Virginia Water Monitoring Council
Water Monitoring

News and Events (Announcements)

Announcements for July 22, 2009:

Please feel free to forward these announcements. When forwarding, please acknowledge the Virginia Water Monitoring Council. Special thank you to Ashley Allison, VWMC intern, for her help in pulling together these announcements

  1. Job Listing -- James River Park System
  2. Position Opening -- Dam Reoperation, Climate Change, and Uncertainty --  Deadline: August 1, 2009
  3. New River Valley Master Naturalists Water Quality Assessment Training -- August 15 or 22, 2009
  4. Notice of Competitive Grants for Wellhead Protection Implementation -- Deadline: August 28, 2009 
  5. High Level Career Opportunities at EPA -- Deadline: September 8, 2009
  6. Call for Abstracts -- AWRA 2010 Spring Specialty Conference on GIS -- Conference: March 29-31, 2010; Abstract submission deadline: October 9, 2009
  7. Center for Watershed Protection Webcasts -- Managing Stormwater in the Age of Budget Cuts -- From June 2009 at http://www.cwp.org/Webcasts/#archive -- Stormwater Retrofitting -- October 14, 2009
  8. USGS Releases National- and Regional-Scale Assessments on Nutrient Changes in Streams from 1993 to 2003 -- http://water.usgs.gov/nawqa/pubs/nutrient_trends
  9. Virginia Naturally July/August Newsletter -- http://www.vanaturally.com/july_augustnews09.html
  10. EPA Green Infrastructure Publications -- http://cfpub2.epa.gov/npdes/greeninfrastructure/munichandbook.cfm
  11. Technical Report -- "Stormwater BMPs in Virginia's James River Basin: An Assessment of Field Conditions & Programs"

    Please feel free to forward these announcements. When forwarding, please acknowledge the Virginia Water Monitoring Council. Special thank you to Ashley Allison, VWMC intern, for her help in pulling together these announcements.
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1. Job Posting - James River Park System

Seasonal Maintenance Worker: outdoor work along the river; must be able to swim and work in hot, sometimes dirty conditions. $9.75 / hr. Tuesday thru Saturday (some Sundays also available). 9 month max. Job ends at Thanksgiving and can resume in March or April. Contact the City of Richmond web site. Preference given to those on a college career tract in Biology, Environmental Education or Parks Management. Contact: Ralph R. White, Park Manager at 432-1832.
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2. Position Opening -- Dam Reoperation, Climate Change, and Uncertainty

Oregon State University announces a PhD position to begin September 1, 2009 in the area of dam reoperation and climate change. This position supports a project to investigate dam operation strategies on the Willamette River, OR, and Lancang River, China, under three climate change scenarios. The first phase of the project will include hydrodynamic modeling under future climate scenarios, linking hydrologic regimes to ecological flow regimes, and analysis of uncertainty in climate, hydrology, and ecology models. The second phase of the project will emphasize optimization of dam reoperation schemes. This position is funded up to five years, and the candidate should expect to assist with project coordination, travel abroad (China), and present and publish of results. Candidates must already have an MS in Engineering, Hydraulics/Hydrology, Geosciences, Applied Mathematics, or related field. Preference will be given to candidates who have experience with hydrodynamic modeling, mathematical and statistical optimization, and uncertainty analysis. International applicants are welcome and can be accommodated with a J-1 visa. Please e-mail curriculum vitae, letter of interest (fully detailing your interests and experiences), and names/phone number/email of 3 references to: Assistant Professor Desiree Tullos at tullosd@engr.orst.edu. Materials should be received by August 1, 2009 for first consideration.
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3. New River Valley Master Naturalists Water Quality Assessment Training

August 15 or 22, 2009 (10am-4pm) – To be covered: Citizen Monitoring water quality protocols used in Virginia, and watershed-related Standards of Learning and Meaningful Watershed Educational Experiences for Virginia schools. Learn how to perform World Water Monitoring Day chemical and physical measures, GLOBE Basic Hydrology Protocols, macroinvertebrate identification, and the IWLA Virginia Save Our Streams (SOS) biomonitoring protocol.  If time permits, will also review Coliscan coliform bacteria test kits.  Please contact Lynn Tobias to pre-register at lynette.tobias@aphis.usda.gov
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4. Notice of Competitive Grants for Wellhead Protection Implementation

A Request for Proposals has been issued to local governments with ground water based community water supplies.  Local governments with an interest in wellhead protection are encouraged to respond to the RFP.  Funding for this competitive grant program is provided through federal grants to the Virginia Department of Health and the Virginia Department of Environmental Quality.  Deadline for proposal submission is 2 p.m. Friday August 28, 2009. Questions should be directed to Mary Ann Massie at 804.698.4042 or maryann.massie@deq.virginia.gov. Click here to download the form.
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5. High Level Career Opportunities at EPA

EPA's Office of Research and Development (ORD) is seeking highly qualified candidates to fill three positions within the National Exposure Research Laboratory (NERL):

  • Director of the Environmental Sciences Division in Las Vegas, NV.
  • Director of the Ecosystems Research Division in Athens, GA.
  • Director of the Microbial and Chemical Exposure Research Division in Cincinnati, OH.

