Watershed Ecological Risk Assessment

Introduction

Ecological risk assessment is a process to collect, organize, analyze and present scientific information to improve decision making. When applied in a watershed context, risk assessment methods can help bring scientific data into environmental decisions.

This module introduces watershed ecological risk assessment and cites examples of its use. By following the principles described in two EPA guidance documents (USEPA 1992, USEPA 1998) and experiences from several watershed assessments, the module provides information on how to develop a risk assessment and present results to decision makers and stakeholders. The module also links to other websites that provide the details about several watershed risk case studies. The content of this module is appropriate for scientific/technical audiences. Although some watershed organizations may not have the scientific resources to conduct detailed watershed risk assessments, they may still benefit from using parts of the risk assessment processes described in this module.

The aims of this module are:

to introduce a sound science-based assessment method to people working in watersheds;
to point out how using the methodology makes environmental assessment data more useful to managers;
to provide links to real watershed risk case studies for further study.

Throughout the module, underlined terms in red are hot-linked to the glossary (see also button in upper right part of screen).

If this is your first visit to a Watershed Academy Web module, click the “How to navigate” link near the top of your screen for general browsing instructions.

Section 1 of 13

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