The Texas Watershed Planning Short Course project provides the needed training and promotes sustainable proactive approaches to managing water quality throughout the state. This weeklong course provides participants with guidance on stakeholder coordination, education and outreach; meeting the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) nine key elements of a watershed protection plan; data collection and analysis; and the tools available for plan development. This information is presented through lectures and case studies.
After completing the short course, participants are invited to attend Texas Watershed Coordinator Roundtables, held biannually, to discuss current issues and updates to watershed protection plans, discuss strategies for successful implementation and answer questions or concerns.
Additional workshops are offered to further assist watershed coordinators with effective stakeholder engagement to address watershed issues. The Stakeholder Facilitation Training aims to highlight tools used to effectively identify, engage and involve stakeholders throughout a watershed to restore and maintain healthy environmental conditions.
Other courses developed include an Introduction to Modeling training; Finding Success for Science through Social Media & Marketing training; Applied Environmental Statistics training; training on Implementing Watershed Based Plans; training on Urban BMPs for Watershed Planning; training on Agricultural BMPs for Watershed Planning; and Fundamentals of Developing a Water Quality Monitoring Plan.
