FLOW 2015: Program – INSTREAM FLOW COUNCIL

Program Agenda

The program agenda for FLOW 2015 is nearing completion. We have many interesting sessions and presentations already lined up with an impressive list of speakers and moderators. But there is more to come so check back soon to see why this will be the premier instream flow event of 2015!

Day 1: Pre-workshop Training Sessions:

Four (4) training sessions will be offered concurrently in the morning and repeated in the afternoon. See the training session descriptions below.

Tuesday, April 28
	Registration
9:00 a.m.	Training Session 1: Part 1 Training Session 2: Part 1 Training Session 3: Part 1 Training Session 4: Part 1
10:30 a.m.	Break
10:45 a.m.	Training Session 1: Part 2 Training Session 2: Part 2 (Eligible for 2.75 CLE credits) Training Session 3: Part 2 Training Session 4: Part 2 (Eligible for 2.75 CLE credits)
12:00 a.m.	Lunch
1:30 p.m.	Training Session 1: Part 1 Training Session 2: Part 1 Training Session 3: Part 1 Training Session 4: Part 1
3:00 p.m.	Break
3:15 p.m.	Training Session 1: Part 2 Training Session 2: Part 2 (Eligible for 2.75 CLE credits) Training Session 3: Part 2 Training Session 4: Part 2 (Eligible for 2.75 CLE credits)
4:30 p.m.	Registration Day 1 Wrap-up
6:00 – 8:00 p.m.	Reception- Mount St. Helen’s Ballroom and River Terrace

Training Session 1	Making sense of flow regimes: Wading through the array of hydrologic indicators. Hydrology-based environmental flow recommendations are commonly presented as a means to achieve aquatic ecosystem objectives. This workshop will focus on methods to analyse stream flow time series data and extract hydrologic indicators and assessment criteria using the Streamflow Analysis and Assessment Software (SAAS). Important nuances of commonly used hydrologic indicators, uncertainty in environmental flow estimates, and new hydrologic indicators that take a more integrative approach will be discussed. This will be an interactive session and participants are encouraged to bring their laptops with the software installed. SAAS is programmed using Matlab and compiled as a 'standalone' package. However, it is necessary to have the Matlab Component Runtime (MCR) on your system which is available for download on the SAAS website (link below) and requires administrative privileges to install. So please download the SAAS program and the MCR and have the latter installed on your system prior to the workshop. A new version of SAAS will be available for the workshop but will use the same MCR version. So if this is already installed, you will be good to go! Workshop lead: Robert A. Metcalfe and Bastian Schmidt, Ontario Ministry of Natural Resources and Forestry Streamflow Analysis and Assessment Software (SAAS)
Training Session 2	Identifying and developing effective instream flow laws and strategies The Instream Flow Council conducted a survey of instream flow and water level management efforts in every state and province of the U.S. and Canada in 2009. One of the major findings of that study was that the lack of effective laws and policies was one of the biggest challenges to managing rivers and lakes for environmental purposes. Senior author of this study and IFC co-founder Tom Annear has spent over 30 years studying, managing, and assisting with instream flow issues in North America and will provide a practical understanding of often-overlooked principles, key characteristics of effective laws, and realistic strategies to develop better laws for managing environmental flows and lake levels. Workshop lead: Tom Annear, Wyoming Game and Fish Department
Training Session 3	Tools and strategies for assessing and managing riverine condition. How much flow and water level alteration is acceptable to fulfill the ecological function required to meet my objectives? What state of ecological condition is acceptable for this aquatic ecosystem? What is ‘normal’? How do I design a monitoring program that will provide me data that I have confidence in and which I know will increase the certainty in our decisions? Have you been struggling with these questions? This workshop will introduce tools and strategies for more assessing and managing the ecological condition of a river with confidence. Workshop lead: Ian Chisholm, Minnesota Department of Natural Resources
Training Session 4	Applying negotiation skills, strategies and tools for instream flow decision making: When communicating ecosystem needs just isn’t enough for balancing disparate values. How can one advocate effectively for environmental flows and water levels? Whether you are a biologist, ecologist, hydrologist, or fluvial geo-morphologist working to understand and minimise the effects of flow and water level alteration on the condition of aquatic ecosystems, you will be pressed to communicate your message effectively at public meetings and in water allocation negotiations. This workshop will introduce the basic skills, principles, and techniques used in natural resource negotiation so that you can better plan for and participate in these processes and advocate for environmental flows and levels with more confidence. Workshop lead: Nina Burkardt (USGS, Fort Collins, CO)

