Course Syllabus
CEES 5623.997/999
Watershed Restoration and Management
Course Syllabus — Fall 2024
Instructor Information
|
Instructor |
|
|
Dr. Robert Nairn |
Course Description
Course Prerequisites
Admission to the Master of Environmental Science: Hydrology and Water Security Program (either the Water Quantity or Water Management track).
Required Course Materials
No textbooks or additional materials are required; all reading assignments will be provided as part of the course via Canvas.
Course Objectives
The activities, content, and assignments in this course will help you be able to do the following:
- Understand the physical processes that shape watersheds over time
- Understand the water quality parameters important to the environmental processes operating within a watershed
- Understand the ecosystem services provided by watersheds
- Understand flood management
- Understand how information is integrated in an overall watershed management plan
Course Grades
Breakdown
|
Graded Activities & Assignments |
Percentage |
|
Participation in discussions (Chats/Live Session) |
20% |
|
Concept quizzes at the end of each weekly module |
40% |
|
Synthesis project |
40% |
|
Total |
100% |
Scale
A: 90-100%
B: 80-89%
C: 70-79%
D: 60-69%
F: < 60%
Course Components
This is a graduate course, which implies a higher degree of reading and reflection than is typical of other courses. Each one-week module will consist of the following three components:
- Directed readings supplemented with recorded materials from the instructor
- Discussion with classmates and the instructor, via online chats and the Live Sessions – the instructor will supply questions to get the conversations started
- A multiple-choice concept quiz
The course will culminate in a synthesis project (e.g., a video documentary or a voice-over PowerPoint show) in which the student must synthesize topics from two or more of the first 10 weekly modules.
Course Policies
Communication Plan
Students can communicate with the instructor and teaching assistant through email or the group discussion sessions in Canvas. You should expect a reply within 24 hours for questions posted M-F. While instructors will try their best to maintain weekend access, travel or other obligations may prevent a timely response.
Late Policy
This is a seminar course, so it does not have the usual “deliverables” of homework assignments. Instead, it is expected that students will regularly participate in weekly class discussions and complete the concept quiz by the last day of the weekly module. The synthesis project will be due the final day of class. There will be no exceptions for late submittals unless the student has made prior arrangements with the class coordinator, Dr. Robert Knox.
University of Oklahoma Academic Policies and Student Support
Catalog
Search the OU Course Catalogue.
Student Handbook
Please familiarize yourself with the OU Student Handbook.
Online Library
Access digital materials and other resources at OU Libraries.
Academic Misconduct
In addition to the course conduct policies outlined by your professor in the Course Syllabus in the online classroom, please review the Graduate Student Handbook.
It is the responsibility of each student to be familiar with the definitions, policies, and procedures concerning academic misconduct. The Student Code is available from the Office of the Vice President for Student Affairs, and is contained in the Student's Guide to Academic Integrity.
This site also defines misconduct, provides examples of prohibited conduct, and explains the sanctions available for those found guilty of misconduct.\
Plagiarism
Plagiarism is the most common form of academic misconduct at OU. There is basically no college-level assignment that can be satisfactorily completed by copying. OU's basic assumption about writing is that all written assignments show the student's own understanding in the student's own words. That means all writing assignments, in class or out, are assumed to be composed entirely of words generated (not simply found) by the student, except where words written by someone else are specifically marked as such with proper citation. Including other people's words in your paper is helpful when you do it honestly and correctly. When you don't, it's plagiarism.
For more information about plagiarism, watch this video and then take this short course offered by University Libraries.
Reasonable Accommodation for Disabilities
The University of Oklahoma is committed to providing reasonable accommodation for all students with disabilities. Students with disabilities who require accommodations in this course should contact their professor as early in the semester as possible.
Students with disabilities must be registered with the Disability Resource Center prior to receiving accommodations in this course.
If you have a disability and you would like to make a request for reasonable accommodation, please see the Graduate Student Handbook or get in touch with the Disability Resource Center.
Adjustments for Pregnancy/Childbirth Related Issues
Should you need modifications or adjustments to your course requirements because of documented pregnancy-related or childbirth-related issues, please contact me as soon as possible to discuss your options. Generally, modifications will be made where medically necessary and similar in scope to accommodations based on temporary disability. Learn more about the rights of pregnant and parenting students by consulting the FAQ sheets provided by the Institutional Equity Office.
