Fall 2022 Short Courses

FEATURED BOX - 15 WORDS (Exactly) - DO NOT DELETE THIS BOX

Join us November 1-4, 2022 for Steady Open Channel Flow Modeling Emphasizing Stream Restoration Applications.

November 1-4, 2022 – “HEC-RAS 1-D -- Steady Open Channel Flow Modeling Emphasizing Stream Restoration Applications” with instructor Gary Wolff. This entry-level to intermediate-level HEC-RAS course will teach students how to use one-dimensional HEC-RAS models in the context of stream channel restoration. Additional lessons (beyond a basic HEC-RAS course) will touch on using one and two-dimensional modeling in the context of habitat suitability evaluation and floodplain map revisions in the context of FEMA Floodplain regulations, the National Flood Insurance Program, and no-rise analyses.

Register Here: https://www.brownpapertickets.com/event/5556195

Instructor: Gary Wolff, Senior Hydraulic Engineer, Otak
Course Summary: This short course will provide a thorough introduction to the capabilities of the well-known U.S. Army Corps of Engineers Hydrologic Engineering Center - River Analysis System (HEC-RAS). This entry-level to intermediate-level course is intended for river restoration practitioners with backgrounds in geoscience, the life sciences or engineering with an interest in learning to use HEC-RAS in the context of restoring rivers or needs to make reliable interpretations of the outputs of HEC-RAS models built and run by colleagues and other river restoration stakeholders. Participants should have a basic understanding of the physics of open channel flow and experience using a Windows PC.

The course will provide an overview of the HEC-RAS model with hands-on experience in using the software for modeling a variety of situations commonly encountered when restoring rivers. It will include in-depth instruction on: fundamentals of open channel flow; using HEC-RAS to model stream flows and drainage networks; and, modeling river crossings (bridges and culverts) to ensure they meet relevant fluvial performance standards and are passable by aquatic organisms. It will also deal with hydraulic modeling of natural streams and streams with added habitat features (e.g. large wood, boulders), and it will touch on using one and two-dimensional modeling in the context of habitat suitability evaluation and FEMA-CLOMA permitting.

2. Beyond The Line: Understanding Streams as Corridors - Thursday February 3rd, 1pm-5pm

Instructors: Katie Jagt ,Mike Kline, Joel Sholtes, Michael Blazewicz with Special Guest Karin Boyd
(Click links for available bios)

Streams are not lines, they are corridors! Stream corridors are naturally dynamic environments that inter-weave physical, biological, and chemical processes – while supporting a host of societal benefits. When streams are treated as static lines on the landscape, stream health declines and risk to human-made infrastructure increases. In response to these observed changes, providing streams the space they need to accommodate and facilitate natural processes and functions is becoming a central tenet in land, water, and floodplain management practices. But how do we define the stream corridor and effectively communicate the importance of protecting and restoring the processes that define them? What tools are commonly used to protect and restore stream corridors and how well do they really accomplish this? How do we strategically focus watershed and community-level planning to protect stream corridor functions given limited funding and time?

Material to be covered:
What are stream corridors, the various ways of defining them, the elements of what it takes to recognize and change management practices in them, and how you can start to make change in your local stream corridors.

Target Audience and Recommended Prerequisites: Anyone interested in stream corridors and functional floodplains—ecological, regulatory, and geomorphic.

3. The Big Picture: a quick-start lesson on using free, publicly available remote sensing tools to monitor riparian changes over space and time - February 1st - 10am to 3pm

Instructors:


(Click for bios)

Satellites beam down enormous volumes of geospatial environmental data every single day, and they've been doing it for decades. These data are an incredible resource, but it can be challenging to figure out how to get started using it. This workshop will guide participants through the process of finding and analyzing several types of publicly available remote sensing data, and then explore how that data can be used to monitor ecohydrologic changes in riparian corridors over space and time. After learning the basics of riparian remote sensing, we will practice using publicly available remote sensing tools in a case study of how beaver activity affected the climate resilience of riparian zones in several western US locations. At the end of the workshop, participants will have a foundation of knowledge and skills that support using remote sensing in their own projects and analyses.

Course Objectives: The main objective of the course is to develop the skills and knowledge needed to undertake simple remote sensing analyses of any riparian zones. In order to practice using remote sensing tools, we will work through case studies that focus on identifying and monitoring the impacts of beaver activity within riparian zones in the western US.

General Skills/Content

  • Where to find publicly available, useful remote sensing data
  • How to access and/or download that data
  • Best practices for identifying and quantifying changes in vegetation health, hydrology, etc. over time
  • Quick basic statistics calculations for exploring the data and finding meaning

Specialized Skills/Content

  • How to identify beaver dams, lodges, and canals in aerial and satellite imagery
  • How to determine if a beaver complex is providing drought or fire refugia

Target Audience and Recommended Prerequisites

Anyone who wants to be able to monitor changes in riparian zones via remote sensing.