Day 2: Workshop Program

Speaker Profiles

Wednesday, April 29	Eligible for 2.75 CLE credits
7:00 a.m.	Registration (all day)
8:00 a.m.	Introduction/Welcome (Kevin Mayes, IFC President)
8:10 a.m	Keynote address: Shooting the rapids: Navigating uncertainty to adaptive governance of social-ecological systems. Lance Gunderson, Emory College of Arts and Sciences.
8:55 a.m.	Introduction of session on tools, strategies, and issues used by federal regulatory agencies to integrate scientific information with public input when fulfilling their legal responsibilities. What levels of uncertainty are acceptable when fulfilling their statutory and policy directives to balance water development with environmental protection and mitigation? Moderator – Tom Annear, Wyoming Game and Fish Department.
9:05 a.m.	The Susitna Project: An integrated resource approach to evaluating potential flow and water level regulation effects from the proposed Susitna-Watana hydroelectric project, Alaska – challenges for managing uncertainty related to data and analyses adequacy. Dudley Reiser, R2 Resource Consultants.
9:50 a.m.	Break
10:20 a.m.	United States Army Corps of Engineers Regulatory program decisions under Section 404 of the Clean Water Act associated with the Cache la Poudre River in Colorado – opportunities and challenges. Chandler Peter, United States Army Corps of Engineers.
10:50 a.m.	Skagit instream flow: Dealing with uncertainty and focusing on the environment. Larry Wasserman, Swinomish Indian Tribal Community.
11:20 a.m.	Developing a national policy to direct instream flow protection strategies for permitting new projects in Canada; how it’s working out. Keith Clarke, Department of Fisheries and Oceans.
11:50 a.m.	Lunch (on site): Keynote address – Solutions to accommodate extreme ranges of available flows under changing climate and competition for diminished water supply. Dave Rosgen , Wildland Hydrology.
1:15 p.m.	Facilitated discussion.
2:30 p.m.	Break
3:00 p.m.	Introduction of session on tools, strategies, and issues from state and provincial fish and wildlife agencies (IFC members). Examples from around the U.S. and Canada of how well state and provincial fish and wildlife agencies are equipped to fulfill their public trust responsibilities when it comes to managing streams and lakes. What improvements are needed and what role can the public play to help address those needs? Moderator – Clair Stalnaker United States Geological Survey, emeritus (retired).
3:15 p.m.	Provincial and State Experiences: California (Bev van Buuren), Texas (Kevin Mayes), Mississippi (Dennis Riecke), Massachusetts (Todd Richards), British Columbia (Ron Ptolemy), Alberta (Andrew Paul); 6 speakers – 15 minutes each.
4:45 p.m.	Facilitated discussion
5:30 p.m.	Happy Hour with North West beverages and Poster Exhibition Review
6:30 p.m.	Banquet

Day 3: Workshop Program

Speaker Profiles

Thursday, April 30	Eligible for 1.0 CLE credit
7:00 a.m.	Registration
8:00 a.m.	Introduction of session on Tools, strategies, and issues faced by non-governmental agencies, non-regulatory federal agencies and the private sector. How much certainty do these interests desire or need when confronting regulators and regulatory processes? Is too much information as problematic as too little information? Moderator – Brian Richter, The Nature Conservancy.
8:15 a.m.	ELOHA and the National Water Census: characterizing uncertainty to support management and sustainability of water resources. Jonathan Kennen, United States Geological Survey.
8:45 a.m.	Strategies to save rivers in the Third Millennium in the face of uncertainty. Angela Arthington, Griffith University, Australia.
9:15 a.m.	Break
9:45 a.m.	Applying a risk-based approach to water management for municipalities. Dave Murray, Kerr, Wood, and Leidal Associates.
10:15 a.m.	The water risk filter: quantifying water risk for companies, regardless of industry or country. Stuart Orr, World Wildlife Federation International.
10:45 a.m.	Strategies in industry to improve river health around the globe – Alliance for Water Stewardship program. Michael Spencer, Alliance for Water Stewardship Chair.
11:15 a.m.	Facilitated discussion.
12:00 p.m.	Lunch (on site) Keynote address – Deliberative disjunction: Expert and public understanding of outcome uncertainty. Robin Gregory, Decision Research.
1:00 p.m.	Introduction of session on new methods – Linking ecosystem components ( e.g., hydrology, biology, geomorphology, connectivity, water quality). How do new methods compare to historic methods? Are they better or just more complicated? Moderator – Thom Hardy, Texas State University.
1:15 p.m.	Holistic Method: integration of multiple components in flow modeling. Tom Payne, Normandeau Associates.
1:45 p.m.	The San Juan River population model: Linking ecosystem components, management actions and fish numbers to address uncertainty in new ways. Bill Miller, Miller Ecological Consultants.
2:15 p.m.	Break
2:45p.m.	Dealing with uncertainty; statistical analysis and risk assessments – tools for establishing robust instream flows. Dorian Turner, British Columbia Hydro.
3:15 p.m.	Bayesian probability modeling. Jim Peterson, Oregon Cooperative Fish and Wildlife Research Unit, Oregon State University.
3:45 p.m.	Facilitated discussion.
4:05 p.m.	Recap: So What? Where are we headed? Christopher Estes, Chalk Board Enterprises.
4:35 p.m.	Closure / wrap-up

Last Updated May 3, 2019