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Use of Watersheds and The TMDL Process as Tools for Curriculum Development and the Introduction of Research Concepts in an Undergraduate Environmental Engineering Course

Dr. Bruce W. Berdanier, PE, PS Ohio Northern University, Ada, Ohio

Abstract

CE 426, Environmental Engineering II, has been developed as an Environmental Engineering analysis course at Ohio Northern University (ONU). This course is offered in the spring quarter and is typically the final Environmental Engineering course taken by senior Civil Engineering students as an elective course. Environmental Studies students in the Biology program also took the course last spring in its first offering. The course is designed to give students sufficient background information in the design and implementation of a surface water quality Total Maximum Daily Load (TMDL) study along with information on designing and implementing a “graduate level” research project. The intent of the course is to have students implement this project on an actual 13 square mile watershed near the university. The stream is impacted by nutrients, and a formal TMDL will be developed by environmental professionals and stakeholders in the near future in accordance with Clean Water Act (CWA) requirements. Student teams sample and analyze for multiple chemical constituents and flow at multiple stream stations according to their project design for distribution of sampling site and time intervals. Students design the study based on the watershed characteristics they study in the course: land use, topography, point and non-point sources, stream accessibility, etc. A complete report of the sampling, analysis, and quantification of the TMDL is prepared by each student by the end of the quarter. An introduction to QUAL2E water quality modeling was included in the Spring 2001 offering. Future course offerings will be modified to better address water quality computer modeling along with establishment of indices used by the state environmental protection agency such as the Qualitative Habitat Evaluation Index (QHEI).

Introduction

CE 426 was designed and implemented in Spring 2001 as an environmental engineering analysis course at the undergraduate level. Environmental engineering courses in Civil engineering programs at the undergraduate level are typically focused around engineering design concepts and focused closed-end design and laboratory experiences. The objectives of this new course were: · To provide the students with an open-ended field laboratory experience that they would have to design and implement themselves, · To have the students focus the independent lecture and laboratory experiences that they had accumulated throughout their program of study to determine the information that they would need to characterize a watershed and conduct a TMDL study,

Proceedings of the 2002 American Society for Engineering Education Annual Conference &Exposition Copyright © 2002, American Society for Engineering Education

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Berdanier, B. (2002, June), Use Of Watersheds And The Tmdl Process As Tools For Curriculum Development And The Introduction Of Research Concepts In An Undergraduate Environmental Engineering Course Paper presented at 2002 Annual Conference, Montreal, Canada. 10.18260/1-2--11097