Watershed Coordinator

Job Description
Full time technical/Watershed Coordinator position. This is an “Exempt” position for the Richfield area watershed to provide technical and administrative support in locally led watershed planning efforts. This position includes: coordination with local water quality committees, identifying and developing proposals for potential funding sources to address non-point sources of water pollution, soliciting project support from landowners, coordinating with partner agencies and local officials, implementing watershed improvement projects, fulfilling the goals and objectives identified in Total Maximum Daily Loads (TMDLs) and watershed plan documents, providing technical assistance to local watershed committees and conservation districts, development of watershed plan documents, and water quality project monitoring activities. Works with and under the direction of the Utah Department of Agriculture and Food, the USDA Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS) and the Utah Division of Water Quality. Office will be located at the Richfield, Utah NRCS office.

Principal Duties

• Plan and implement projects to meet goals of TMDLs to reduce nonpoint source pollution and watershed plans.
• Work with local landowners, stakeholders and conservation district boards to promote and solicit implementation of watershed improvement projects. 
• Prepare grant applications and work plans to support TMDL nonpoint source projects. Assemble technical expertise and coordinate resources to prepare project implementation plans. 
• Develop project plans, designs, and approved permitting documents for nonpoint source water quality improvement projects. 
• Develop sampling and analysis plans and perform associated water quality monitoring activities to determine effectiveness of water quality improvement projects. 
• Coordinate and assist locally-led watershed committees in developing TMDLs and watershed management plans. 
• Assist local watershed groups, Conservation Districts and individuals in developing funding proposals to implement Best Management Practices and goals identified in TMDLs and watershed plans. 
• Develop funding proposals in conjunction with local watershed committees and conservation districts. 
• Coordinate and record matching funds from project cooperators and partner agencies. 
• Complete timely tracking and reporting of implementation activities to meet state and federal requirements. 
• Develop and organize public outreach and educational water quality programs throughout the watershed. 
• Present at local CD meetings, conferences and workshops. 
• Work with Conservation District Supervisors to help coordinate with other agencies, local governments, and interested groups by attending meetings, making presentations, and by providing technical assistance.
• Coordinates and/or acts as a liaison between agency or work unit and other agencies, work units, organizations, suppliers, etc. to implement best practices and stewardship measures to improve conservation efficiency and resource effectiveness.
• Lead the work of others and facilitate work groups. Provide input on performance plans and evaluations. 
• Provide technical assistance at conservation and watershed improvement sites.
• Develop educational materials for local watershed committees, conservation districts and the public.

Ideal Candidate

• Possess a bachelor’s degree or equivalent related experience in hydrology, watershed management, watershed planning, soil science, natural resources, agronomy, agricultural engineering or a related field. 
• Have a high degree of self-motivation and work with minimal supervision. Must work well with technical and professional staff, elected officials, and local stakeholders.
• Possess a valid Utah vehicle driver’s license. This position requires the use of a personal vehicle on both public and private roads during daylight hours and after dark. Mileage will be compensated for business use of personal vehicle. 
• Offer services to individuals and groups without regard to race, color, religion, sex, national origin, or other such designations protected by law.

Why You Should Join Our Team
The State of Utah has great benefits and the Department of Agriculture and Food is made up of a group of great people with a farmer’s work ethic. If you have a passion for agriculture, the Department of Agriculture and Food is the place for you.

The Agency
For more information about our agency (or program) click here.Typical Qualifications

• Knowledge of principles and processes for providing customer and personal services. This includes customer needs assessment, meeting quality standards for services, and evaluation of customer satisfaction.
• Knowledge of the structure and content of the English language including the meaning and spelling of words, rules of composition, and grammar.
• Knowledge of plant and animal organisms, their tissues, cells, functions, interdependencies, and interactions with each other and the environment.
• Knowledge of the practical application of engineering science and technology. This includes applying principles, techniques, procedures, and equipment to the design and production of various goods and services.
• Knowledge of principles and methods for describing the features of land, sea, and air masses, including their physical characteristics, locations, interrelationships, and distribution of plant, animal, and human life.
• Knowledge of laws, legal codes, court procedures, precedents, government regulations, executive orders, agency rules, and the democratic political process.
• Knowledge of design techniques, tools, and principles involved in production of precision technical plans, blueprints, drawings, and models.
• Knowledge of arithmetic, algebra, geometry, calculus, statistics, and their applications.
• Knowledge of business and management principles involved in strategic planning, resource allocation, human resources modeling, leadership technique, production methods, and coordination of people and resources.
• Identifying complex problems and reviewing related information to develop and evaluate options and implement solutions.
• Using logic and reasoning to identify the strengths and weaknesses of alternative solutions, conclusions or approaches to problems.
• Considering the relative costs and benefits of potential actions to choose the most appropriate one.
• Monitoring/Assessing performance of yourself, other individuals, or organizations to make improvements or take corrective action.
• Actively looking for ways to help people.
• Determining how a system should work and how changes in conditions, operations, and the environment will affect outcomes.
• Managing one’s own time and the time of others.
• Identifying measures or indicators of system performance and the actions needed to improve or correct performance, relative to the goals of the system.
• Teaching others how to do something.
• Bringing others together and trying to reconcile differences.
• Analyzing needs and product requirements to create a design.
• Motivating, developing, and directing people as they work, identifying the best people for the job.
• The ability to listen to and understand information and ideas presented through spoken words and sentences.
• The ability to apply general rules to specific problems to produce answers that make sense.
• The ability to communicate information and ideas in speaking so others will understand.
• The ability to tell when something is wrong or is likely to go wrong. It does not involve solving the problem, only recognizing there is a problem.
• The ability to read and understand information and ideas presented in writing.
• The ability to combine pieces of information to form general rules or conclusions (includes finding a relationship among seemingly unrelated events).
• The ability to see details at close range (within a few feet of the observer).
• The ability to speak clearly so others can understand you.
• The ability to arrange things or actions in a certain order or pattern according to a specific rule or set of rules (e.g., patterns of numbers, letters, words, pictures, mathematical operations).
• The ability to add, subtract, multiply, or divide quickly and correctly.
• The ability to concentrate on a task over a period of time without being distracted.
• The ability to shift back and forth between two or more activities or sources of information (such as speech, sounds, touch, or other sources).

Supplemental Information

• And/or experience as a Conservation Planner II or similar experience, or a combination of education and experience equal to the bachelors degree.
• Best qualified individuals for this job will have obtained a bachelor’s degree in Agronomy, Soil Science, Botany, Horticulture, Agricultural Education, Agricultural Engineering, or other natural resource management degree,
• General Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS) Certified Planner or equivalent certification/training in one or more area (e.g. Nutrient Management and Land Treatment (CNMP), Pest Management (IPM), or Agriculture and Wildlife interactions).
• Risks which require the use of special safety precautions and/or equipment, e.g. working around operating machines, working with contagious diseases or hazardous chemicals, etc.
• The work may require overnight travel.
• Valid driver license required to drive a motor vehicle on a highway in this state per UCA 53-3-202(1)(a).granted the privilege to operate a motor vehicle by being licensed as a driver by the division under this chapter.
• Work may require some physical exertion such as long periods of standing, walking over rough terrain or rocky surfaces; recurring bending, crouching, stooping, stretching, reaching or similar activities.