies.  Through a series of short, mentored laboratory exercises, the student will use industry-standard computer modeling programs to develop solutions or scenarios that can be used at all levels in the environmental decision-making process.  The software will include HEC-HMS, HEC-RAS, ArcGIS, and MS Excel.

M.S. Coastal and Watershed Science & Policy
Major Learning Outcome 5
Watershed Systems partially fulfills the requirements for “Applied Sciences” major learning outcome (MLO 5) in the Coastal and Watershed Science and Policy M.S graduate program.  MLO 5 states that students will apply advanced principles, theories, and practices of a life science or earth science field to environmental issues and policies.  This outcome is met by passing the ESSP 560 and ESSP 660 series.  Advanced methods and technologies in watershed research are introduced in ESSP 560 (Watershed Systems) using a series of short teaching modules.  In each module, advanced analysis tools that are used to address watershed issues are introduced and practiced.  In ESSP 660 (Advanced Watershed Science & Policy) students combine the skills that were learned in both ESSP 560 Watershed Systems and ESSP 550 Research Methods to effectively address current watershed issues brought to the class by invited environmental professionals.

Textbooks:
There are no required textbooks for this course. We will make reading assignments during the semester. We recognize the following as excellent references on the topics we cover.

1) Gordon et al.--Stream Hydrology an intro for ecologists
2) Dunne & Leopold—Water in Environmental Planning
3) HEC-RAS, HEC-HMS, WEPP software manuals
4) Maidment and Djokic, 2000, Hydrologic and Hydraulic Modeling Support. ESRI Press.  ISBN: 1879102803
5 ) Elder, Killian, and Koberstein, 200x, The Clean Water Act: Owner's Manual, 2nd ed.  River Network
6) Chapra – Surface Water-Quality Modeling

Prerequisites:
Calculus (one year)
Biology/Ecology (one year)
Physical Earth Science (one course)
GIS (one course)

Recommended preparation:
Hydrology

or instructor consent