Tuesday Morning Pre-Conference Workshops
CFWE's Water Educator Network and “Collecting Evidence of Your Impact”
Colorado Foundation for Water Education
8:30am to 12:00pm
Space is limited!
Evaluation is hard… get beyond attendance numbers and find out if your water education program makes a real difference! CFWE will review the Water Educator Network, a new program with funding from Xcel Energy, as a mechanism to provide local water educators with needed tools, collaboration and trainings. During the “Collecting Evidence of Your Impact” training, expect to learn how to develop measurable output and outcome statements, methods for collecting data and information and use of evaluation as leverage for funding and administrative attention. For workshop exercises and discussions, participants are asked to bring a list of programs they would like to evaluate. Click here for the agenda.
Quantifying Uncertainty and Risk in Stream Restoration Design
Dr. Sue Niezgoda, P.E., Gonzaga University ASCE River Restoration Committee
8:30 to 11:30am
Guidance for the design of stream restoration/stabilization projects is often minimal, vague, and subjective. Uncertainty in the resulting restoration design can result in an unstable channel that is subject to erosion and/or deposition and which can threaten the safety of bridges, culverts, and roadways, create poor aquatic habitat, and degrade water quality. Course participants will be provided with a hands-on introduction to a two-step method of incorporating uncertainty, risk, and benefit in stream restoration design that has been developed as a combination of Design Failure Modes and Effects Analysis and risk and benefit quantification. At the end of this course, participants will be able to:
- Identify stream restoration design components failure modes, causes of failure, consequences of failure, and detection controls.
- Identify stream restoration design components economic, environmental, and social benefits.
- Apply a risk-benefit analysis that involves a qualitative analysis of risk and benefit (using failure modes and effects analysis) and risk and benefit quantification in terms of cost.
- Compare the cost-benefit ratio of several restoration/stabilization design alternatives to help in decision making. Upon completion of this course, participants will walk away with knowledge of uncertainty, risk and benefit that can prove valuable in restoration design decision-making and will improve the likelihood of success of stream restoration projects.
Scenario Planning – Accounting for an Uncertain Future
Will Murray
8:30 to 11:30am
As the physicist Niels Bohr said, “Making predictions is difficult, especially as pertains the future.” While the future is by definition uncertain, we now live in a time of unprecedented change and uncertainty. Watershed groups encounter social challenges, uncertainty in the role of government, challenges from hydrocarbon development and a changing climate. How does anybody go about laying plans for the future in such times of great uncertainty? Scenario planning is a powerful tool to consider and plan for the future under great uncertainty. This session explains how and when to use scenario planning to augment standard strategic planning.
Participating in Colorado's Water Plan
Colorado Water Conservation Board
8:30 to 11:30am
The Colorado Water Conservation Board (CWCB) has been charged with an historic task over the next 16 months – to incorporate and build upon nine years of work and unprecedented dialogue and consensus among water leaders throughout the state to develop a comprehensive plan for addressing Colorado’s water challenges. Much of the success of the Colorado Water Plan (CWP) effort will rest in the level of public engagement and participation generated throughout the CWP development process. This workshop will provide information for how a diverse set of stakeholders across the state can participate and incorporate input into the CWP planning process. The workshop will also serve as a forum for attendees to provide feedback on CWP elements that have already been produced.
CDPHE Non-Point Source Progam Workshop
Lucia Machado, CDPHE-WQCD
8:30 to 10:00am
The Colorado Nonpoint Source program is again offering the NPS workshop. The workshop covers topics of interest for folks who might be planning to or might already be addressing nonpoint sources of pollution. The Colorado NPS program offers funding for many different types of approaches to addressing NPS pollution, information and technical assistance. The workshop is an opportunity for NPS program staff to present program and project specific information and for folks to interact with staff. The series of modules will cover topics such as program strategy update, proposal development and planning for NPS projects. The Colorado NPS program team will deliver the presentations and be available for one-on-one discussion during the workshop and during the conference. Drop-ins are welcomed. Coffee and other breakfast refreshments will be provided to participants.
Demystify Data Sharing - Colorado Data Sharing Network (CDSN)
Barb Horn, Colorado Parks and Wildlife
10:00 to 11:30am
Do you have all the resources you need to collect all the data you need from all water bodies, indicators at ideal frequencies? You count on others data but have a hard time accessing it? Are you engaged in watershed planning, Water Quality Control Commission Basin Hearings, other regulatory processes requiring data, restoration or protection efforts? Do you wish data you needed was in one place, easy to access and ready for your use?
If you answered yes to the first question, please share your strategy in place of this presentation. Otherwise, we need ways to use data that exists more than once, more efficiently and often. The Colorado Water Quality Monitoring Council (CWQMC) has been successfully sharing data, water quality, biological and physical habitat data from lakes, reservoirs, rivers and ground water successfully. There are reasons to not share data but they are shrinking as many are realizing the benefits in cost savings, efficiencies, better decisions, more effective and achieving program goals. This interactive session will bring you up to speed and demonstrate the CWQMC’s Colorado Data Sharing Network (CDSN) tools which include map, download and simple analyses utilities. In addition, CWQMC will showcase examples of what can be accomplished when data is shared, in a common format, with guidelines, security and relevancy. See what we can build together that none of us can afford to build or sustain individually. Chances are high your organization is losing money by not engaging and support in CDSN
In addition, join a CWQMC member for two hours before this session to participate in a one on one demonstration, views of your watershed / data or assistance on CDSN features and utilities.
Thursday Morning Post-Conference Field Workshop
3rd Annual River Corridor Workshop on the Eagle River at Edwards
8:30am - 1pm
The Eagle River Watershed Council co-hosts an interactive field workshop on location at their Eagle River Restoration Project.
Join us this year for:
- Introductions to FACWet and its companion methodology: The new FAC Stream by Dr. Brad Johnson and Mark Beardsley, members of the development team;
- Groundwater Monitoring Station by Dr. Gil Barth, S.S. Papadopulos and Associates;
- Water Quality Sensor Technology - Field Demo by Jassen Savoie, Geotech/YSI
