ERS 482/682 Small Watershed Hydrology
Fall Semester 2002
Research Project
In the second half of the course, we will be focusing on small watershed issues and management.
Therefore, rather than have a series of weekly homework assignments, we are going to use what
we are learning to evaluate watershed issues on the watersheds we have visited during this class.
This will be a group assignment with groups assigned as follows:
Group 1:
Nina, Jessica (Topic 4)
Group 3:
Peter, Zach, Adrina (Topic 1)
Group 2:
Ken, Brooke (Topic 2)
Group 4:
Eric, Stacey, Ryan (Topic 3)
The group project will consist of the following parts, with the total grade being equivalent to 4
homework assignments.
Item
Due date
% of project grade
A. Preliminary report
November 15, 2002
20%
B. Final report
December 13, 2002
40%
C. Presentation
December 9, 2002
30%
D. Class evaluation of presentation December 13, 2002
5%
E. Group evaluation of group work December 13, 2002
5%
A. Preliminary report: This should include:
 A description of the problem that your group is addressing
 A map of your project watershed with the watershed delineated on a topographic map
 An outline of the report that can be used as the table of contents for the final report (it
may be revised after you have submitted the preliminary report)
B. Final report: The total report length should be 10-15 pages without appendices. It should be
written as if you were submitting it to a professional client who may or may not be familiar
with the project and the methods you used (i.e., be complete in your descriptions of the
issues, methods, and recommendations). The report must include:
 A table of contents (outline for preliminary report)*
 A map of the watershed…delineate the watershed and include it in your report*
 A description of the problem that you are addressing*
 A description of the watershed
 A description of the methods you used to gather, analyze, and synthesize the data
 A description of the results
 A discussion of the results
 Your recommendations for management options and/or further research or data needs
 Appropriate tables, graphs and/or figures in the report to convey the information
 Supplementary tables, graphs, and/or data in appendices to back up the information in
the report
 References used
 GRADUATE STUDENTS ONLY: You must also do a literature review of the
problem you are addressing that should result in one or two paragraphs in the
description of the problem that you are addressing; pertinent items from the literature
may also be referred to in your discussion and/or recommendations
* indicates items that need to be in the preliminary report
ERS 482/682 (Fall 2002)
Research Project
C. Presentation: Each group will prepare a 10-12 minute Powerpoint presentation that will be
presented on the last day of class (December 9) to the rest of the class. The presentation
should be professional, understandable, and complete. This presentation should include the
following information:





Description of the problem, including why this is an important issue (i.e., why do we
care?)
Methods used
Results of data collection and analysis
Discussion and recommendations
Acknowledgments, if appropriate
D. Class evaluation of presentation: On December 9, each class member will evaluate the
presentations of the other three groups using the evaluation sheet attached to this handout.
The ratings of the class will be averaged to assign the score for this portion of the project
grade.
E. Group evaluation of group work: Each group member will evaluate the members of his/her
group in regards to the quality of work they contributed to the group project, including
himself/herself. The ratings of the group members will be averaged to assign the score for
this portion of the project grade.
2
ERS 482/682 (Fall 2002)
Research Project
3
Topics:
1. Assessment of Virginia Lake; research urban lakes and typical impacts1; use the data we
gathered; coordinate with Dr. Walker to gather more temperature data; analyze the water
temperatures, plot the DO profiles, summarize the water quality analysis results,
including water temperature patterns and water quality differences between different
storm drains and the lake; make recommendations for further investigations
2. Assessment of Eagle Rock Creek watershed hyporheic influence; research fire effects
(especially in terms of surface/ground water interaction and nutrient transport) and how
that might relate to this watershed1; include results from water quality and depth
measurements and what those indicate about water quality and water movement in the
watershed; coordinate with Dr. Susfalk to go up and take water depth measurements one
or two more times before the end of the semester; make recommendations for further
investigations
3. Assessment of Gondola Fire ash layer influence; research fire effects (especially in terms
of ash composition and movement) and how that might relate to this watershed1; include
analysis of bulk density and soil quality results from soil sampling and what those results
indicate about nutrient movement in relation to the ash layer in the watershed; coordinate
with Dr. Miller or Dr. Johnson to go up and take another set of ash layer measurements
after a good storm
4. Assessment of Incline Creek watershed; research past and ongoing activities at Incline
Creek1; include results from our water quality and depth measurements, along with data
that Dr. Susfalk already has gotten; coordinate with Dr. Susfalk to take another set of
depth measurements; summarize water quality and water movement in the watershed;
make recommendations for further investigations
1
Undergraduate students can do research based on lectures and textbook information;
graduate students must do literature review as well.
ERS 482/682 (Fall 2002)
Research Project
4
ERS 482/682 Project Evaluation Sheet
Due at Final Exam on December 13, 2002
Name:
Title for your group presentation:
List the members in your group (including yourself) and rate their useful participation in
preparing the project report and presentation (scale of 0-3, where 0 = not useful; 3 = very useful):
Name:
0
1
2
3
Name:
0
1
2
3
Name:
0
1
2
3
Please write any comments regarding the participation of your group members here.
Please rate the presentations of the other groups (circle one number on a scale of 0-3, where 0 =
poor; 3 = excellent):
Title:
Names of group members:
Originality
Comments:
0
1
2
3
Appearance
0
1
2
3
Quality
0
1
2
3
3
Appearance
0
1
2
3
Quality
0
1
2
3
3
Appearance
0
1
2
3
Quality
0
1
2
3
Title:
Names of group members:
Originality
Comments:
0
1
2
Title:
Names of group members:
Originality
Comments:
0
1
2