The Texas Water Resources Institute’s Urban Riparian and Stream Restoration Program will host a workshop from 8:30 a.m.-4 p.m. Sept. 27 in Bryan for professionals interested in conducting stream restoration projects around the Bryan-College Station area.
The morning session will be at the Brazos Center, Assembly Room 4, 3232 Briarcrest Drive. The afternoon session will be outdoors along Carters Creek where attendees will learn stream surveying techniques.
Clare Entwistle, research associate at the institute’s San Antonio office, said attendees must register by Sept. 24. Attendees are encouraged to register early as the workshop is limited to 40 people.
Registration cost is $100 and can be done on the Texas A&M Marketplace or by contacting Entwistle at 210-277-0292 ext. 205 or clare.entwistle@ag.tamu.edu. Cost includes all training materials, lunch and a certificate of completion at the end of the course.
“Riparian and stream degradation is a major threat to water quality, in-stream habitat, terrestrial wildlife, aquatic species and overall stream health,” said Dr. Fouad Jaber, AgriLife Extension program specialist for the Texas A&M AgriLife Research and Extension Center in Dallas. “Proper management, protection and restoration of these riparian areas will improve water quality, lower in-stream temperatures, improve aquatic habitat and fish community integrity.”
Jaber said the goal of the workshop is for participants to better understand urban stream functions and impacts of development on urban streams.
“The workshop will teach attendees how to recognize healthy versus degraded stream systems, assess and classify a stream using the Bank Erosion Hazard Index, and comprehend differences between natural and traditional restoration techniques,” he said.
Workshop presentations will be given by representatives of the Texas Water Resources Institute, the AgriLife center in Dallas and Ecological Restoration, Inc.
Entwistle said the institute is able to offer the workshop at a reduced cost thanks to program funding provided through a Clean Water Act nonpoint source grant from the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality and the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency.
Entwistle said participants will receive a certificate of completion and appropriate continuing education unit certificates at the conclusion of the training.
The workshop offers many types of continuing education units and more credits are in the process of being added. Foresters and professional loggers can receive six hours from the Society of American Foresters. It offers one unit from the Texas Water Resources Institute, seven hours for certified crop advisors, six hours for Texas certified floodplain managers, and six hours for Texas Nutrient Management Planning specialists. The program may also be used for continuing education units for professional engineers.
Participants should check with their local Master Naturalist and Master Gardener chapter to see if the workshop is approved in their area.
For more information, contact Entwistle, visit the Texas Riparian Association website or go to its Facebook page.