Title IX Resources
For any concerns regarding gender-based discrimination, sexual harassment, sexual misconduct, stalking, or intimate partner violence, the University offers a variety of resources, including advocates on-call 24/7, counseling services, mutual no contact orders, scheduling adjustments, and disciplinary sanctions against the perpetrator. Please contact the Sexual Misconduct Office 405-325-2215 (8-5, M-F) or OU Advocates 405-615-0013 (24/7) to learn more or to report an incident.
Religious Holidays
It is the policy of the University to excuse absences of students that result from religious observances and to provide for the rescheduling of examinations and additional required classwork that may fall on religious holidays without penalty. It is the responsibility of the student to make alternate arrangements with the instructor at least one week prior to the actual date of the religious holiday.
Copyright Policy
It is illegal to download, upload, reproduce, or distribute any copyrighted material, in any form and in any fashion, without permission from the copyright holder or his/her authorized agent. The University of Oklahoma expects all members of its community to comply fully with federal copyright laws. If such laws appear to have been violated by any user, the university reserves the right (1) to terminate that user’s access to some or all of the university’s computer systems and information resources and (2) to take additional disciplinary actions as deemed necessary or appropriate. Repeat offenders will be sanctioned and their privileges terminated.
Registration and Withdrawal
If you choose to withdraw from this course, you must complete the appropriate University form and turn the form in before the deadline. If you stop attending the course and doing the coursework without doing the required paperwork, your grade will be calculated with missed homework and examination grades entered as zero. This could result in receiving a grade of F in the course. Deadlines are shown in the Academic Calendar, which is available from the Office of the Registrar.
Student Grievances
In addition to any policies outlined related to submitting an informal or formal grievance by your professor in the Course Syllabus in the online classroom, please review the Graduate Student Handbook for more information about the process of submitting a formal grievance.
Course Schedule
(Subject to change)
Module 1: Introduction and Welcome
Module Description
General introduction to watershed management and restoration with a focus on the US Environmental Protection Agency’s “Handbook for Developing Watershed Plans to Restore and Protect Our Waters” (USEPA 2008). The USEPA has adopted a watershed planning approach to help restore and protect water quality. Watershed-based plans (WBPs) are designed to address water quality problems from both point and nonpoint sources. They may be developed to restore water quality in impaired waters (typically listed under Section 303(d) of the Clean Water Act, which addresses impaired waters and Total Maximum Daily Loads or TMDLs) or to protect water quality in watersheds threatened by pollution. For a given watershed, WBPs establish a baseline of existing conditions, identify specific problems, propose solutions to these problems, identify implementation strategies and costs, and provide a framework for evaluation.
Module 2: Review Week 1 (due to technical difficulties)
Module 3: Watersheds and the Hydrologic Cycle
Module Description
This week will focus on the geographical, geologic, environmental, and hydrologic attributes that define watersheds. Specific components include: 1) The hydrologic cycle and its components; 2) Physical characteristics that define a watershed basin; 3) The climatic, geologic, hydrologic, geomorphic, and ecologic characteristics of a watershed; and 4) Watershed delineation and definition. A variety of reading assignments including selected textbook chapters, journal articles, and other documents will be used to supplement online presentations.
Module 4: Fluvial Geomorphology
Module Description
This week will focus on fluvial geomorphology, the science of water flowing over the landscape. Rivers, creeks, and streams obtain their form, i.e. their size and shape, as a result of hydrological and sediment transport processes occurring within the channel. This introduction to fluvial geomorphology will explore the form of natural channels and the processes that create it. Topics to be covered include: 1) Description of channel form – dimension, pattern, and profile; 2) Stream channel classification; 3) Lane’s Balance; and 4) Stream channel evolution.
Module 5: Stream Restoration
Module Description
This week will focus on natural channel design. Ever increasing global population has resulted in land use changes that have altered the natural hydrological and sediment transport processes occurring within many of the world’s rivers, creeks, and streams. As a result, numerous channels are adjusting their form to accommodate this change, and are thus unstable, leading to increased bed and bank erosion, and increased sedimentation in the channels. Natural channel design uses the principles of fluvial geomorphology, presented previously, to create a channel designed to accommodate the hydrological and sediment regime of the watershed, and thus minimize channel erosion and sedimentation. Topics to be covered include: 1) Determination of design discharge; 2) Determination of channel dimension, pattern, and profile; 3) “Natural” rock/wood structures used in natural channel design; and 4) Implementation considerations.
