See BelowThe Portland Water Bureau (PWB) is seeking an Environmental Specialist with a Wildlife Biologist Specialty to support an on-going regulatory compliance program and to provide key input to help PWB meet other permitting requirements concerning wildlife. The Wildlife Biologist position will function as a key member of an interdisciplinary team tasked with maintaining compliance with the treatment requirements of the Long Term 2 Enhanced Surface Water Treatment (LT2) Rule. PWB recently became the first public water system in the nation to achieve a variance to the prescribed treatment requirements of this federal rule. Maintenance of the variance requires ongoing field inspections, water quality, and wildlife monitoring in the Bull Run watershed and reporting as mandated by the Oregon Health Authority (OHA) to confirm a low occurrence of the protozoan parasite Cryptosporidium. Because wildlife is the only potentially significant source of Cryptosporidium in the watershed, PWB is seeking to enhance its understanding of wildlife’s relation to the potential introduction of Cryptosporidium. PWB is additionally seeking zoological and regulatory expertise to assist in the analysis and planning for PWB projects or programs affecting wildlife habitat.
The position will reside in the Environmental Compliance Section of the Resource Protection and Planning Group; however, close coordination with the Water Quality Compliance Section of the Operations Group will be necessary to successfully implement the variance program.
For its role in supporting the Bull Run Treatment Variance, the position will be responsible for overseeing PWB’s on-going wildlife investigation and scat monitoring programs and ensuring the programs’ quality, effectiveness, technical adequacy, and compliance with the regulatory requirements of the variance. The Wildlife Biologist will serve as the technical lead in developing, implementing, and evaluating wildlife research programs that support the maintenance of the variance. This research may include, but not be limited to, assessments of wildlife populations, habitat use, temporal and spatial distributions, and other biological evaluations that provide data that can be applied to understand and manage the risk of Cryptosporidium introduction from wildlife and domestic animals in proximity to the watershed. The Wildlife Biologist will also provide wildlife technical support to other research programs developed in collaboration with the Water Quality Compliance Section and will be responsible for managing wildlife and scat data and sharing findings with multiple audiences through written narratives, reports, summaries and technical memos. For its role in supporting Environmental Compliance, the Wildlife Biologist will review and comment on PWB project descriptions and plans affecting wildlife habitat subject to local, state and federal wildlife protection statutes including the federal Endangered Species Act, Migratory Bird Treaty Act and Golden Eagle Protection Act.
The Wildlife Biologist is expected to successfully communicate and interact on a regular basis with state, federal and City of Portland technical staff, managers and executive managers. Occasionally communication may be necessary with the media and general public.