Position Title: Floodplain Field Technician

Position Status: Full Time, 40 hrs per week, Hourly, Non-exempt

Location: Hybrid – Remote Work from Home, Carnation Office, and Fieldwork throughout the Lower Snoqualmie Valley

Compensation: $24/hr

Reports to: Executive Director

Position Announcement: November 25, 2024

Priority Application Date: December 15, 2024 at 5:00 pm 

About the SVPA

The SVPA is a community-based 501(c)(3) nonprofit dedicated to protecting and enhancing the lives, livelihoods, lands, and waters of a Pacific Northwest regional treasure, the Snoqualmie Valley. The SVPA works collaboratively to find balanced, long-term solutions to challenges facing the Snoqualmie Valley — land use planning, agricultural viability, watershed management, ecosystem health, and flood risk reduction and mitigation.

The Snoqualmie Valley is comprised of over 440,000 acres of forests, farms, and small towns, all within an hour’s drive of Seattle. As the urban centers expand rapidly, the rural counterpoint, the environmental and economic viability of the Valley are put under great pressure. Since forming in 2010, the Snoqualmie Valley Preservation Alliance has become a steadfast, organized, reliable, and respected advocate for protection of these irreplaceable working lands. We have become a very effective force for forging productive relationships between community members, farmers, residents, tribes, and county and state officials. We have found creative solutions to shared challenges and made significant headway on some key issues central to protecting the Valley, especially in the area of flooding, agricultural viability, development impacts, and water rights.

About SVPA’s Floodzilla Gauge Network and BeaverWise Programs

The Floodplain Field Technician will support field activities for two of SVPA’s main programs: Floodzilla Gauge Network and BeaverWise.

The Floodzilla Gauge Network monitors water levels throughout the Snoqualmie Valley in real-time. The network relies on a series of SVPA gauges placed in strategic locations to monitor water levels in drainage ditches, farm fields, on public roads, and on the Mainstem Snoqualmie River. The SVPA gauges are ultrasonic sensors that read and transmit water level data every 15 minutes, utilizing Long Range Wide Area Network (LoRa WAN) communication. The locations of the gauges are surveyed to convey water elevation (often in reference to a nearby road) on Floodzilla.com. Flood impacts are significant to farmers, residents, commuters, floodplain managers, and more. This information is critical in helping them to prepare for and mitigate flood risks.

BeaverWise is the SVPA’s beaver management program. This program was developed to help valley landowners and land managers, primarily agricultural producers, mitigate and reduce beaver-caused flooding, drainage issues, and damage to property and infrastructure. The goals of this program are to:

1) Provide base beaver population data necessary for effective wildlife management

2) Deliver technical assistance and beaver-related flood reduction education, resources, and tools to agricultural producers

3) Offer financial assistance in the form of cost-share, free technical guidance, and free regulatory navigation guidance

4) Provide on-site management implementation, installation, and maintenance assistance

SVPA Work Culture

The SVPA is a small team that works in a highly collaborative way with many partners, community members, landowners, government agencies, tribes, and more. We strive to create a fun and safe work environment, both in the field and in the office. Our team is passionate about what we do, and we approach our work with each other, our partners, and our community with positive attitudes, open minds, mutual respect, direct communication, and a high level of productivity. The SVPA provides a space for all staff to voice their ideas and provides a degree of flexibility for individuals to explore projects of personal interest, when feasible and relevant, and develop professionally in a variety of ways.

Position Overview

The Floodplain Field Technician position is a full-time, 40 hours per week, non-exempt position that is funded for 2 years, with potential for extension, if budget allows. The Field Technician will support both Floodzilla Gauge Network for 20 hours per week and BeaverWise for 20 hours per week for a total of 40 hours per week. These hours may fluctuate in ratio between the programs, depending on the time of the year and program needs.

SVPA’s Executive Director will be the primary supervisor of the position, however, on the day to day, the Field Technician will report directly to the Floodzilla Program Manager and Beaver Conservation Manager. The Field Technician will work closely with both program managers, regularly, and occasionally with volunteers, partners, and contractors.

Floodzilla-Related Duties: The Field Technician will be responsible for the weekly duties that keep the Floodzilla Gauge Network conveying accurate data to the public. They are responsible for maintaining existing flood sensors, assisting with new flood sensor installation, troubleshooting devices, ensuring network connectivity, assisting with elevation surveys, and performing site maintenance and preparation, which includes brush clearing and accessing private property in coordination with private landowners. The Field Technician will also support the Floodzilla Program Manager with the Floodzilla volunteer program.

BeaverWise-Related Duties: The Field Technician will be responsible for performing regular field activities that support the BeaverWise program in reducing beaver-caused flooding and damage on farmland and other eligible private lands. Such activities include assisting the Beaver Conservation Manager with consultations and beaver conflict assessment with agricultural landowners, performing beaver dam notching, modification, and removal, flow/coexistence device installation and maintenance. They may also assist with the base beaver population study, as needed, relevant water quality monitoring, and support the management of volunteers to assist with fieldwork projects.

Other Duties:  Other duties may include miscellaneous support to the general activities of the SVPA, including occasional administrative and/or outreach assistance, as needed.