3. Integrating Lamprey into Restoration - 9:00-5:00pm

Instructors:


(Click for bios)

“Integrating Lamprey into Restoration” will raise awareness of native lamprey species, and assist participants in learning how to incorporate lamprey needs and conservation into restoration projects and in-water work activities. This course will provide participants with knowledge of the ecology, habitat needs, cultural significance, and conservation of lamprey species in the Pacific Northwest, and teach them techniques to better survey, salvage and identify lamprey species. Participants will receive handouts and resources to assist with lamprey identification and available conservation resources.
Course Objectives:Understanding current and future flow and fisheries relationships is at the heart of applied and basic fisheries science and management. Advances in science and technology, such as numerical modeling and field based evaluations of fish community and flow structure, make this topic important.

Course objectives:
(1) Raise awareness of the ecology, cultural importance and conservation of lampreys.
(2) Provide design considerations for lamprey in habitat restoration.
(3) Provide information on habitat use, lamprey sampling, identification, and salvage techniques.
(4) Incorporate the information from goals 1 – 3 into planning for habitat restoration and in-water work salvage.
(5) Learn about ongoing efforts and available resources to aid in lamprey conservation.

Material to be covered:
This course will broaden participants’ understanding of an important, but typically overlooked group of native fishes, and how to conserve them. The life history and habitat needs of lampreys will be described, along with their important roles in stream ecology. Current distribution, status, and conservation needs will be discussed, as well as guidelines for best management practices, aquatic restoration, sampling techniques, and permit requirements.

Target Audience and Recommended Prerequisites: Funders, engineers, designers, and restoration practitioners who would like to incorporate lamprey into their restoration projects.

Pre-Course Required Viewing and Reading for Class Discussion:
• WATCH THIS VIDEO!: The Lost Fish (film): http://www.critfc.org/fish-and-watersheds/columbia-river-fish-species/lamprey/lost-fish-film/
• Conservation challenges and research needs for Pacific lamprey in the Columbia River Basin (Clemens et al. 2017). https://afspubs.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1080/03632415.2017.1305857
• A Call for Standard Terminology for Lamprey Life Stages (Clemens 2019)
• Pacific Lamprey Habitat Restoration Guide (Crandall and Wittenbach 2015): http://www.methowsalmon.org/Documents/PacificLampreyRestorationGuide_web.pdf
• Best Management Practices to Minimize Adverse Effects to Pacific Lamprey (U.S Fish and Wildlife Service and U.S. Forest Service 2010). http://www.fws.gov/columbiariver/publications/BMP_Lamprey_2010.pdf

4. Science-Based Assessment Improves Stream Compensatory Mitigation Practice: Stream Function Assessment Method - 9:00-5:00pm

Instructors: Dana Hicks, Oregon Dept. of State Lands & Tracie Nadeau, U.S. EPA Region 10
(Click for bio)

Stream compensation has been on the rise nationally, as demonstrated by the increase in mitigation banks and in-lieu fee programs that provide credits to offset impacts to streams and rivers. Very exciting! To better tie decision-making to functional improvement, as per the federal 2008 Final Compensatory Mitigation Rule (USACE/USEPA), the Oregon Department of State Lands, U.S. Environmental Protection Agency Region 10, and U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Portland District collaboratively developed the Stream Function Assessment for Oregon (SFAM). SFAM supports a new approach to mitigation in Oregon. Designed to evolve as scientific understanding and data availability advance, SFAM is applicable where a scientifically robust, rapid, repeatable, and transparent assessment of stream function will improve project outcomes. And it’s fun!

Course objectives:
Participants will leave this one-day course understanding:
• the interagency objectives and process to develop SFAM
• all aspects of an SFAM assessment (i.e. information and equipment needed, amount of time generally required to complete an assessment, materials/documents needed)
• the basic procedures and techniques used to collect data in the office and in the field
• the scientific underpinning of the method, and it’s applicability in the PNW
• how SFAM informs compensatory mitigation in Oregon

Material to be covered:
Stream Function Assessment Method Version 1.0 (June 2018)

Target Audience and Recommended Prerequisites: Consultants, restoration practitioners, federal/state/tribal agency staff, regulators and water resource managers

Pre-Course Required Viewing and Reading for Class Discussion:
While there is no required advance reading, those who are interested in advance reading can find all components of SFAM on the Aquatic Mitigation Topic Page (https://oregonexplorer.info/topics/aquatic-mitigation?ptopic=38) and information on the Aquatic Resources Mitigation Framework which SFAM supports on ODSL’s website (https://www.oregon.gov/dsl/WW/Pages/Aquatic-Resources-Mitigation-Framework.aspx). Participants may want to refer to the SFAM documents and the Stream Function Assessment Method (SFAM) Map Viewer during the training.