Texas Watershed Planning Short Course

Comprehensive watershed protection plans that outline ways to preserve or restore watersheds are becoming a widely-accepted approach to protecting Texas surface waters. Using a watershed approach to restore impaired water bodies addresses the problems in a holistic manner, and stakeholders in the watershed are actively involved in developing the management strategies and plans.

Proper training of watershed coordinators and water professionals is needed to ensure that watershed protection efforts are adequately planned, coordinated and implemented and the results properly assessed and reported.

To provide the needed training and promote sustainable proactive approaches to managing water quality throughout the state, the Texas Watershed Planning Short Course project will develop and offer three week-long courses. The Short Course will provide participants with guidance on stakeholder coordination, education, and outreach; meeting the Environmental Protection Agency's nine key elements of a watershed protection plan; data collection and analysis; and the tools available for plan development. This information will be presented through lectures and case studies.

In addition to the Watershed Planning Short Courses, one week-long course in Applied Fluvial Geomorphology will also be offered by Dr. Dave Rosgen. This course will familiarize students with the fundamentals of river behavior and the general principles of: fluvial geomorphology, sedimentation, hydraulics, restoration, fish habitat improvement, riparian grazing management, and streambank erosion. A combination of both lecture and field application are provided.

• Environmental Protection Agency
• Texas Commission on Environmental Quality