TEMPLE — The Texas Water Resources Institute is hosting “Fundamentals of Developing a Water Quality Monitoring Plan” training Oct. 23-24 at the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Agricultural Research Service Grassland Soil and Water Research Laboratory, 808 East Blackland Road, Temple.
The institute is part of Texas A&M AgriLife Research, Texas A&M AgriLife Extension Service and the College of Agriculture and Life Sciences at Texas A&M University.
The workshop will be held from 9 a.m.-5 p.m. Oct. 23 and from 8:30 a.m.-3:30 p.m. Oct. 24 at the ARS Meeting Room.
Cost is $150 and includes course materials, catered lunches and a certificate of completion.
According to Nikki Dictson, AgriLife Extension program specialist for the institute, the workshop will provide watershed coordinators and water professionals with the tools to develop and implement a water quality monitoring program.
She said the course will cover monitoring water quality for watershed quality improvements and effective implementation and management.
“Participants will gain an understanding of what monitoring is needed for watershed protection planning, including inventorying existing resources, watershed characterization, selecting a monitoring design, storm water sampling and considerations to build a successful monitoring plan through presentations and case studies,” Dictson said. “Participants will get some hands-on experience with creating a monitoring plan and through monitoring demonstrations in the field.”
Course instructors will include: Dr. Larry Hauck, lead researcher, and Anne McFarland, research scientist, both from Tarleton State University’s Texas Institute of Applied Environmental Research; Dr. Kevin Wagner, associate director, Texas Water Resources Institute, College Station; and Dr. Daren Harmel, research leader and agricultural engineer, USDA-ARS Grassland, Soil, and Water Research Laboratory, Temple.
One Texas Water Resources Institute continuing education unit will be provided upon course completion.
Participants may register for this training at http://watershedplanning.tamu.edu/training/.
More information is available at the website or by contacting Dictson at 979-458-5915 or n-dictson@tamu.edu.
This training is supported by funding from the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality through a U.S. Environmental Protection agency nonpoint source grant.
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