Duties and Responsibilities Detailed:

Field Work:

• Assist Beaver Conservation Manager in consultations with agricultural and other eligible private landowners in the lower Snoqualmie Valley with beaver conflict assessment.
• Assist with the installation and maintenance of beaver coexistence devices (i.e. notch exclusion fences, culvert protection fences, electric fences, vegetation protection, etc.).
• Perform regular beaver dam notching/removal and device maintenance to reduce flooding impacts on private lands.
• Conduct site maintenance and vegetation clearing at Floodzilla Gauge locations.
• Troubleshooting flood monitoring devices in and out of the field.
• Assist Floodzilla Program Manager with new gauge installations and elevation surveys.

Project Management:

• Organizing project materials
• Ensuring upkeep of equipment and hand tools
• Assist Beaver Conservation Manager and Floodzilla Program Manager, as needed, with permit applications and landowner agreements.
• Ensure compliance with Hydraulic Project Approvals (HPA) and other relevant permits.
• Ensure Floodzilla network connectivity, radio signal strength, and device reliability.
• Conduct Floodzilla data monitoring and quality assurance of data.
• Support recordkeeping of devices and data and management of documentation of all field deployment practices and lessons learned.
• Assist Floodzilla Program Manager and Executive Director with grant reporting, budget planning, and coordinating program needs, as needed.

Research:

• Assist with base beaver population study, as needed. This may include identifying beaver features (i.e. beaver dams, lodges, slides, herbivory, etc.) using aerial imagery, ground-truthing drone data, ground surveying for beaver relocation sites, etc.
• Water quality monitoring

Outreach and Education:

• Engage agricultural landowners and the general public about beavers, their role in the ecosystem, restoration potential, flooding challenges and impacts on farmland and infrastructure, management strategies, etc. Similarly, engage with landowners and the general public about flooding, Floodzilla Gauge Network, and other resources and tools to support flood risk protection.
• Assist with distribution of relevant educational materials and develop resources, as needed.
• Support program managers with outreach, as needed, including at events, relevant meetings, through social media and newsletters, and other engagement opportunities.

Volunteer Management:

• Assist Beaver Conservation Manager and Floodzilla Program Manager in the management of volunteers to assist with fieldwork projects.

Other Duties:

• Aiding, as needed, with miscellaneous SVPA projects and tasks as identified by the SVPA Executive Director and Board of Directors. These tasks may include but are not limited to: administrative, outreach, data entry, and fundraising support tasks.

Preferred Qualifications - An ideal candidate will have experience with the following:

• A Bachelor’s Degree in a relevant field of study and a minimum of 1 year of experience working in a natural resources field.
• Familiarity and/or experience with agricultural systems/working resource lands.
• Familiarity and/or experience with flooding issues and/or water resources management.
• Experience wading in streams and wetlands.
• Completing field projects as part of a small team.
• Working independently to meet project deadlines.
• Experience with community and/or volunteer engagement.
• Mapping with geographic information systems (could include ArcGIS Pro, ArcGIS Online, Field Maps, etc.)
• Knowledge and/or experience with radio communication
• Experience troubleshooting equipment.
• Knowledge of radio communication
• Interest in learning elevation surveying
• Strong written and verbal communication skills.

Required Qualifications:

• Ability to pass a background test.
• Must possess a valid Drivers’ License and a clean driving record.
• Working knowledge of riparian, wetland, and/or floodplain ecosystems demonstrated by a degree in a relevant field of study such as wildlife biology, zoology, ecology, fisheries science, hydrology/hydrogeology, natural resource management, environmental science, or other related degree and a minimum of 1 years’ experience working in natural resources, conservation, environmental science, wildlife management, ecology, or related field. OR equivalent work experience in natural resources, conservation, environmental science, wildlife management, ecology, or related field.
• Ability to work on site in the lower Snoqualmie Valley as field projects demand.
• Ability and comfort working outside for extended periods of time, in inclement weather, navigate uneven terrain, and wade in wetlands/rivers.
• Ability to work closely and effectively with SVPA team and external partners.
• Ability to effectively engage and communicate with private landowners/land managers and agricultural producers.
• Experience with self-management and comfort working alone and as part of a small team.
• Strong communication skills and accountability while working remotely.
• Aptitude for working with volunteers.
• Ability and comfort using hand tools and equipment (i.e. T-post driver, brush clearing tools, weed-whacker, GPS navigation tools, camera traps/trail cameras, fish nets, etc.)  
• Must be able to lift, load, and move up to 50 pounds of equipment.
• Comfort climbing a 20’ ladder.
• Commitment to advancing justice, diversity, equity, and inclusion initiatives.

Hours and Compensation:

Target hourly wage is $24/hr for 40 hours a week with potential for position extension, depending on funding availability. The SVPA office is currently located in downtown Carnation, WA. The candidate must be willing to work on site in the Carnation office or in the field throughout the Snoqualmie Valley, as projects demand and assigned by the supervisor. However, the position does allow for remote work from home, when appropriate.

Benefits:

This position will include sick leave, paid vacation, and 11 paid holidays: New Year’s Day, Martin Luther King Jr. Day, President’s Day, Labor Day, Memorial Day, Juneteenth, Independence Day, Thanksgiving Day, and the day after Thanksgiving, Christmas Eve, and Christmas Day. If the holiday falls on a weekend, you may take the allotted vacation day the Monday or Friday of that week. Paid vacation accrues at the rate of 8 hours per month (12 days per year). Shifting hours to accommodate consecutive days off will be considered. Unpaid time off may be considered on a case-by-case basis by the Executive Director. Sick time accumulates at 1 hour for every 40 hours worked, per Washington State law. This position does not include healthcare insurance benefits but does include workers compensation. SVPA payroll is processed semi-monthly.