ESSP 660
Advanced Watershed Science & Policy

CWSP

SEP

ESSP

Instructors

Schedule

Links

Marc Los Huertos
Fred Watson
Doug Smith

Description

Apply advanced topics in watershed science to address real world problems. Over the course of the semster, we will cover 3 discrete topics, each managed by one of the three instructors. This has been designed to cover a broad bases of skills needed on watershed science with a hands on approach from project development, implementation, and reporting. Emphasizes effective linkage between science policy with respect to achieving levels of scientific quality, clarity, and relevance appropriate to real-world situations.

Syllabus

Project A: Fate and Transport of Urea in Central Coast Waters

Instructor: Marc Los Huertos

Dates August 28-September 20

Purpose: Urea is a common fertilizer used on row crops and has been implicated by marine biologists as the potential cause of harmful algal blooms in the Monterey Bay. Currently, there are no standards to regulate urea concentrations in surface waters, nor is it clear that urea can even be transported from soil into surface waters without being quickly transformed to ammonium and nitrate.

Objective: Characterize the urea concentrations and loads upstream and downstream of row crops in the central coast and develop an understanding of its source and fate from watersheds to marine waters.

Goals: 1) Develop and implement a monitoring plan to generate high quality data; 2) Interpret and provide results in a technical report; 3) Develop follow-up strategies based upon potential policy and management implications of research.

Project B: Carmel Lagoon Ecology and Water Quality

Instructor: Fred Watson. Guest: Kevan Urquhart

Dates: October 23-November 13

Purpose: The Carmel River Lagoon provides critical habitat for the federally threatened steelhead trout (Oncorhynchus mykiss). The lagoon provides season-specific ecological functions supporting the steelhead population.  Lagoon water quality must be within a narrow range to support healthy steelhead.  This module is part of an effort to map changes in lagoon habitat quality through time.

Goal: Students will perform a variety of water quality profiles and physical surveys to map the locations where water characteristics would support steelhead trapped in the lagoon. Students will make estimates of steelhead numbers using both sonar and seining strategies.

Project C: Fire Impacts on Big Sur Lagoon

Instructor: Doug Smith

Client: Jeff Frey, CA State Parks

Dates: November 15-December 13

Purpose: Steelhead and other aquatic taxa rely upon the Big Sur River Lagoon. Over 200,000 acres of the Santa Lucia Range burned in Summer 2008, including most of the Big Sur River watershed. Federal and State reports project catastrophic slope failure and debris flow events, given the rainfall of a typical winter. The anticipated slope failures will deliver very high sediment yields and large woody debris yields to the lagoon and beach. As time goes on the lagoon will return to its pre-fire condition. This project will produce baseline data as the first step of a long-term monitoring strategy for the post-fire lagoon environment.

Objective: Document immediate and long-term post-fire changes in physical habitat of the mouth of the Carmel River and lagoon. Provide data and reports to State Parks to be used in environmental management. The chief data products will be a geomorphic map with sediment facies and debris distributions and a detailed digital terrane model showing the toporaphy and bathymetry of the beach and lagoon environment.