ENVS 560/560L
Watershed Systems
Spring 2015, CSU Monterey Bay. Copyright (C) Dr Doug Smith & Dr Fred Watson.
Syllabus
Syllabus ................................................................................................................................................................................................................ 1
Course Description from Catalog .................................................................................................................................................................... 1
Course Introduction ......................................................................................................................................................................................... 1
M.S. in Applied Marine and Watershed Science - Major Learning Outcome 5 .............................................................................................. 1
Course Learning Outcomes ............................................................................................................................................................................. 2
Schedule of Topics .......................................................................................................................................................................................... 2
Instructors ........................................................................................................................................................................................................ 3
Class times & location ..................................................................................................................................................................................... 3
Prerequisites..................................................................................................................................................................................................... 3
Recommended preparation: ............................................................................................................................................................................. 3
Required texts & technology ........................................................................................................................................................................... 3
Suggested texts ................................................................................................................................................................................................ 3
Assessment ...................................................................................................................................................................................................... 4
Accommodation of Students with Disabilities................................................................................................................................................. 5
SMART College Policy on Academic Honesty ............................................................................................................................................... 5
Syllabus
Course Description from Catalog
ENVS 560 – 3 credits: Develops interdisciplinary skills to address complex environmental issues. Skill sets will be in the fields of hydrology,
fluvial geomorphology, water quality, and ecology. Topics include environmental policy/agency framework, current environmental issues,
and physical/ecological processes in natural and impacted watershed systems. May require weekend field trips. (Offered spring semester.)
ENVS 560L – 1 credit: Required lab course for ENVS 560. Lab fee may be charged. Practical exercises in understanding, communicating,
and solving environmental issues introduced in ENVS 560. Includes data acquisition, analysis, and computer modeling using HEC-RAS,
GIS and other software packages. (Offered spring semester)
Course Introduction
Water-centric terrestrial environmental issues are at the heart of sustainable land use and ecosystem health. Water quality, water quantity,
pollutant loading, coastal pollution, floodplain management, wetland function, urban and agricultural runoff, environmental restoration,
impact mitigation, and natural ecosystem function are topics of regional and global concern. In Watershed Systems (ENVS 560) the student
is exposed to broad spectrum of watershed issues and the modern tools for solution seeking.
In lectures, the student will form a clear understanding of an array of watershed issues impacting California and the world beyond. The
student will place these issues in the modern regulatory framework and attendant over-arching environmental policies. Through a series of
short, mentored laboratory exercises, the student will use industry-standard software & other technology to develop solutions or scenarios
that can be used at all levels in the environmental decision-making process. The software will include HEC-HMS, HEC-RAS, ArcGIS, and
Microsoft Excel.
M.S. in Applied Marine and Watershed Science - Major Learning Outcomes 5 & 6
Watershed Systems partially fulfills the requirements for “Applied Sciences” major learning outcome (MLO 5) in the Appled Marine and
Watershed Science M.S graduate program. MLO 5 states that students will apply advanced principles, theories, and practices of a life
science or earth science field to environmental issues and policies. This outcome is met by passing the ENVS 560 and ENVS 660 series.
Advanced methods and technologies in watershed research are introduced in ENVS 560 (Watershed Systems) using a series of short teaching
modules. In each module, advanced analysis tools that are used to address watershed issues are introduced and practiced. In ENVS 660
(Advanced Watershed Science & Policy) students combine the skills that were learned in both ENVS 560 Watershed Systems and ENVS 550
Research Methods to effectively address current watershed issues.
ENVS 560/560L also partially satisfies MLO 6 (Elective) for students taking the Marine Science Emphasis within AMWS.
Course Learning Outcomes
1.
Learning outcome 1 (Water issues in California and the world):
 Students will be able to discuss the major water and watershed issues facing California and the world today. They will be
able to place the issues into a policy framework. Students will be able to list a selection of common analytical tools used to
address key watershed issues.
2. Learning outcome 2 (Quantitative Hydrologic Cycle):
 Students will be able to create a systems diagram of the hydrologic cycle, and will solve water budget problems at a variety
of scales in that system. Student will be able to quantify the movement of water through the water cycle.
3. Learning outcome 3 (Statistics of flood and drought frequency):
 Students will calculate the frequency of hydrologic (e.g. rainfall, drought, flow, and flood) events using annual hydrologic
data and partial-duration series hydrologic data. The student will be familiar with normal and log-normal probability
density functions and log-Pearson III analysis. The student will develop flow-duration curves for use in water quality
modeling.
