WATERS Collaborative
Watershed Academics to Enhance Regional Sustainability
Sonoma State University / Sonoma County Water Agency
WATERS 2015 Spring Semester Meeting
February 12, 2015, Darwin 101
Attendees: Keenan Foster (SCWA), Nathan Rank, Martha Shott, Susan Haydon (SCWA), Jay Pederson,
Christine Kuehn (Sonoma RCD), Dan Soto, Jackie Guilford, Michael Cohen, Fran Keller, Ben Ford,
Christopher Dinno
1. Introductions and Announcements
a. SSU Science Symposium will be May 7, 2015 at the SSU Student Center
b. Students from Martha Shott’s class will be presenting their work on the rainfall project
at our department's math colloquium on Wed, March 25th from 4-4:50 pm (with coffee
and cookies served beginning at 3:50 pm). The talks are in Darwin 103.
2. WATERS Projects:
a. Fall Projects and Outcomes – see attached spreadsheet. Attendees provided input and
clarification.
b. Funded Spring Projects – see attached spreadsheet. Attendees provided input and
clarification.
c. Project Opportunities
i. Sonoma Resource Conservation District – Christine Kuehn discussed watershed
projects that SRCD is involved in. SRCD has a local restoration project at Crane
Creek that would be convenient for students and faculty to get involved with
since it is so close to campus. They could especially use help with site
monitoring.
ii. SSU Facilities – Craig Dawson is interested in working with faculty and students
to develop a detailed restoration plan for the campus section of Copeland Creek
iii. SCWA – Keenan Foster mentioned a number of opportunities for engaging
SCWA staff with on-going or new projects at SSU:
1. A NOAA researcher is currently working at SCWA to assist in climate
projections that predict water availability. They may be interested in the
Osborn Preserve weather station project. SCWA Contact: Jay Jaspers
2. Data from a 1990 pond turtle survey on Santa Rosa Creek are available.
A new survey would be ideal to determine how populations have
changed over time.
3. Creating a sediment budget on Copeland Creek would be helpful for
long-term management of the watershed.
4. A vegetation restoration project on Copeland Creek might be of interest
to SCWA. They might be able to fund a project through their Stream
Maintenance Program.
3. SSU Sustainability in the Classroom Grants – WATERS Coordinator is pursuing a second round of
funding in collaboration with Sustainable SSU. We hope to put out an RFP next month.
4. Programs and Activities of CSU’s Water Resources and Policy Initiative (WRPI):
http://www.calstate.edu/water/
a. Student-Faculty Water Research Poster Reception @ BOT Meeting - CSU Chancellor’s
Office, March 24, 2015 4:00-6:00. The co-hosts for this event are CSU Water Resources
and Policy Initiatives (WRPI) and Council on Ocean Affairs, Science and Technology
(COAST). The reception highlights water-related research conducted by CSU students
and their faculty mentors from the 23 CSU campuses. Maya Hoholick and Jackie
Guilford will be attending from SSU and will present a poster on their work: “Rohnert
Park Nutrient Loading Project. ” The project demonstrates research on water
management and provides actionable data to community partner SCWA.
b. The WRPI Annual Meeting is April 9-10 at Fresno State, Alice Peters Auditorium
(registration deadline Feb 26). WRPI reimburses travel costs for 3 persons per CSU
campus (including students). Mike Cohen will be presenting at the conference:
“Application of Microbial Fuel Cells for Recycling Distillery and Winery Wastewaters.”
c. WRPI Faculty Research Incentive Award Program (usu. due August) provides buy-out for
CSU faculty to develop and submit full proposals to external funding agencies and
organizations for water-related research and educational projects. SSU faculty receiving
2014 funding were: Mike Cohen (Biology) and Michelle Goman (Geography)
d. CSU / EPA Internship Program creates volunteer internships on specified EPA projects.
Applications are accepted each semester and on an on-going basis. The following
projects can be conducted from SSU campus:

Analysis of California Refinery Reports to Several Environmental
Programs

Analysis of California Refinery Toxic Releases and Production Data

Current Environmental Issues Impacting Clear Lake

EPA Region 9 State Waste Profiles

LEED Green Education

Sustainability Indicators