Module 6: Aquatic and Riparian Ecosystems and Habitat
Module Description
This week will focus on aquatic and riparian ecosystems and the importance of watershed connectivity to stream ecology. Both reference and impaired ecosystems will be discussed, emphasizing relationships between biological community metrics (species richness, abundance and diversity) and watershed health (e.g., land use changes, erosion, water quality impairments). Special emphasis will be placed on habitat assessment and rapid bioassessment protocols. Habitat assessments examine in-stream and riparian ecosystem structure. Bioassessments utilize indicator organisms (periphyton, macroinvertebrates and fish) and are often used to evaluate overall stream health and assist in determining stream restoration success. These assessments are designed to be relatively simple and inexpensive methods of evaluating stream health and are often completed in a single field day. However, these protocols provide critical data that help to inform long-term stream health. This module will
cover: 1) habitat assessments 2) biological surveys 3) overall stream scoring and comparison to reference conditions.
Module 7: Watershed Water Quality
Module Description
Water quality is often the primary factor driving watershed management decision-making. In this module, major influences on receiving water body chemistry (e.g., precipitation, watershed geology and soils, land use and land cover, runoff, groundwater, hydrologic modifications) will be defined. Development of watershed-based water quality standards will be discussed. Case studies of the relative contributions of point source (end of the pipe) and non-point source (runoff) pollutant loading in selected watersheds will be emphasized. Data collection methods and subsequent pollution mass loading calculations will be considered with an emphasis on development of watershed-specific Total Maximum Daily Loads (TMDLs). Traditional and innovative watershed water quality management technologies will be discussed. Online presentations will be coupled with selected refereed journal articles, book chapters and other readings.
Module 8: Floodplains and the Federal Flood Hazard Mapping Program
Module Description
In the U.S., FEMA is charged with providing flood hazard and risk data to communities. In this capacity, they provide guidelines and standards for flood risk analysis and mapping; a key component of the latter is the Flood Insurance Rate Map (FIRM), which are utilized by the Flood Insurance Program. This module will provide an overview of the federal flood program for riparian zones and will take a technical look the use of hydraulic models to develop a FIRM, with an emphasis on HEC-RAS, a public-domain model developed by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers that finds widespread use in this and other applications.
Module 9: Integrated Watershed Management – Balancing Competing Interests and Socio-Economics of Maintaining a Water Economy
Module Description
Grand Lake is often referenced as the “Crown Jewel” of northeast Oklahoma that encompasses more than 46,000 surface acres that produces 667 miles of shoreline. Surrounding communities capitalize on its water-based recreation and the popularity of the lake region has continued to escalate real estate values and has established a broad tax base within the 4-county
vicinity. However, because the watershed encompasses more than 10,000 square miles and lies in 4 states, implementing conservation and restoration measures to protect water quality can be very challenging.
Module 10: Ecological Restoration Principles
Module Description
Successful watershed restoration requires a holistic understanding of ecological processes, in addition to engineering and management approaches. Eight underlying restoration principles (stakeholder engagement, diverse knowledge, reference conditions, ecosystem recovery, measurable indicators, attainable recovery, cumulative values, continuum perspective) will be explored.
Module 11: Synthesis Project
Module Description
Students must complete a synthesis project that incorporates at least three of the seven topical areas covered during the semester. Students will provide an approximately 20-minute voice-over PowerPoint presentation or a 10-minute documentary video. These assignments will be graded. This week will be used to discuss synthesis project expectations.
Module 12: Watershed Restoration Caste Study #1
Module Description
Case studies of a diversity of specific watershed restoration efforts will be provided. Input from class members will be considered when selecting the as yet to be determined case studies.
Module 13: Watershed Restoration Caste Study #2
Module Description
Case studies of a diversity of specific watershed restoration efforts will be provided. Input from class members will be considered when selecting the as yet to be determined case studies.
Module 14: Watershed Restoration Caste Study #3
Module Description
Case studies of a diversity of specific watershed restoration efforts will be provided. Input from class members will be considered when selecting the as yet to be determined case studies.
Module 15: Synthesis Project
Module Description
Students must complete a synthesis project that incorporates at least three of the seven topical areas covered during the semester. Students will provide an approximately 20 minute voice-over PowerPoint presentation or a 10- minute documentary video. These assignments will be graded. This week will be used to discuss synthesis project questions.