Natural Resources Training Program

Introduction to Watershed Modeling

Agenda

The workshop will provide watershed coordinators with an introduction to watershed modeling and cover models available for use. Participants will gain an understanding of what model is needed for watershed protection planning, how modeling fits into 9 Elements, and the resources needed to take the next steps. The models the course will cover include: load duration curves (LDC), Spreadsheet Tool for Estimating Pollutant Load (STEP-L), Generalized Watershed Loading Function (GWLF), P8 urban catchment model (P8-UCM), Soil and Water Assessment Tool (SWAT), AGricultural Non-Point Source Pollution Model (AGNPS), Hydrologic Simulation Program - FORTRAN (HSPF), and Storm Water Management Model (SWMM).

Training topics include:

  • Purposes and limitations of different models
  • Timelines
  • Data needs (watershed characterization, water quality information)
  • Cost estimates
  • Literature values vs. monitoring
  • Quality Assurance Project Plans (QAPPs)
  • Request for bids
  • Presenting models to stakeholders
  • Contractor interaction with stakeholder groups

Instructors:

Dr. R. Srinivasan, Ph.D., P.E., is a professor in the Departments of Ecosystem Sciences and Management and Biological and Agricultural Engineering at Texas A&M University. Dr. Srinivasan is one of the developers of Soil and Water Assessment Tool (SWAT) and travels around the world teaching SWAT workshops.

Dr. Larry Hauck, PE, Ph.D., is the lead scientist at TIAER, managing the environmental sciences and economics program. Hauck's research interests include landscape loading of nutrients in agricultural watersheds, biological and chemical response of receiving waters to nutrient enrichment, connection of land management and agricultural practices to receiving water quality, and development and application of watershed loading models and hydrologic/water quality models. Hauck has also been involved in projects applying bacterial source tracking and the load duration curve method to the TMDL process. He is the project manager for several TMDL projects in Texas that involve nutrients, bacteria, and dissolved oxygen.

Nikki Dictson, M.S., As Extension program specialist III for the institute, Nikki Dictson works on watershed planning projects and trainings, as well as water quality and riparian education. She has been on the planning team, a facilitator and instructor at the Texas Watershed Planning Short Course and Roundtables. Dictson worked previously with the Soil and Crop Sciences Unit of the Texas AgriLife Extension Service coordinating the Plum Creek Watershed Protection Plan, developing many educational publications and outreach programs, and was on the team conducting the Geronimo and Alligator Creeks Watershed Protection Plan and the Texas Watershed Steward educational program.

Please fill out registration form and send with payment to Nikki Dictson, TWRI, 1500 Research Pkwy., Suite 110, College Station, TX 77843-2260, or email: N-dictson@tamu.edu, or fax: 979-845-0662.

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