Water Quality Compliance Specialist - Bureau of Watershed Protection and Restoration

Position Description

Full‑time Water Quality Compliance Specialist position in the Bureau of Watershed Protection and Restoration (BWPR) in the Anne Arundel County Department of Public Works. This position coordinates the development and implementation of research methodologies to document the ecological condition(s) of County waterways and watershed health, with a particular focus on assessing ecological responses to the BWPR restoration program. While the employee will serve a leading role in coordinating and conducting research and monitoring, this position is not supervisory.

Advanced level professional and technical work in water resources. Provides technical support for compliance with federal and state water quality related requirements. Work includes developing and implementing hypothesis‑driven research in two major focus areas: watershed‑scale stream health and ecological restoration project efficacy (e.g., functional uplift of biological communities and resource trade‑offs). The employee will take a leading role in coordinating team monitoring and research activities and is expected to oversee multiple research projects in various stages of implementation.

The role involves coordinating and tracking efforts with program staff, BWPR leadership, consultants, and other stakeholders, developing data management frameworks, analyzing historical datasets, representing BWPR on relevant work groups, presenting research results, preparing reports and papers for peer‑review publication, and supporting short‑ and long‑term strategic planning efforts.

• Provides oversight and guidance to and participates in the implementation of ecological research to assess and document the status and trends of County waterways and watershed health.
• Develops and implements rigorous study protocols to verify environmental effects of a subset of implemented restoration projects (e.g., ecological uplift, in‑stream sediment and nutrient processing and load flux).
• Coordinates efforts among the research staff within the Ecological Assessment and Evaluation Unit; coordinates deliverables with team members that align with their knowledge, skill sets, and interests; fosters a cohesive and collaborative team that emphasizes productivity, professional development, and safety.
• Analyzes data to evaluate research results for use in policy and management decision‑making; develops and submits oral and written reports including technical paper submissions to peer review journals.
• Stays current on ecological monitoring science; actively considers and proposes innovative science‑based methodologies that best meet BWPR’s priorities.
• Works closely with outside, academic and consultant scientists to advance experimental work in Anne Arundel County, including through programs like the Chesapeake Bay Trust’s Pooled Monitoring program.
• Participates in environmental outreach activities including but not limited to public meetings, conference and in‑house presentations, and publication of collected data.
• Oversees contracts and consultant services associated with study implementation.
• Works cooperatively with BWPR staff to provide stormwater permit compliance support and total maximum daily load (TMDL) and watershed assessment support.
• Performs related duties as assigned.

• Thorough knowledge of principles, procedures, techniques, and applications of chemical, biological, and geomorphic data collection and analyses as related to ecological studies.
• Knowledge of Mid‑Atlantic stream function and common ecological restoration practices.
• Demonstrated skill performing generally accepted field monitoring techniques for ecological research.
• Demonstrated skill conducting complex statistical analyses of ecological data and using data software such as R, JMP, and ArcGIS.
• Demonstrated skill evaluating and translating non‑tidal restoration monitoring results for use in policy, management, and education.
• Knowledge of Federal, State, and local permit requirements and regulations related to ecological restoration and assessment of non‑tidal aquatic environments.
• Knowledge of…