Announcing two summer courses on river restoration: learn the Geomorphic and Ecological Fundamentals at Sagehen Field Station, CA or focus on Sediment Transport at Utah State. See below for details on early bird registration.
Geomorphic and Ecological Fundamentals for River and Stream Restoration
15-19 August 2016, Truckee, California 
http://laep.ced.berkeley.edu/courses/riverrestoration

 

This five-day introductory course emphasizes understanding geomorphic and ecological process as a sound basis for planning and designing river restoration, covering general principles and case studies from a wide range of environments. This course emphasizes integration of hydrology, hydraulics, sediment transport, geomorphology, aquatic ecology, fisheries, and riparian ecology, and includes field measurements, mapping, and interpretation. The course includes field trips to the Truckee River and streams in the Lake Tahoe Basin, and workshops on stream restoration problems faced by participants and ideas on analytical approaches and resources. Course materials include Tools in Fluvial Geomorphology (John Wiley & Sons, 2nd edition 2016), lecture notes, spreadsheets for calculating sediment transport and channel dimensions, and access to pdfs of relevant papers and reports.

 

Now in its 22nd successful year, the course is held at Sagehen Creek Field Station, combining a beautiful natural setting with excellent research and teaching facilities. The teaching facilities include an outdoor classroom, stream table to demonstrate channel adjustments, on-site laboratory, and most importantly, Sagehen Creek itself, with its rich history of research in fluvial geomorphology and ecology.

 

Instructors:

Peter Wilcock, Professor and Chair of Watershed Sciences, Utah State University Sediment transport, integration of fluvial geomorphic analyses in river restoration.

Matt Kondolf, Professor of Environmental Planning and Geography at UC Berkeley

Planning and evaluating river restoration, sediment management in regulated rivers.

Mike Limm, Assistant Professor of Biological Sciences, Holy Names University

Hydrologic and hydraulic controls on food webs, carbon and nutrient pathways, and influence of food web composition on ecosystem processes.

Mitch Swanson, fluvial geomorphologist with CH2MHill

Analyses of stream processes, successful stream restoration projects Lake Tahoe basin

Scott McBain, fluvial geomorphologist/civil engineer, & principal of McBain Associates

Restoration in large and small rivers in North America, notably the Trinity and Tuolumne, emphasizing restoration of geomorphic and ecological processes.

Mark Tompkins, civil engineer and geomorphologist with Flowwest.

Floodplain reconnection, design of restoration projects in California, Texas, & Virginia.

Dave Shaw, Balance Hydrologics, stream gauging/sediment sampling/surveying

Ken Adams, geologist, Desert Research Institute, geologic context of Tahoe region

Andy Rost, Sierra Nevada College, aquatic ecology

Smokey Pittman, Graham Matthews & Associates, Truckee River canyon restoration

Jim Litchfield, designer of Wingfield Park (Reno), other whitewater parks

 

Registration and Lodging

Participants can stay on-site ($30/night) or commute from hotels in Truckee (15 minutes).  With on-site lodging (5 nights arriving Sunday night), the total cost for registration, course materials, text, continuing education credit from University of California, and including lodging and all meals for five days is an excellent value at only $2,300 inclusive ($2,250 if paid by check) for the week (for early-bird registration, confirmed by 31 May). http://laep.ced.berkeley.edu/courses/riverrestoration

 

 

Sediment Transport in Stream Assessment and Design
August 1-5, 2016 in Logan, UT

qcnr.usu.edu/courses/sediment_transport

 

This course is intended for those who wish to understand and apply the principles of sediment transport to alluvial channel assessment and design. Principles of open channel flow and sediment transport are combined with watershed-scale, hydrologic and sediment source analysis to place channel assessment and design in the appropriate context. Tools for estimating sediment supply at the watershed to reach level are applied in class exercises. Threshold and alluvial channel design methods are presented along with guidelines for assessing and incorporating uncertainty. The course balances advance reading, lecture, field work, and hands-on exercises for estimating sediment supply, calculating sediment transport rates, and forecasting channel response to water and sediment supply. This course is intended for participants who are familiar with basic principles of river geomorphology.

 

Note: The course covers a large amount of material. There are readings required in advance of the class, the week itself is intense, and there is additional reading and material to support your application of the principles after the course. Your experience in the course will be directly related to your willingness to dig in before, during, and after the course!

 

Topics include:

  • Assessment of sediment sources and sinks using historic data, remote sensing, and field observations
  • Threshold and alluvial channel models with guidelines for assessment and design incorporating uncertainty
  • Sediment transport calculations: challenges and methods, sediment rating curves, cumulative transport
  • Field measurement of sediment transport and guidance for different sampling approaches
  • Use of 1-d flow and transport models: using HEC-RAS for evaluation of flow competence and sediment transport capacity
    Class project incorporating gravel augmentation into channel design for dynamic fish habitat

Principal Instructors:
Peter Wilcock (course director) – Professor and Head, Watershed Sciences, Utah State University
Tyler Allred –  Principal, Allred Restoration
Patrick Belmont – Assoc. Professor, Watershed Sciences, Utah State University
Cost: $1850 ($1600 Early Bird Special if registered before May 31, 2016)
Cost includes lunch each day. Lodging (not included) available at the on-campus University Inn.
For questions about the course, contact Peter Wilcock (wilcock@usu.edu) or Patrick Belmont (patrick.belmont@usu.edu). For logistics and registration questions, contact Enid Kelley (Enid.Kelley@usu.edu).