4. Learning outcome 4 (Fluvial geomorphology and Hydraulics):
 Students will be able to accurately identify various parts of watersheds and rivers, and discuss their physical significance.
Students will be familiar with the Rosgen stream classification scheme. Students be familiar with the theory and
calculation of Froude number, Reynolds number, and will be able to recognize the various hydraulic states of flowing
water. Students will be familiar with models of sediment competency and capacity.
5. Learning outcome 5 (Rainfall and Runoff):
 Students will be able to describe the watershed parameters that are used to model and predict the conversion of
precipitation to overland flow and river discharge. Student will be able to use HEC-HMS to model the parsing of rainfall
into runoff and losses.
6. Learning outcome 6 (River Discharge and Stage):
 Students will be able to use standard hydraulics theory to calculate local water elevation for a given stream discharge.
Student will be familiar with the use, limitations, and assumptions of HEC-RAS step-backwater computer model that
converts stream discharge to water elevation.
7. Learning outcome 7 (GIS Watershed Applications):
 Students will be able to use GIS data to conduct basic watershed and land use analysis in support of hydrologic and water
quality analyses.
8. Learning outcome 8 (Sediment Yield):
 Students will be able to describe the watershed parameters that are used to model and predict the sediment yield eroded
from the landscape. The student will be familiar with use, limitations, and assumptions computer models of sediment yield
such as WEPP. Student will be familiar with the use of sediment inventories using the methods of Pacific Watershed
Associates (PWA) as a tool for predicting annual sediment loads from rural watersheds.
9. Learning outcome 9 (Sediment Transport):
 Students will be able to apply sediment transport models to a variety of watershed issues including stream channel design.
10. Learning outcome 10 (Water Issues & Policy)
 Students will be able to list and describe typical steps involved in assessing certain water issues e.g. TMDL development.
11. Learning outcome 11 (Science Communication)
 Students will be able to verbally discuss technical scientific concepts to both technically savvy- and lay-audiences.
Students will be able to create technically correct, well-illustrated scientific reports.
Schedule of Topics
The schedule of topics is listed in detail on the internal class web page. The major elements of the schedule include:
1.
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5.
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14.
Field trip to case-study watershed
Watershed delineation using ArcGIS
Watershed mapping using ArcGIS
Watershed modeling using HEC-HMS
Field trip to (e.g.) Salinas & the Gabilan Watershed, Hollister Hills, and/or Monterey Peninsula etc.
Hydrologic budget
Hydrologic statistics
Spring Break
Watershed issues & policy
Field trip to Molera wetland
Fluvial geomorphology
Hydraulics
Sediment transport
Stream channel design
Instructors
Dr Doug Smith
Chapman Science Academic Center, SEP Chair’s Office (3rd floor), (831) 582-4696, dosmith@csumb.edu
Office hours: By appointment set up using email.
Dr Fred Watson
Chapman Science Academic Center, Room E112, (831) 582-4452, fwatson@csumb.edu
Office hours: By appointment set up using email.
Class times & location
Tuesdays: 12:00 – 3:50
Thursdays: 12:00 – 1:50.
Chapman Science Academic Center E136
Prerequisites
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Instructor consent
Postgraduate course. Undergraduates may apply
Calculus (one year)
Biology/Ecology (one year)
Physical Earth Science (one course)
GIS (one course)
Recommended preparation:

River Hydrology (e.g. GEOL 460)
Non-CSUMB applicants may enroll through Open University
Required texts & technology
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No required texts.
It is very helpful to have your own notebook PC (or Mac that can run PC software e.g. ArcGIS)
A large USB storage device is required, e.g. a 32 GB thumb drive or a 100 GB USB hard drive
Suggested texts
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Dingman - Physical Hydrology (2nd ed.) – a great all-round text on hydrology
Gordon et al.--Stream Hydrology an intro for ecologists
Dunne & Leopold—Water in Environmental Planning
HEC-RAS, HEC-HMS software manuals
Maidment and Djokic, 2000, Hydrologic and Hydraulic Modeling Support. ESRI Press. ISBN: 1879102803
Elder, Killian, and Koberstein, 2006, The Clean Water Act: Owner's Manual, 2nd ed. River Network
Chapra – Surface Water-Quality Modeling
Subscription to various mailing lists. Instructor will provide link to list of these lists.
