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

Connect With the New Stewardship Map

In association with the Baltimore Ecosystem Study, Baltimore Office of Sustainability, TreeBaltimore, Blue Water Baltimore, CPHA and Baltimore Green Space, Parks & People is encouraging individuals and organizations involved in environmental stewardship in Baltimore City to fill out a brief survey that will be sent out in mid-September. The information that is collected will be compiled to form a new website that will include a list of organizations and project locations on an interactive map.

If you currently provide educational opportunities, hands-on projects, community programming or information about environmental stewardship, please take some time to complete the survey! To be sure that you receive the survey, send your email address to baltimore.stewardship@gmail.com.

Parks & People is a founding member and partner in the Baltimore Ecosystem Study (BES) since 1997. The goal of their participation in the Study is to link scientists with decision-makers so that the research reflects the needs of our community.

Elena Irwin Receives NSF Grant Award

Elena Irwin, BES Co-PI and Associate Professor at Ohio State University, received a new competitive grant award from the National Science Foundation’s Geography and Spatial Sciences program to develop spatial agent-based models of urbanization. 

The two-year research project is joint with Yong Chen, assistant professor at Oregon State University, and Ciriyam Jayaprakash, Professor of Physics, Ohio State University.  

The BES researchers are developing spatial economic models of land development and will apply them to the Baltimore region to study past and future policy alternatives and ecosystem impacts.  The models will be calibrated using extensive historical data on residential subdivision and urban land development that Irwin and other BES researchers have developed over the past several years.

This is a plat map of a residential subdivision in Carroll County. Using data from Maryland Archives, we are using these plat maps to create spatial datasets of residential subdivision development for Carroll, Harford, Baltimore and Howard Counties. The new grant will make use of these data to develop agent-based spatial models of household location and land development that will be used to run past and future policy scenarios.

Baltimore Ecosystem Study Annual Meeting October 19-20, 2011

Members, Collaborators and Friends of the Baltimore Ecosystem Study:

You are invited and encouraged to attend the 2011 Baltimore Ecosystem Study (BES) Long-Term Ecological Research Program Annual Meeting on 19-20 October and the Community Open House and Greening Celebration on 19 October.

The Annual Meeting is designed to share the technical scientific results of the project with BES researchers, educators, local, state and federal agency representatives while also being open to the media, and interested community members. The Community Open House is an informal venue to share non-technical project information and results with teachers, students at all grade levels, community members, media, and regional decision makers.

Annual Meeting:

The thirteenth BES Annual Meeting will be held at the Cylburn Arboretum Vollmer Visitor Center at 4915 Greenspring Avenue, Baltimore, MD, 21209. Here is a link to Directions.

The Annual Meeting will start at 8:30 am on Wednesday, beginning with talks by researchers. After lunch there will be a poster session followed by afternoon talks. The Community Open House will begin at 6:00 pm. The Thursday session will begin at 8:30 am with talks, ending at noon.

Those who have scientific results gathered as a part of, or particularly relevant to, the Baltimore Ecosystem Study, are invited to present a 15 minute talk or a poster summarizing the results. If you would like to present your research at the meeting, please submit your 250-word abstract by Friday 7 October. The abstracts will be published on the BES website. You can include one graphic or table with your abstract. Please submit your abstracts electronically using the online form here. This is a strict deadline, so be sure your abstract reaches us by 7 October.

The final program of talks and posters will be posted via the web at beslter.org shortly before the meeting.

Annual Meeting Parking:

There is free parking available at the Arboretum.

Annual Meeting Meals:

Coffee will be available for all attendees. Pre-paid breakfast and lunch will be available onsite on the first day and breakfast on the second day. Time allotted for lunch will be one hour. We encourage you to register and pay for your meals in advance. There will be very few extra meals available if you sign up at the door. You can also bring a bag lunch. Options for local dining close by are limited. The costs below are to cover your food and drink. There is no fee to attend the meeting.

The options are:

Breakfast Day 1: $ 8.50

Lunch Day 1: $12.50

Breakfast and Lunch Day 1: $21.00

Breakfast Day 2: $ 8.50

Breakfast both days and Lunch Day 1: $29.50

Descriptions of the meals are included on the registration form.   Updated information can be reached on the main BES website page, http://beslter.org.  The direct link  is http://beslter.org/bes_am_asp_2011/bes_am_reg_intro.html .

You can either pay by credit card through the registration form or by check payable to "Cary Institute of Ecosystem Studies." Checks should be mailed to Holly Beyar, Cary Institute of Ecosystem Studies, PO Box AB, Millbrook, NY 12545. You will be given tickets for your pre-paid meals along with your name tag when you arrive at the meeting.

Meeting Registration:

All Annual Meeting attendees and participants will need to register by Wednesday 12 October. The online registration form is available here. If you have any questions, please contact Holly Beyar at (845) 677-7600 x210 or beyarh@caryinstitute.org

Community Open House and Greening Celebration:

The tenth Community Open House and Greening Celebration will follow the Annual Meeting on Wednesday evening 19 October from 6:00 to 9:00 pm at the Cylburn Arboretum Vollmer Visitor Center.

The Community Open House and Annual Greening Celebration is a joint gathering by BES and the Parks and People Foundation. This event highlights community involvement in various greening activities such as community gardens. It is also an opportunity for community members to meet and talk with BES researchers in a less formal setting to learn more about BES. The event will feature non-technical displays and handouts. Please contact Mary L. Washington at Parks & People, 410-448-5663 x107 or mary.washington@parksandpeople.org, with any questions about the Open House, or if you would like to submit a non-technical poster or other display.

I encourage all participants and collaborators in the Baltimore Ecosystem Study to present a talk or poster at the Annual Meeting, as well as to attend the Open House in order to promote communication and mutual understanding in this spatially, topically, and institutionally very diverse study.

Sincerely,

Steward T.A. Pickett,

Project Director