Watershed Science Bulletin

The Bulletin Spring 2012 Issue: The Application of Monitoring and Modeling in Watershed Management 

Fall 2011 Cover

 Watershed Science Bulletin (The Bulletin) is the journal of the recently launched Association of Watershed and Stormwater Professionals (www.awsps.org), a program of the Center for Watershed Protection.  This peer-reviewed journal is published semiannually and features practical, science-based solutions to important watershed and stormwater management issues.  The Bulletin is the first publication to directly serve the watershed management professional community.  These busy professionals typically do not have access to academic research databases for the numerous disciplines that inform watershed management.  The journal’s mission is to synthesize both research and experience from these disciplines and transmit this valuable information to those who need it to protect and restore their watersheds. Therefore, the information provided in The Bulletin is vital to the continuing education of watershed management professionals.

AWSPs is currently soliciting short articles (5,000 words or less) for the Spring 2012 issue of The Bulletin.  In this issue, we hope to elicit articles on the practical applications of monitoring and modeling to assess watersheds and how these tools are used to inform the decision making process to protect or improve watershed health.  Monitoring and modeling are the primary tools used to assess watersheds and may be used for problem identification, evaluation of alternatives or measuring progress towards a desired goal or end-point.  Each tool has its merits that must be weighed by the local watershed or stormwater manager to determine what approach is most appropriate for a current project or program, such as data availability and quality, costs associated with monitoring or modeling, timeframe, and technical expertise.  It may also be desirable to use both monitoring and modeling as part of an integrated approach.  Modeling may be used to help understand or scope the type of issues present or severity of a given problem to help focus monitoring efforts, whereas data generated from a monitoring program may be used for model calibration and validation models.

As watersheds encompass land, people and water, research on the economic, social, hydrologic, chemical and biological aspects of watershed monitoring and modeling will be considered.  Topics related to the evaluation of specific models, technologies or equipment will not be considered.  Preference will be given to articles that address one of the topics provided below:

• The use of monitoring and/or modeling to support local watershed or stormwater programs, as separate tools or as an integrated approach
• Case study applications of monitoring and/or modeling for problem identification, evaluation of solutions, or measuring progress towards a targeted endpoint
• Overview and/or review of models to support local watershed or stormwater programs
• The type of model most appropriate for the application (e.g. empirical, physical, spatially explicit vs. lumped)
• The type of monitoring most appropriate for the application (e.g. automated sampling vs. in-situ sampling vs. grab sampling, qualitative vs. quantitative surveys)
• The application of data generated from volunteer-based monitoring programs
• Use monitoring and/or modeling to support regulatory mandates
• Effective implementation of local monitoring programs (e.g., purpose and how are they administered, managed, funded)
• Use and/or adequacy of existing databases or clearinghouses to support monitoring needs or modeling efforts to inform watershed or stormwater programs (e.g. STORET, International BMP Clearinghouse, National Stormwater Quality Database, USGS water data)

Neely L. Law, PhD, is the Editor-in-Chief, Watershed Science Bulletin at the

Center for Watershed Protection, 8390 Main St., 2nd Floor, Ellicott City, MD 21043

www.cwp.org

www.stormwatercenter.net