Assessment
This course must be taken for a letter grade. Student learning will be assessed primarily through completion of in-class and take-home
Assignments submitted electronically using iLearn. The grading breakdown is as follows:
Assignments
Total
N=13
Percentages of total assessment
Approx. 1% to 15% each
100%
You are expected to have a good understanding of MS Office products (Excel, Word, & PowerPoint; 2010 versions or later) and Adobe
Acrobat (Standard version, not just the Reader) and you should be able to utilize and combine all of these programs to create assessable
documents. Assignments are due at 11:59 pm on the date specified, unless otherwise specified. Late assignments will only be accepted with
prior approval by a course Instructor, normally with a 1% deduction of final course score per day late, starting immediately after the
deadline. It is the student’s responsibility to request approval ahead of time.
Grades will be specifically linked to the learning outcomes of each project. While the grade A+ signifies perfection beyond the basic learning
outcomes, the C signifies the ability to accomplish the learning outcome, and grades between A and C reflect the performances between these
extremes.
Grading basis will be approximately as follows. You need to equal or exceed each cutoff in order to earn the corresponding grade; scores
will not be rounded up. If for some reason the total possible assignment score does not add up to 100% exactly, it will be pro-rated to 100
points before conversion to a letter grade.
Grade
A+
A
AB+
B
BC+
C
CD
F
Score
98%
92%
90%
88%
82%
80%
78%
70%
na
60%
<60%
(continued on next page)
Accommodation of Students with Disabilities
CSUMB welcomes and accommodates students with disabilities as part of campus diversity and for legal compliance. Students with
disabilities who may need accommodations please see a course Instructor by 3-days after the official CSUMB Add/Drop date (about 2-weeks
into semester) after class, during office hours, or by making an appointment. ALSO, contact: Student_Disability_Resources@csumb.edu,
Building 47, Student Services, First Floor, Phone: 831/582-3672 voice, or 582-4024 fax/TTY http://sdr.csumb.edu/.
Class Policy on Academic Integrity
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3.
It is the responsibility of the students in this class to familiarize themselves with the University Policy on Academic Integrity:
a. http://policy.csumb.edu/academic-integrity
…and the university procedures on Academic Integrity
a. http://judicial.csumb.edu/academic-integrity
The plagiarism detection software Turnitin.com may be used in this class.
Academic Integrity is extremely important. Don’t cheat. Don’t copy someone else’s text or data without attribution. Don’t represent someone
else’s work as your own, even in a draft submission. Accidental plagiarism is still plagiarism, and it leads to heavy penalties with lasting
impacts.
SMART College Policy on Academic Honesty
All students are expected to do their own academic work. Plagiarism, copying the work of others and claiming it as one's own, has lead to
the destruction of many reputations and careers. The code governing student conduct in the California State University regarding plagiarism
and academic honesty is based on section 41301, Article 1, Subchapter 3, Chapter 5, Title 5 of the California Code Regulations, and is as
follows:
"41301. Expulsion, Suspension and Probation of Students.--Following procedures consonant with due process established pursuant to
Section 41304, any student of a campus may be expelled, suspended, placed on probation or given a lesser sanction for ..... cheating or
plagiarism in connection with an academic program at a campus."
Within the SMART College, plagiarism or other forms of dishonesty by students in their academic work will not be tolerated, and will result
in serious and immediate consequences. In keeping with CSU requirements, academic dishonesty cases that occur in the classroom shall be
handled by faculty members. The practice in SMART shall be that students who are found by faculty to have committed plagiarism in an
assignment will, at minimum, upon the first offense fail that assignment. Upon the second offense, a student will, at minimum, fail the class.
In addition, and in keeping with CSU requirements, after action has been taken, the faculty member shall complete a REPORT OF
ACADEMIC DISHONESTY form to identify the student who was found responsible, the general nature of the offense, the action taken, and a
recommendation as to whether or not additional administrative action is needed. The completed form shall then be sent by the faculty
member to the Judicial Affairs Office. This process provides an opportunity to hold students accountable and to identify students with
multiple academic dishonesty reports. In all cases, the student may be subject to an academic sanction as determined appropriate by the
faculty member, as well as administrative sanctions as deemed necessary by the Judicial Affairs Office.