A technical training course offered free by Ashokan Watershed Stream Management Program.
This will be a 2-day training course designed to improve participants ability to “read a river.” There will be one half-day of classroom-based learning, with the remaining time being devoted to model and field-based education. The first day is titled “Fundaments of Stream Form & Function.” In addition to classroom education, field instructors from Ulster County Soil & Water Conservation District will utilize streamside excursions and novel stream process models that mimic the processes of channel evolution and sediment transport. The second day will be spent almost entirely on the stream. Instructors will help participants “calibrate” their eyes to make observations on river form and process that can help inform management decisions. This includes observing erosional and depositional stream features, distinguishing perceived and actual risk of in-stream wood, predicting stream bank erosion rates, and assessing the functional role riparian vegetation in stream management.
The training will be held at Menla Mountain Resort in Phoenicia and include extended time in the field along the Pantherkill, a tributary of Woodland Creek, which in turn flows into the Esopus Creek upstream of Phoenicia.
Day 1 - 8:30am-4:00pm
· Classroom based education.
· Stream Features Walk on the Pantherkill.
· Stream Table (for modeling channel process and evolution)
· Bedloader (for modeling bedload sediment transport dynamics)
Day 2 - 8:30am-4:00pm
· Observing Geomorphic Indicators and Their Management Implications
· In-Stream Wood: Should It Stay or Should It Go?
· Assessing Bank Erosion: Basics of the BANCS Model
· Vegetation: The Root of Streamside Protection
Light breakfast and lunch will be provided to all attendees on both days of the training. Attendance on both days required for completion of the course.
This Ashokan Watershed Stream Management Program offering is designed for municipal officials and staff, DEC permit staff, DOT, new SMP staff, WCC interns who work primarily in the Ashokan Watershed. If you are interested in participating despite meeting this criteria, please contact our event administrators.
Please leave pets at home.
We know that things come up unexpectedly, and cancelations happen. Please be respectful of others who would like to participate, and notify our team as soon as you determine you can no longer attend. Often our events have a waitlist and we work diligently to fill all spots to the best of our ability.
