IntroductionLocation | The Initiative for Watershed Excellence (IWE) extends and enhances existing capacity-building initiatives that target impaired watersheds by providing training to professionals engaged in Total Maximum Daily Load (TMDL) and Watershed Protection Plan (WPP) projects, engaging students and faculty in maximizing the effectiveness of stakeholder participation in watershed management activities through a Watershed Management Practicum Course, assisting key entities responsible for reviewing watershed planning, and developing a Consortium for Watershed Excellence among collaborating entities within USEPA Region 6. These efforts will help optimize the benefits of capacity-building activities through adaptive management strategies that focus on local actions and improve water quality conditions. The IWE is accomplishing this by executing four tasks: (1) Professional training in Integrated Water Resource Management; (2) Developing a Watershed Management Practicum course; (3) Establish Process and Role for Watershed Management Plan Reviews to improve the low satisfaction rates for watershed plans; and (4) Encourage contributors’ and colleagues’ participation in the Consortium for Watershed Excellence. |
Principal Investigator: Andrew Sansom, Director of the Meadows Center for Water and the Environment
Co-Principal Investigators:
Mr. Eric Mendelman, Program Manager for the Watershed Initiative
Dr. Walter Rast, Aquatic Biology Department, Texas State University
Dr. Vicente Lopes, Aquatic Biology Department, Texas State University
Duration: 9/1/2006- 9/1/2010
The Meadows Center for Water and the Environment at Texas State University and sites provided by project collaborators.
Staff & guests pictured at grand opening of the Rivers Center at Aquarena Springs.
The Meadows Center, formerly know and the River System Institute, is collaborating with Texas State University-San Marcos in developing education programs that target a range of watershed stakeholders, including public managers in identified watersheds, Texas State faculty and students, and the general public. As indicated in the IWE concept paper, the main objectives of the IWE include developing college and university capacity-building support of local institutions to implement TMDL and WPP plans.
Task 2.1: Professional Training in Integrated Water Resource Management
Task 2.2: Watershed Management Practicum
Task 2.3: Explore Process and Role for Watershed Plan Reviews
Task 2.4: Consortium for Watershed Excellence
The Meadows Center, Consortium members, Texas State University faculty and administration members and graduate students, Texas Center for Environmental Quality, Texas Water Resources Institute, and local and regional stakeholders.
Funding for direct costs associated with this project is provided by the Environmental Protection Agency, National Resources Conservation Service, Texas Water Development Board, and the National Science Foundation.
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