PRELIMINARY DRAFT SCHEDULE (SUBJECT TO CHANGE)
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GEOMORPHIC & ECOLOGICAL FUNDAMENTALS FOR RIVER RESTORATION
August 17-21, 2026 Sagehen Creek Field Station, Truckee, California
Monday
8h Welcome, overview of shortcourse, Sagehen Ck introduction (Kondolf, Wilcock)
8h45 Some key concepts (Kondolf)
9h Channel processes, patterns & forms, floodplains, vegetation interactions (Kondolf)
10h15 Break
10h45 Alluvial sediment. Types of sediment problems, grain entrainment and benthos adaptation,
frequency and distribution of disturbance (Wilcock)
11h45 Organisms in fluvial environments. Natural history, population biology, flow regime
adaptation. (Limm – recorded talk)
12h30 Lunch (Be dressed for the field by the end of lunch)
13h30 Channel adjustments & sustainable sediment management; alluvial water table and riparian
vegetation (Kondolf)
14h30 Sagehen Creek: Sampling bed material, Facies/Habitat mapping (Wilcock, Kondolf)
(Sagehen Ck below main camp) Small groups make riparian/channel feature/habitat maps.
16h30 Downtime
17h30 Participant introductions (classroom, refreshments)
19h Dinner
Tuesday
8h Hydrology and hydraulics, estimating transport rates and their uncertainty. Flood frequency &
flow duration, estimating critical discharge, sediment transport, uncertainty (Wilcock)
9h15 Channel classification, stable channel paradigm vs restoring process (Kondolf)
10h15 Break
10h45 Restoring mining-impacted rivers (Monahan)
11h45 Stream table demonstration concurrent with lunch (Zalduondo, Monahan) Groups of appx
10-12 rotate through for 20min each. (Be dressed for the field by the end of lunch)
13h Tour of Tools in Fluvial Geomorphology (Kondolf and Piégay)
13h15 Floodplain overview and re-connection (Tompkins)
14h15 Sagehen Creek: Monitoring bed conditions. (Sagehen Ck below main camp) Demo of flow
msmt & sed sampling, bed material sampling. Rotate through groundwater-vegetation meadow
transect. (Wilcock, Kondolf, Shaw)
16h Pebbles & Cheer: Analyze data from field, sediment transport spreadsheet exercise.
Calculate frequency of floods, sediment disturbance & transport (classroom, refreshments)
17h Meadow hydrology & restoration (Shaw, Natali), Wednesday field trip preview (classroom)
18h River restoration: European experiences (Piégay) (classroom)
19h Dinner
Wednesday
(prepare bag lunch during breakfast)
8h Incorporating sediment transport in channel design. Equilibrium vs performance-based channel
design. (Wilcock)
9h30 Depart on field trip to the Truckee River basin (Kondolf, Wilcock):
Truckee River Gorge: human alterations and restoration strategies (Sega); Wingfield Park, Reno:
urban river park (Litchfield); Perazzo Meadows: pond & plug restoration (Shaw, Natali)
(Board vans/cars for field trip in parking area above kitchen)
16h30 Return to station. Downtime
17h15 Optional discussion of observations from day’s field trip (classroom, refreshments)
17h45 Overview of stream restoration in the Lake Tahoe basin, preview of Thursday’s field trip
(Swanson and others)(classroom)
19h Dinner
Thursday
06h45 ** Early breakfast** (prepare bag lunch during breakfast)
07h45 Early departure on field trip to Upper Truckee River and Lake Tahoe basin (Swanson,
Kondolf, Wilcock, Piégay): Trout Creek (Swanson), Upper Truckee River (Swanson), Truckee
River Marsh (Carroll), Meeks Ck (Swanson), Blackwood Ck (Swanson) (Board vans for field trip
in parking area above kitchen, Optional: bring swim suit for Lake Tahoe at Meeks Ck)
18h Return to station. Downtime. Optional discussion of observations from field trip. (dining
area, refreshments)
19h Dinner
Friday
8h Student workshop, Part 1: Participants present problems faced in their work for discussion.
(McBain, Wilcock, Limm, Piégay, Kondolf)
9h45 Break
10h Trinity River Restoration Program and geomorphic studies: large-scale restoration at the
program scale, geomorphic flow basis & application (tracer rocks, riparian scour, sediment
transport, release hydrographs). (McBain)
12h Lunch (pack up during lunch hour)
13h Controls on ecosystem function. River food webs and ecosystem services (Limm)
14h Student workshop, Part 2: Participants present problems faced in their work for discussion.
(McBain, Wilcock, Limm, Piégay, Kondolf)
16h Course conclusion, depart Sagehen (Reno airport shuttles depart at 14h30 and 15h)