Associate Environmental Specialist

The Riverside County Flood Control and Water Conservation District seeks an Associate Environmental Specialist that will be assigned to the Watershed Protection Division in Riverside. Under direction, performs a broad range of environmental protection or regulatory compliance activities, developing and implementing strategies for stormwater or flood control infrastructure planning, construction, and maintenance; interprets and applies environmental laws and regulations related to water quality, environmental protection, and permitting;

collaborates with public agencies, stakeholders, and internal teams to ensure project and program compliance; conducts field studies and data analysis to guide planning, regulatory decisions, and compliance strategies; performs other related duties as required.

The Associate Environmental Specialist is the fully qualified journey-level classification in the Environmental Specialist series and reports to an appropriate supervisory or manager level position. The series includes positions ranging from Junior Environmental Specialist to Senior Environmental Specialist, with opportunities for advancement to Environmental Project Manager and Flood Control Division Chief. Incumbents are expected to work independently and exercise judgment within established policies and procedures.

Advancement to the next level in the series is obtained by competitive selection through an open recruitment.

The Associate Environmental Specialist differs from the Senior Environmental Specialist in that the Associate level may act as a team leader for specific studies as assigned, whereas the Senior Environmental Specialist is responsible for providing supervision to assigned staff engaged in environmental planning or water resource planning.

Positions are typically assigned to one of two functional tracks:
Track I – Watershed Protection or Track II – Regulatory and Environmental Planning. Both career Tracks require creative solutions that balance providing critical public safety infrastructure, while also protecting our waterways and the natural environment. This recruitment is specific to Track I.

Positions assigned to the Watershed Protection Division ensure the District’s compliance with environmental laws and regulations governing the construction, operation, and maintenance of stormwater management infrastructure. Incumbents apply technical expertise related to the Clean Water Act Section 402, the Porter-Cologne Water Quality Control Act, and related state and federal water quality regulations. Incumbents in this track support three Areawide Phase I Municipal National Pollution Discharge Elimination Systems (NPDES) Stormwater Programs, develop and implement regional compliance strategies, conduct water quality monitoring and research, and support stakeholder engagement efforts.

Meet The Team The Riverside County Flood Control and Water Conservation District provides for the control and conservation of flood and storm waters and for the protection of watercourses, watersheds, public highways, life and property from damage within its boundaries.

Under supervision of the Watershed Monitoring Section Manager, the Associate Environmental Specialist coordinates the implementation of the core requirements of the monitoring and reporting programs as mandated by the Riverside County NPDES MS4 permits, and other related monitoring activities in support of these programs:

• Conduct field investigations and collect environmental samples (biotic, inorganic, and organic) from flood control channels, surface waterways, and storm drains; perform routine analyses of water, soils, sediments, and/or groundwater.
• Utilize technical knowledge of state and federal environmental laws, regulations, and stormwater management principles to support the construction, operations, and maintenance of municipal storm drain infrastructure.

• Evaluate regulatory requirements and initiatives to develop compliance monitoring strategies that will be used to collect and assess data to characterize environmental conditions of Riverside County’s streams, creeks, lakes, and rivers.

• Review common…