Specific information can be found at http://www.epa.gov/nerl. Applications must be submitted by September 8, 2009.
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6. Call for Abstracts -- AWRA 2010 Spring Specialty Conference on GIS

March 29-31, 2010 -- Rosen Shingle Creek Hotel, Orlando, Florida -- Geographic Information Systems (GIS) have become a fundamental tool for the analysis, planning and management of environmental and water resources systems. This Specialty Conference continues the American Water Resources Association (AWRA) biennial tradition of surveying the state of knowledge in the field, Abstract submission deadline: Oct 9, 2009. A processing fee of $25 will be charged for each abstract submitted payable upon submission of the abstract. For more information, see: http://www.awra.org/meetings/Florida2010/
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7. Center for Watershed Protection Webcasts

  • Managing Stormwater in the Age of Budget Cuts -- June webcast archive is free and available at http://www.cwp.org/Webcasts/#archive.
  • Stormwater Retrofitting -- October 14, 2009 (12-2pm EST) -- Registration will open in August. For more information, visit http://www.cwp.org/Webcasts/. This webcast will discuss the design and implementation of stormwater retrofit practices featured in CWP's Urban Stormwater Retrofit Practices manual, which discusses retrofitting existing urban lands, such as parking lots, residential streets, conveyance systems and landscaped areas. The webcast will also provide information about the cost and pollutant removal performance of stormwater retrofits.
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8. USGS Releases National- and Regional-Scale Assessments on Nutrient Changes in Streams from 1993 to 2003

The U.S. Geological Survey National Water-Quality Assessment program conducted national- and regional-scale trend assessments (1993 to 2003) of nutrient concentrations and loads in streams and how these trends corresponded to changes in streamflow and nutrient sources, such as fertilizer applications, animal manure, population, and atmospheric deposition. Phosphorus and nitrogen concentrations remained relatively stable in about half of the streams assessed nationwide from 1993 to 2003; however, the pattern did vary in some regions, including increases in phosphorus concentrations in more than half of the streams assessed in the Mississippi/Atchafalaya River Basin. Linking trends in stream nutrient levels to changes in nutrient sources will enhance our understanding of the effectiveness of land management actions. The article can be accessed here: http://water.usgs.gov/nawqa/pubs/nutrient_trends/.
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9. Virginia Naturally July/August Newsletter

September 30 - October 2, 2009 - The newest edition of the Virginia Naturally newsletter is now available and can be viewed at http://www.vanaturally.com/july_augustnews09.html. Includes: Special Features (Environmental Education Conference News; Survey to Guide Program and Resource Planning for new Keep Virginia Beautiful; and much more); Funding and Award Deadlines; Upcoming Events; and more information.
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10. EPA Green Infrastructure Publications

EPA developed a series of documents to help local officials implement green infrastructure in their communities. Each handbook cover issues such as financing, operation and maintenance, incentives, designs, codes & ordinances, and a variety of other subjects. The handbook documents are intended to serve as "how to" manuals on these topics, written primarily from the standpoint of municipal implementation. For more information, visit: http://cfpub2.epa.gov/npdes/greeninfrastructure/munichandbook.cfm
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11. Technical Report -- "Stormwater BMPs in Virginia's James River Basin: An Assessment of Field Conditions & Programs"

This report by the Center for Watershed Protection is part of the Extreme BMP Makeover project and is available as a PDF download here. This study was a performance survey of nearly 200 stormwater BMP facilities in urban areas throughout the James River watershed. At each BMP site, field teams looked for: indicators of erosion, clogging, and structural problems at the inlets and outlets; conditions directly downstream of the BMP; health of vegetative cover; signs of improper flow paths of water; maintenance issues; interesting design features; and more. The technical report describes the survey results and provides recommendations.
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Information provided to the members of the Virginia Water Monitoring Council

To learn more about the Council, please browse the rest of our website or contact Jane Walker at the address below. If you have any water-monitoring related news of regional or statewide interest, send it to Jane Walker and ask that it be distributed to VWMC membership. Tax-deductible contributions can be made to the VWMC to support these information updates and other VWMC activities. Make checks payable to: “The Virginia Tech Foundation” and on the memo portion of the check include “Fund #872802.” Mail contributions to Jane Walker, VWMC administrator, at the address below.

Jane Walker
Research Associate
Virginia Water Resources Research Center
210 Cheatham Hall (0444)
Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University
Blacksburg, VA 24061

Phone: 540-231-4159
Fax: 540-231-6673
Email: janewalk@vt.edu
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