Watershed Management Carroll University – Fall 2013
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ENV455 – Watershed Management Carroll University – Fall 2013 Professor: Dr. Jason G. Freund Lecture: Tuesday and Thursday 8:00 to 9:50, Maxon 103 Office: Rankin 304C Office Hours: Monday 2:00 to 3:30, Thursday 1:00 to Phone: (262) 524-7146 3:00, Friday 10:40 to 12:00; other hours by dropping in or E-mail: [email protected] make an appointment to be sure I will be in my office. I. Course Description From the Carroll University catalog: This course examines the interaction of abiotic, biotic, and social components in the management of a drainage basin's terrestrial and aquatic resources. Through the examination of global watershed management literature and related case studies, students will actively engage in the development of a watershed management plan. Class projects will focus on selected Wisconsin, upper Midwest, and Great Lakes watersheds. (Fa) Prerequisites: ENV 201 (not yet enforced), plus junior or senior standing. ENV 267 recommended. Watershed Management ENV 455 is a required course for Environmental Science majors and an important elective for majors in Biology and Environmental Science minors. This course will expose students to a wide range of issues associated with the management of natural resources. We will use the watershed as the management unit – as many state and federal agencies have moved their emphasis to the watershed scale – though other geographic scales could easily be substituted. This course aims to provide experiences related to the management of both terrestrial and aquatic resources and provide students with an appreciation of the interaction among aquatic and terrestrial environments. Maybe most importantly, students will understand the decision-making process and how societal norms and policies influence the management of natural resources. We will cover 6 major topics throughout the duration of the course that will be highly integrated throughout the course of the semester. 1. Basic Watershed and Stream Hydrology: A basic understanding of hydrology at the watershed-scale is important to understanding many of the concepts in the course – flooding, sediments delivery and transport, and habitats of aquatic organisms. We’ll cover measuring discharge, several equations that model stream flow, and watershed patterns and processes. 2. Introduction to Management and Spatial Scale: Understand how management integrates biotic and abiotic components of the environment and how decisions are made within social contexts. An understanding of spatial scale and extent will prepare students to understand the changing relationships among biotic and abiotic factors and their importance to management decisions. Students will understand why watersheds are the geographic unit of choice for many resource agencies. 3. Human Dimensions: Understanding the social context in which resources occur and how these human dimensions must be taken into account for management actions to be 1 successful. Students will be exposed to human dimensions theory and literature through readings targeting user conflicts, surveys and questionnaires, and specialization and segmentation articles and through case studies that integrate human dimensions research in management decisions. 4. Law and Policy Implications: Through readings and discussion, students will understand how local, state, and federal laws influence the management process. In particular, we will explore the Endangered Species (ESA), Clean Air (CAA), and Clean Water (CWA) Acts and how these pieces of legislation have influenced management of natural resources. Of particular emphasis will be how these acts have provided the legislative support for managers to regulate human development, the regulation of pollutants and the development of total maximum daily loads (TMDLs), and natural resources. 5. Human Impacts and Measuring Environmental Quality: One cannot understand the management of natural resources without an understanding of the effects humans have had on our biotic and abiotic environments. We will explore large-scale phenomenon – humans as geomorphic agents – and phenomenon occurring at more localized spatial scales – effects of harvest on resources, impacts of human developments on organisms and aquatic habitats, and impairments to air and water resources. Students will become familiar with techniques that managers and researchers use to evaluate environmental quality and degradation. 6. Management as Integrative Knowledge and Scientific Experimentation: Students will be exposed to historic and current management directions including the history and evolution of resource management, adaptive management, and incorporating the scientific method in natural resource management. The culmination of the course is integrating knowledge of the relationships among biotic, abiotic, and human components of the environment into the planning of management actions and options. For this class to be effective, EVERYONE must stay current with the readings and actively participate in discussions. I won’t lie, you will read A LOT – this is a 400 level class afterall. About 50% of the readings are from peer reviewed journal articles. II. Required and Supplemental Texts and Resources Williams, J. E., C. A. Wood, and M. P. Dombeck, editors. 1997. Watershed restoration: principles and practices. American Fisheries Society, Bethesda, Maryland. (Herein referred to as WWD) Water on the Web (http://www.waterontheweb.org/) There will be considerable additional readings required from ecology, aquatic science, hydrology, human dimensions, and water resource management journals held by Carroll University. You will be required to use the library databases to retrieve these articles. Please keep current with the readings. Much of the class – and your grade – is discussion-based and will require that everyone actively participates. 2 III. Learning Outcomes and Objectives At the conclusion of this course, you should be able to: I will assess this ability by: 1. Understand the relationships between organisms, their Discussion and habitats, and people and their influences on the Discussion Leadership management process. Exam questions Hydrology Assignments Watershed Management Plan 2. Read, research, and evaluate peer reviewed scientific Case Studies literature. Discussion and Discussion Leadership Watershed Management Plan 3. Work as a team to develop a watershed management plan Watershed Management for a regional watershed of interest. Plan Attendance and Participation 4. Understand global watershed issues and how they Case Studies correlate with local and regional issues we will deal with. Discussion and Discussion Leadership Exams 5. Assimilate your scientific knowledge and experience in to Watershed Management the management of natural resources. Plan Exams Hydrology Assignments 6. Proofread and provide constructive criticism Critique of the Other Group’s Management Plan 7. Experience a graduate school-like experience through the Discussion and structure, freedom, and responsibilities of the class Discussion Leadership Group and Individual Components of the Watershed Management Plan Exams Attendance and Participation Hydrology Assignments 3 IV. Learning Opportunities (aka assignments, exams, and presentations) Learning Opportunity Points % of Grade Exams (Take-home midterm, final is ½ in class and ½ take home) 150 27.3% Case Studies 100 18.2% Discussion Leadership 30 5.5% Discussion Participation and Preparation 30 5.5% Watershed Management Plan – Group Effort 75 13.6% Watershed Management Plan – Individual Effort & Critique of the 125 22.7% Other Group’s Plan Hydrology Assignments 40 7.3% Total 550 100% V. Assignment Details A. Exams – There will be two (2) exams, a mid-term (50 points) and a final (100 points). The midterm will be a take-home exam in which you will be able to use your notes, books, and will be required to use the library to research the questions. Questions should be supported by peer reviewed literature and books and a properly formatted literature cited must accompany the exam. The midterm is due via e-mail to me by midnight on October 9th. The final exam will be half take- home (same structure as the midterm) and half in class (written, closed book). B. Hydrology Assignments – There are two (2) assignments, each worth 20 points, which will test your understanding of concepts in hydrology and your ability to use mathematical equations that describe watershed and stream hydrology. An understanding of basic surface hydrology is important to understanding a wide variety of topics in the course. C. Case Studies – There are 3 case studies due. The topics of the case studies are listed below and the due dates are in the tentative course schedule (below). Each case study should be one journal article or book chapter and pertain to the topic category and be a study in a particular watershed (not a general review article). Each case study should be up to 2 pages (typed, double spaced) and include: a full citation, a description of the watershed (geographic description), a brief description of the issue at the center of the article (i.e. flooding, water quality, fisheries management, urbanization, etc.), how the issue was addressed, who were the partners involved in the management/restoration, and lessons learned from the actions. Send me an e-mail with the case study (article and summary) before the class period and I’ll forward all the studies to the rest of the class for their information. 1. Human Dimensions – Survey of watershed landowners and/or users