Water quality monitoring plan development focus of July 28-29 workshop in Austin

By: Paul Schattenberg, 210-859-5752, paschattenberg@ag.tamu.edu

Contact: Nikki Dictson, 979-458-5915, n-dictson@tamu.edu

AUSTIN — The Texas Water Resources Institute is hosting a Fundamentals of Developing a Water Quality Monitoring Plan workshop for watershed coordinators and other water professionals July 28-29 in Austin.

The workshop will be from 9 a.m.-5 p.m. July 28 and from 8:30 a.m.-3:30 p.m. July 29 in Building A, Room 173 at the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality, 12100 Park 35 Circle.

Cost is $150 and includes course materials, catered lunches and a certificate of completion.

Nikki Dictson, Texas A&M AgriLife Extension Service program specialist for the TWRI in College Station, said the workshop will provide attendees with tools to develop and implement a water quality monitoring program.

She said the course will cover water quality monitoring for watershed characterization and for evaluating water quality improvements and management practices from implementation activities.

“Through presentations and case studies, participants will gain an understanding of what monitoring is needed for watershed protection planning,” Dictson said. “This includes inventorying existing resources, selecting a monitoring design, stormwater sampling and other considerations for building a successful monitoring plan.”

She added participants will get some hands-on experience with creating a monitoring plan and through monitoring demonstrations in the field.

Workshop instructors include Dr. Larry Hauck, lead scientist, and Anne McFarland, interim executive director, Texas Institute of Applied Environmental Research at Tarleton State University; Dr. Kevin Wagner, deputy director of TWRI; and Dr. Daren Harmel, research leader of the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Agricultural Research Service Grassland, Soil and Water Research Laboratory.

One Texas Water Resources Institute continuing education unit will be provided upon course completion.

Participants may register at http://watershedplanning.tamu.edu/training/. More information is available at the website or by contacting Dictson at 979-458-5915 or n-dictson@tamu.edu.

The Texas Water Resources Institute is part of Texas A&M AgriLife Research, AgriLife Extension and the College of Agriculture and Life Sciences at Texas A&M University.

The training course is supported by funding from the Texas State Soil and Water Conservation Board through a U.S. Environmental Protection Agency nonpoint source grant.

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