Water Quality Monitoring & Watershed Assessment Workshops and Training

SWAMP Field Methods Course

An accessible and important way to ensure the quality of information collected with field measurements are the adequate training of those conducting the measurements. The SWAMP Field Methods Course was created to help in this effort. This narrated video course introduces the concepts used in SWAMP sample collection and field analysis. The course includes the following seven modules: Reconnaissance, Water Quality Measurements, Flow Measurements, Water Sampling, Sediment Sampling, Sample Handling and Shipping, and Biological & Physical Assessments.

• Swamp Field Methods Distance Learning Course Modules 1-7
  • Module 1: Reconnaissance
  • Module 2: Water Quality Measurements
  • Module 3: Flow Measurements
  • Module 4: Water Sampling
  • Module 5: SWAMP FIELD METHODS MODULE 5 - SEDIMENT SAMPLING
  • Module 6: SWAMP FIELD MODULE 6 - Handling Shipping
  • Module 7: SWAMP FIELD METHODS MODULE 7 BIOLOGICAL AND PHYSICAL HABITAT ASSESSMENTS
• Swamp Field Methods Distance Learning Course Common Elements
  • Common Element A. Health & Safety
  • Common Element B. SWAMP FIELD METHODS COMMON ELEMENT B - QUALITY ASSURANCE
  • Common Element C. Representativeness
  • Common Element D. SWAMP FIELD METHODS COMMON ELEMENT D - INFORMATION MANAGEMENT

College of Bioassessment and the California Aquatic Bioassessment Workgroup

• California Aquatic Bioassessment Workgroup (2003–2021)

A Guide for Field Identification of Bankfull Stage in the Western United States

Video recording – 1995. Luna B. Leopold, William W. Emmett, Hilton L. Silvey, David L. Rosgen

• Downloadable version MP4 - (no captions)
• DVD version: Closed captions, contact Dave Levinson
• YouTube Version

Safe to Swim Water Quality Learning Module

Is it safe to swim in California's waters, what is the water quality like?

• Videos

Swimmable California Webinar Series

This webinar series from 2017 – 2018 provides eight comprehensive videos about providing safe beach water quality.

• Videos

Water Contact Sanitary Survey Workshop

In September 2017, EPA and the California State Water Resources Control Board (SWRCB) co-sponsored three workshops to demonstrate the use of Beach Sanitary Surveys including the new Marine Sanitary Survey App.  At each workshop, EPA and the California SWRCB will demonstrate the utility of the survey and the app to local watershed managers, citizen scientists, environmental justice organizations and tribal members. The goal of these workshops was to support citizen science and environmental justice organizations engaging with California’s water monitoring and management programs to provide for a Swimmable California.

• Videos

Trash Monitoring Webinar Series

The goal of this webinar series is to share our current collective knowledge to support current practices and advances in trash monitoring and the development of data analysis and visualization tools aimed at assessing the effectiveness of policies and practices for limiting the amounts of trash in the environment.

• Videos

Community Water Science Workshop

An impressive amount of water quality data in California is being collected by small water quality monitoring projects. Oftentimes these data represent waterbodies or sections of waterbodies that would otherwise be un-monitored and there would be no data available for them. The organizations conducting these projects are not only important watershed stakeholders but also valuable collaborators. This workshop was held to assist these organizations by increasing their ability to collect and share data of known quality with the Water Boards and others.

• Videos

• Southwest Association of Freshwater Invertebrate Taxonomists
• Southern California Marine Invertebrate Taxonomists

The Watershed Academy (USEPA)
The Watershed Academy provides self-paced training modules and webcasts from national experts about a range of watershed management topics.

• The Watershed Academy Web is the is the USEPA’s Watershed Academy's Distance Learning. The website offers a variety of self-paced training modules that represent a basic and broad introduction to the watershed management field. A variety of self-paced training modules are offered that represent a basic and broad introduction to the watershed management field. The modules are organized by the six themes listed above. Modules vary in the time they take to complete, from ½ hour to 2 hours.
• Watershed Management Federal and State Training
  Other EPA programs as well as organizations outside of EPA provide watershed-related training.

California Rapid Assessment Method
CRAM is a cost-effective and scientifically defensible rapid assessment method for monitoring the conditions of wetlands throughout California. It is designed for assessing ambient conditions within watersheds, regions, and throughout the State. It can also be used to assess the performance of compensatory mitigation projects and restoration projects. www.cramwetlands.org

Training will provide the skills necessary to consistently conduct accurate assessments of wetlands using CRAM and will provide guidance on the use of CRAM for ambient and project assessment and monitoring. The session involves both classroom and field instruction, with an emphasis on the field component. To successfully complete the course, participants will be required to pass a written and a field-based proficiency examination. www.cramwetlands.org/training

National Wetland Team
The National Wetland Team develops training modules, provides technical leadership, and instructs training courses in a variety of wetland related issues through the NRCS National Employee Development Center (NEDC) http://www.nedc.nrcs.usda.gov and other units of government. These courses are intended for government audiences; however, enrollment is based upon the criteria of the government unit offering the training.

Society of Wetland Scientists Professional Certification Program

• Professional Short Courses

The Association of State Wetland Managers

• Online Trainings
• Webinars & Trainings
• Increasing Access to Wetland Training Project

The Wetland Training Institute
The Wetland Training Institute, Inc. (WTI) provides wetland training courses on wetland delineation, soils and hydrology, wetland construction and restoration, plant identification, mitigation banking concepts, wetland policy and permitting, and other riparian resource issues.

• California Environmental Education Interagency Network (CEEIN)
• California Water Board Academy
• California State University
  • CSU Sacramento water-related programs
  • SDSU Watershed Science Institute
• Northwest Environmental Training Center
• Project WET Facilitator's Trainings: Various dates and locations in California
• San Francisco Bay Joint Venture - Events (Includes workshops and training)
• Sierra Streams Institute
• University of California
  • UC Berkeley College of Natural Resources International & Executive Programs Beahrs Environmental Leadership Program
  • The University of California at Davis Department of Land, Air and Water Resources offers courses covering Climate Change, Sustainable Agriculture, Environmental Quality & Landscape Processes
  • UC Davis Extension Office
• The Watershed Project Workshops: Environmental Education for Bay Area Educators & Residents