TEMPLE — The Texas Water Resources Institute is hosting a Fundamentals of Developing a Water Quality Monitoring Plan workshop Aug. 6-7 at the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Agricultural Research Service, 808 E. Blackland Road in Temple.
The workshop is set for 9 a.m.-5 p.m. Aug. 6 and from 8:30 a.m.-3:30 p.m. Aug. 7 at the Grassland, Soil and Water Research Laboratory’s meeting room. Cost is $150 and includes course materials, catered lunches and a certificate of completion.
Nikki Dictson, Texas A&M AgriLife Extension Service program specialist for the institute in College Station, said the workshop will provide watershed coordinators and water professionals with tools to develop and implement a water quality monitoring program.
She said the course will cover water quality monitoring for watershed characterization and for evaluating water quality improvements and management practice effectiveness from implementation activities.
“Through presentations and case studies, participants will gain an understanding of what monitoring is needed for watershed protection planning. This includes inventorying existing resources, selecting a monitoring design, stormwater sampling and other considerations for building a successful monitoring plan,” Dictson said. “Participants will get some hands- on experience with creating a monitoring plan and through monitoring demonstrations in the field.”
Workshop instructors will include Dr. Larry Hauck, lead scientist, and Dr. Anne McFarland, interim director, from Tarleton State University’s Texas Institute of Applied Environmental Research; Dr. Kevin Wagner, associate director of Texas Water Resources Institute; and Dr. Daren Harmel, research leader of the USDA Agricultural Research Service Grassland, Soil and Water Research Laboratory.
One Texas Water Resources Institute continuing education unit will be provided upon course completion.
Participants may register for this training at http://bit.ly/wqmonitoring. More information is available at the website or by contacting Dictson at 979-458-5915 or n-dictson@tamu.edu.
The institute is part of Texas A&M AgriLife Research, AgriLife Extension and the College of Agriculture and Life Sciences at Texas A&M University.
The training course is supported by funding from the Texas State Soil and Water Conservation Board through a U.S. Environmental Protection agency Clean Water Act nonpoint source grant.
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