EPP 221 – River Restoration, Part 1: Physical Processes
Course Summary: This course introduces participants to the River Restoration Professional Certificate Program and is the first course in the five-course series. The primary goal of this class is to provide a wide-angle view of the constantly evolving science and technology of river restoration, giving you an understanding of the physical science and engineering skills needed to develop and implement a river restoration project. The course is designed for consultants, natural resources managers, public employees, regulators, environmental planners, contractors and others that have an interest in river restoration. The course is led by national experts and practitioners in river restoration, geomorphology, and river engineering.
Duration: 3 days, online
Student Testimonials:
"This course met my expectations and even exceeded it in some respects. I have developed a desire for more knowledge regarding channel modeling and find the subject so interesting."
"There was a lot of detail on so many topics. It was very well organized and the information presented was excellent."
"All of the courses were excellent and the facilitators were very helpful with questions and willing to take time to explain concepts."
Course Topics:
- Fluvial Processes: How water, sediment, and biology constantly interact to form and reform river corridors
- Biology - Biogeomorphology: Introduction to morphologic adjustments due to vegetation, large wood, and aquatic and terrestrial species.
- Hydrology: Rainfall runoff, hydrographs, modified hydrology, and flow frequency.
- Geology and Sediment Dynamics: Sources, scour mechanisms, mobilization, transport, deposition, measurement techniques, sediment transfer, and long-term budgets.
- Stream Energy: Flooding v. erosion, total system energy, potential and kinetic energy, energy dissipation, and channel and floodplain roughness.
- Groundwater/Hyporheic Flow: Interaction between surface water and the hyporheic zone, description of local and regional groundwater, importance of shallow groundwater related to baseflow and stream temperature.
- Hydraulic Modeling and Applications: HEC-RAS and an introduction to advanced techniques.
- Hydraulics: Continuity equation, energy distributions, shear stress, flow types/regimes, discharge definitions, 1, 2, & 3D flow, hydraulic roughness, and turbulence.
- Introduction to Modeling: Types, complexity, assumptions & sensitivity.
- Stream Evolution: The stream incision and recovery process; introduction to the Stream Evolution Model.
- Floodplain Reconnection: How floodplains are formed, various types of floodplains, and why stream disconnection from floodplains has negative impacts on stream processes
- Past Land Use: Forgotten legacies and why learning more about past land uses is critical in understanding current day stream processes, especially in terms of restoration.
- Applied Geomorphic Analyses: How we pull everything together using remote sensing, field visits, and other data to create a broad understanding of a stream corridor and watershed before we attempt a restoration project.
- Climate Change and River Resiliency: Predicted changes in low and flood flows and water temperature in the PNW, and how this may impact future stream restoration.
Available Professional Credit: 3.1 CEU, 31 PDH.