Columbia College

Watershed Management (NATRE 30)

Instructor: Dr. Tom Hofstra

Spring 2008

Meeting/Credit Information

Lecture: Monday 1:30 – 2:35 PM (lecture – Toyon 2) and Wednesday 1:30 – 5:40 PM (lab - field locations)

Additional alternate locations as announced

3 units

Office hours (Toyon 4): I welcome and encourage students to discuss course-related issues with me outside of lecture and lab time. Please make an appointment with me in a timely manner, either in person or by email.

Phone: 588-5155

E-mail: hofstrat@yosemite.cc.ca.us

Web Page: http://columbia.yosemite.cc.ca.us/hofstrat/Default.htm

Textbooks (recommended)

Basey’s Sierra Nevada Journal – Basey – ISBN# 978-1-930544-99-4

Water in California – Clarke – ISBN# 978-0-520-24086-5

California Rivers and Streams – Mount – ISBN# 978-0-520-20250-4

Course Description: Fundamentals of watershed protection, management, and monitoring with an emphasis on California and the Sierra Nevada. Applications of geology, soils, meteorology, biology, chemistry, physics and engineering as they pertain to management of water and land resources and watersheds. Field techniques of sampling and monitoring soil, water, air, vegetation, and other biota for beneficial uses of water. Application of integrated ecosystem approaches to natural resource protection management of watersheds

Course Objectives:

By the conclusion of the course, each student should be able to:

Understand and discuss the relationship of hydrology to watershed management while emphasizing an ecosystems management approach to watersheds.
Apply the various tools of modern geology, soil science, meteorology, biology, chemistry, physics, and engineering as related to beneficial land and water uses and integrated watershed management on developed lands, wild-lands, and wilderness areas.
Understand and discuss the potential downstream effects of surface land and water relationships on the physical and qualitative conditions of stream courses and water use for domestic and agricultural purposes.
Relate local and regional geology to the major soil types important to hydrology, stream channel morphology, and watershed management.
Identify and describe the major soil types common to the Sierra Nevada and be able to discuss their physical, chemical, and biological properties as related to hydrology and watershed management.
Describe and discuss the hydrologic cycle, list and describe the various components of the hydrologic cycle such as evaporation, evapo-transpiration, condensation, precipitation, infiltration, percolation, runoff, and groundwater storage.
Discuss and forecast various meteorological phenomena pertaining to hydrology and watershed management, and comprehend the meaning of such concepts as: seasons, global wind currents, insolation, climate, fronts, vapor, humidity, dew-point, condensation, precipitation, adiabatic lapse rates, cloud types, surface winds, and barometric pressure.
List and discuss important physical, chemical, and biological characteristics of water such as density, temperature, turbidity, pH, dissolved oxygen, biological oxygen demand, pollution, and contamination.
Understand and discuss such fundamental soil/water/plant relationships as: saturated soil, permanent wilting point, evapo-transpiration, soil texture, soil structure, adhesion-cohesion-diffusion-tension theory, and riparian vegetation.
List, describe, and identify the various types of watershed shapes and drainage patterns on watersheds, and be able to relate these to geology, soil types, and watershed stream discharge rates.
Explain and define such snow related terms as: snow density, water equivalent, snow quality, snow structure, snow sampling, and the Mt. Rose snow sampler.
Explain an describe various groundwater hydrology terms such as: soil-water belt, intermediate belt, water table, groundwater, base flow, aquifer, aquaclude, artesian well, drawdown, cone of depression, and groundwater recharge.
Understand and discuss the phenomena of watershed impervious surface conditions due to such land management activities as residential development, road establishment, logging, grazing, and outdoor recreation.
Understand and discuss the major contemporary issues and public expectations related to domestic drinking water supplies.
Explain and describe comparative land management techniques available to watershed managers such as: watershed treatment, watershed protection, watershed improvement, and watershed mitigating measures.
Use 7.5 minute topographic and soil vegetation maps to orient and inventory essential watershed components involving topography, geology, soil types, and plant mosaics.
Identify common grasses, shrubs, and trees in various field trip locales and be able to relate these species to their specific water requirements, soil stabilization potential, and value for forage, browse, and habitat useful for biota.
Establish sampling procedures and implement collection and preparation of water samples obtained from the atmosphere, streams, rivers, and lakes for testing pH., dissolved oxygen, biological organisms, turbidity, temperature, and inorganic contaminants.
Establish sampling procedures and implement collecting methods to obtain freshwater aquatic organisms (plant, single-celled, or multicellular) and identify using various keys with the aid of microscopes.
Establish sampling procedures and collect information on streamflow measurements and relate these measurements to watershed variables regarding soils, topography, precipitation, drainage basin shape/size/patterns, and resource uses.
Measure depth and water content of any given snowpack and determine the predicted runoff from a given watershed.
Draft a written watershed analysis of a given watershed and provide basic resource inventory information on it regarding geology, soils, vegetation, drainage, precipitation, historical resource uses, present resource uses, resource conflicts, watershed benefits and problems, and recommendations for improving the degree of integrated ecosystem management for multiple uses of resources on the watershed.

