Course Description
Groundwater and watershed monitoring, assessment and protection is an integral part of many water-related programs at the local, state, and federal level designed for sustainable development and protection of water resources in California. Today, through the implementation of programs such as groundwater management plans, source water assessments, and conjunctive use agreements, members of watershed groups, professionals, executives, and employees of diverse background and in a wide variety of private, non-profit, and government responsibilities at the local, state, and federal level are directly or indirectly involved in the management and assessment of groundwater and surface water. Yet, many find themselves lacking the multidisciplinary background, expertise, or means to meet the technical and regulatory challenges related to water and drinking water resources management. The amount of technical information available is often overwhelming.
This shortcourse will review the fundamental principles of groundwater and watershed hydrology, water quality, and water contamination. It will provide an overview of the most common tools for measuring, monitoring, and assessing groundwater and surface water resources. And it will review current local, state, and federal programs dealing with groundwater and watersheds. The course is geared towards a broad audience that is involved in the management, assessment, and protection of water resources, either professionally, as an educator, as a stakeholder, or otherwise . Course attendees who may have some experience with, but no formal training in hydrology or related engineering or science fields, will benefit from the basic and intuitive, yet comprehensive approach of this course.
Experienced instructors with a broad in-depth knowledge of California groundwater and watershed hydrology will teach the course. Topics include:
Surface Water Hydrology and Watersheds
Groundwater Hydrology
Water Rights and Water Law
Surface Water Quality
Groundwater Quality, Sampling, and Monitoring
Surface Water Contaminants
Groundwater Contamination
Defining Watersheds and Groundwater Recharge Areas
Vulnerability Assessments
Understanding Potentially Contaminating Activities
Protecting Water Resources
Approved MCLE Credits - 13.25 hours
Continuing Education Credits
Available for CDPH Drinking Water Treatment and Distribution Operators (14 contact hours).
Who Should Attend
This shortcourse is directed toward a broad audience. Technical staff, consultants, and technical and management personnel in private and public water supply companies, irrigation districts, water districts, local and state agencies, and in resource conservation districts will find the course professionally enriching. The course also serves as an excellent introduction to hydrogeology, water resources assessment and monitoring for watershed advisors, educators, lawyers, watershed group participants, and members of environmental and other stakeholder groups and citizens alliances.
Course Instructors
Randy A. Dahlgren, Ph.D., is a professor of Soil Science and Biogeochemistry in the Department of Land, Air and Water Resources at the University of California, Davis. His research program in biogeochemistry examines the interaction of hydrological, geochemical, and biological processes in regulating surface and ground water chemistry. He is currently involved in water quality research spanning the scale from hillslopes and vernal pools to small headwater catchments (<10 ha) to the combined Sacramento-San Joaquin watersheds. Randy received his Ph.D. and M.S. in forest soils from the University of Washington and his B.S. in soil science from North Dakota State University. He was a post-doctoral research associate in the Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering at Syracuse University before coming to UCD in 1989. He has served as Chair of the Hydrologic Science Graduate Group, vice-chair in the Department of Land, Air and Water Resources, and is currently director of the TMDL Research and Technical Support Program for the Sacramento and San Joaquin Rivers.
Thomas Harter, Ph.D., is the interim Robert M. Hagan Endowed Chair in Water Management and Policy at UC Davis. He received a B.S. in hydrology from the Universities of Freiburg, Germany and a M.S. in hydrology from the University of Stuttgart, Germany. He received his Ph.D. in hydrology (with emphasis on subsurface hydrology) at the University of Arizona, where he became the 1991 Harshbarger fellow for outstanding research in subsurface flow and transport modeling. In 1995, Dr. Harter joined the faculty at the University of California, Davis, where he is in charge of the Groundwater Hydrology Cooperative Extension program. His research focuses on characterizing and assessing nonpoint-source pollution of groundwater, on the statistical and hydrodynamic evaluation of groundwater resources where data are limited, on groundwater modeling, and on a better understanding of contaminant transport processes at a wide range of spatial and temporal scales from the laboratory scale to the field, farm, and regional scale.
Kenneth W. Tate, Ph.D., is the Rangeland Watershed Extension Professor in the Department of Plant Sciences at the University of California, Davis. He received his B.S. and M.S. in range ecology and management from Oklahoma State University. As a USDA National Needs Fellow, he earned his doctoral in water resources from OSU in 1995. He has developed and implemented a suite of research projects to address a wide range of contemporary watershed issues across Californias 40 million acres of rangeland. His overall focus includes the: 1) quantification of land management impacts on water resources, 2) evaluation of management measures to restore water resources, and 3) development of assessment and monitoring tools to determine management impacts on water resources. His research targets multiple water resource problems (e.g., microbial pollution of surface drinking water, degradation of critical habitat for endangered terrestrial and aquatic species) at multiple scales (e.g., ranch management unit, watershed, ecosystem) using scientific approaches to examine the interactions between land management and water resource degradation, restoration, and protection.
Registration and Additional Information
Online registration is available at http://www.grac.org/hydrologyreg. For more information, contact Mary Megarry at GRA, mmegarry@nossaman.com or (916) 446-3626. |
