Fall 2024 tech electives
Interested in a Fall 2024 tech elective? Consider "Colorado River Water Crisis" or "Non-Point Source Pollution" and talk to your advisor!
Colorado River Water Crisis
The Colorado River once fostered flourishing life in the 20th century, but it no longer meets all needs today. Discover the root causes for this water crisis; be able to spearhead solutions for the next century. In this class, you will engage in constructive conversations and consider options for meaningful actions.
We will paint a canvas sprinkling 19th Century vision of John Wesley Powell Âwith modern efforts to manage the river. Passions color this canvas, shaded by desires to make the Colorado work for man and illuminated by hope for a Grand Bargain to equitably share dwindling supplies.
• Learn how visions and plans coalesced into the Law of the River.
• Assess its success in unleashing the river’s potential.
• Detect the seeds portending today’s crisis.
• Judge whether the Colorado River crisis is synonymous with the global climate crisis.
First offered in Fall 2023, "Colorado River Water Crisis" was well received by undergraduate and graduate students who registered average FCQ scores of 4.7 (out of 5).
For more information about the course, email the lecturer at martin.hoerling@colorado.edu
Non-Point Source Pollution
This class covers principles, processes, and control of nonpoint source pollution. Particular emphasis is placed on non-point source (NPS) problems associated with urban runoff, agricultural influences on water quality, and impacts of mining and forestry. Surface and ground water pollution in diverse aquatic systems including stream, river, lake, reservoir, estuarine environments are considered. Students are exposed to a variety of structural and non-structural management principles.
Learning outcomes covered:
• Describe the most important legislation and regulations associated with nonpoint source pollution.
• Define the major components of the hydrologic cycle and describe how they affect surface runoff, subsurface flow, groundwater recharge, and surface and groundwater quality.
• Describe the major chemical, physical, and biological processes affecting the fate and transport of nutrients, pesticides, sediment, heavy metals, and other pollutants in the soil, surface runoff, and groundwater.
• Perform rainfall-runoff, erosion, return period, and flood frequency calculations.
• Design stormwater conveyance channels, filter strips, and settling ponds.
• Compute retardation coefficients and degradation rates for pesticides.
• Describe the effects of different production systems and land management practices on the hydrologic and water quality response of rural and urban watersheds.
• Describe the advantages and limitations of conventionally used techniques for diffuse pollution control.
Recommended pre-requisites: CVEN 3313 (Fluid Mechanics) or CVEN 4333 (Engineering Hydrology), or equivalents in other departments.
Please contact Associate Professor if you have any questions.