Rules:

Show up and pay attention – you get out of it what you put into it.
Cheating will not be tolerated and will result in immediate failure (F) for the course.
Turn off your cell phone during lecture and lab. No text messaging during lecture and lab. Don't even look at your cell phone during class time.
If you come in late (which is frowned upon) be quiet, don't let the door slam, and sit in the closest seat to the door you came in.
Wear or bring shoes and clothes that you can walk in the woods in if you have too.

Grading/ Points Breakdown

Source	Date	Points
Midterm Exam	Feb. 18	100
Final Exam	Finals Week	100
Independent or Group project	Week 15	100
General participation/attitude	Always	100
Quizzes (2)	Feb. 11, April 14	50 (2 x 25)
Total		450

90%+ = A, 80-90% = B, 70-80% = C, 60-70% = D, below 60% = F

Participation in lecture and on fieldtrips is mandatory and will be monitored (attendance will be taken on random days when I remember to) and figured into your final grade.

Exams will be in two parts. A take home portion consisting of a choice of questions (you pick 3 of 7) will be distributed the period before the scheduled day of the exam. This portion is worth 45 pts, is open book, and you are encouraged to use a variety of resources, but you must work alone. You may use the take home exam during the in class portion of the exam. The take home portion of the exam will be due the day of the exam before lab starts at 2:40 PM. Late take-home exams are marked down 1pt/minute late. The in class portion of the exam is worth 55 pts, and consists of short answer, multiple choice, and matching questions. Spelling of scientific terms is very important and will be counted when your tests are graded. Tests will cover the material discussed in lecture, activities, field trips, films, labs and corresponding text readings. The exams will not be cumulative.

Projects:

Each student will have the opportunity to complete an individual or group project. This project is worth as much as an exam (100 pts). Projects are intended to give students real-world experience in the field of wildlife biology. Depending on the project (independent or group) students will design their project either independently or as a group. Projects will be due at the end of the semester, with progress checks at regular intervals.

If you have an emergency, contact me prior to an exam. Make-up exams will be given under extenuating circumstances only and will require written documentation validating the reason for missing the exam (e.g. Doctors note).

Field trips:

When we go on field trips you may have to provide your own transportation (carpooling is encouraged). We meet at the site of the field trip. Fieldtrips may occur during lecture times or other times including weekends (scheduling problems will be considered and dealt with if necessary). Longer field trips on the weekends may require not having class some week(s).

Schedule – Very tentative and subject to change (stay tuned for revisions)

Week	Topic	Event
1	Course introduction Significance and properties of water Lab: Introduction to water monitoring
2	Introduction to soils Lab: Soil analysis on campus
3	Introduction to watersheds Field Trip: Woods Creek	NO CLASS Monday. Jan. 21
4	Field Trip: South Fork Stanislaus
5	Field Trip: North Fork Tuolumne
6	Field Trip: Upper Sullivan Creek	QUIZ: Monday Feb. 11
7	Field Trip: Phoenix Lake	NO CLASS Monday February 18
8	Field Trip: Lower Sullivan Creek	MIDTERM Monday February 25
9	Field Trip: Red Hills
10	Field Trip: Table Mountain
11	Field Trip: TUD collection, distribution, disposal system
12	Field Trip: Jamestown Landfill, Goldmine, Quartz Reservoir, Sewage Treatment Plant
13	Field Trip: Sour Grass Slide
14	Field Trip: Snow Survey
15	Project Presentations	QUIZ: Monday April 14
16	Finals	FINAL EXAM

Possible alternates/additions

Natural Bridges / Camp Nine Road

Whitewater rafting

Moaning Caverns