LEWISVILLE — An Advanced Stream Restoration Design Workshop will be held Nov. 27-29 at the Upper Trinity Regional Water District, 900 N. Kealy St. in Lewisville.
“This will be a comprehensive workshop addressing various aspects of stream restoration design, including how streams impact urbanization, stream assessment, legal issues and a review of salient case studies,” said David Waidler, workshop coordinator and research associate with Texas A&M AgriLife Research at the Texas A&M AgriLife Research and Extension Center in Dallas.
Waidler said the workshop builds on an entry-level stream restoration workshop previously offered and is intended for engineers, city officials and those who have completed initial training in stream processes and assessment.
“This workshop takes a hands-on approach to stream surveying by taking participants to evaluate a degraded stream segment,” Waidler said. “Using this information, we will explore the existing design options and their respective strengths and weaknesses.”
Workshop sign-in begins at 8 a.m. Nov. 27, with presentations starting 8:45 a.m. The day’s topics, to be presented by Fouad Jaber, Texas A&M AgriLife Extension Service state specialist in biological and agricultural engineering at Dallas, include a review of stream processes, hydraulics and hydrology, stream survey methodology, and hands-on and “boots-in” stream survey field work.
Nov. 28 presentations begin at 8:30 a.m. with “Section 404 Permitting” by David Madden, U.S. Army Corps of Engineers. Next is “Assessment: Primary Functioning Condition,” presented by Ken Mayben and Rick Linex of the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Natural Resources Conservation Service.
Lunch is from noon- 1 p.m. and includes a stream trailer demonstration by Waidler.
Afternoon presentations include “Bioassessment of Streams” by Rob Cook of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and presentations on the stream restoration design process and in-stream structures by Jaber.
Morning presentations on Nov. 29 begin with “Riparian Vegetation: Fort Worth Case Study” by Becca Swadek with the Botanical Research Institute of Texas. Her presentation will be followed by a presentation on urban riparian buffers by Deborah Viera, city of Denton, and a presentation on legal aspects of stream degradation by Waidler. The afternoon presentation from 1-3 p.m. will be “Stream Redesign: McKinney Case Study” by Jaber, which will be followed by distribution of completion certificates and workshop conclusion at 3 p.m.
The $150 registration fee includes lunches on Nov. 27 and Nov. 28, as well as workshop materials. Continuing education units or credits are available, and Texas Floodplain Management Association members receive 12 continuing education credits.
Attendance is limited to 30 participants, so Waidler suggests those interested in attending register as soon as possible.
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