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Kenneth Kronschnabl

Kenneth Kronschnabl
Principal, Technical Director

Kenneth Kronschnabl

Principal, Technical Director

Mr. Kenneth Kronschnabl is a technical specialist with 40 years of experience in environmental monitoring, stormwater compliance and structural best management practice (BMP) evaluation monitoring, sediment characterization, and oceanography. He has led major water quality and stormwater monitoring projects across California, including managing the coordinated integrated monitoring programs (CIMPs) for a number of different watersheds since 2016. He has also led numerous environmental and geotechnical dredge material investigations for most California ports and harbors for the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (USACE). His expertise spans biological investigations, water quality monitoring, se...

Mr. Kenneth Kronschnabl is a technical specialist with 40 years of experience in environmental monitoring, stormwater compliance and structural best management practice (BMP) evaluation monitoring, sediment characterization, and oceanography. He has led major water quality and stormwater monitoring projects across California, including managing the coordinated integrated monitoring programs (CIMPs) for a number of different watersheds since 2016. He has also led numerous environmental and geotechnical dredge material investigations for most California ports and harbors for the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (USACE). His expertise spans biological investigations, water quality monitoring, sediment evaluations, stormwater management, ecological risk assessments, and oceanographic studies while ensuring that data collection meets stringent regulatory standards and fulfills client objectives.

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Stormwater Management

Lower Los Angeles River and Lower San Gabriel River CIMPs Watershed Coordinated Integrated Monitoring Programs, California Currently manages the implementations of CIMPs for stormwater discharges from three major urban watersheds involving more than 20 receiving water and outfall sampling locations throughout the coastal Los Angeles area. This work is instrumental in complying with the Los Angeles County Regional MS4 Permit. These monitoring projects are done in coordination with the Water Management Plans for each of these watersheds and include source studies and close coordination with development and monitoring of BMPs.
Estuarine and Beach Watershed Integrated Monitoring Program, Long Beach, California Currently manages the implementation of the City of Long Beach’s estuarine and beach watersheds integrated monitoring program to ensure compliance with Los Angeles County Regional MS4 Permit. This program involves instrumentation and monitoring of the City’s stormwater and dry weather discharges, the evaluation of effects to harbor receiving waters, and extensive support for total maximum daily load (TMDL) issues and permit renewal negotiations. In addition to providing guidance for BMPs, a key contribution was obtaining a 20-year record of precision contaminant loading critical to TMDL issues.
Gateway Water Authority, Dry Weather Flow and Water Quality LID Methods Study (Proposition 84), Long Beach, California Developed flow and water quality methods as part of implementing Los Cerritos Channel Watershed segmentation and low impact development (LID) planning to support TMDL actions. Special low-flow monitoring methods were designed and proven by a pilot study and reported to the Regional Water Quality Control Boards (RWQCB) for general use. Dry weather monitoring was carried out in the main Los Cerritos, Wardlow, Clark, Del Amo and Palo Verde channels to provide key data for identification of primary sources of dry weather pollutant loads and for LID planning purposes. Diurnal cycling of pH was also documented in these channels as a result of photosynthesis coupled with respiration changes during the day.
Watershed NPDES Monitoring for Upper San Gabriel River, CIMP, Los Angeles County, California Initially managed field operations for implementation of the Upper San Gabriel River CIMP to satisfy monitoring requirements from the Los Angeles MS4 NPDES permit. Responsibilities included the selection of eight stormwater outfall and receiving water monitoring locations, equipment selection, flow rating, equipment maintenance, stormwater sampling, dry weather sampling, and field data reporting.
TMDL Monitoring for Puddingstone Reservoir, San Dimas, California Initially managed field operations for Puddingstone Reservoir TMDL compliance monitoring. TMDLs exist in the reservoir to address impairment due to nutrients, mercury, PCBs, and chlorinated pesticides. To address these TMDLs, water, sediment, and fish tissue collection occurred on a regular basis.
Seattle Tacoma International and Los Angeles International Airports, Washington and California Served as project manager for instrumentation of automatic stormwater monitoring systems featuring wireless telecommunication control and data retrieval. Systems were installed, and airport consultants were trained in the operation and maintenance of these systems.

Dredged Material Management

Dredge Sediment Characterization of Federal Channels and Federal Capital Improvement Project, Southern California Harbors and Bays, Los Angeles, California Currently managing the sediment sampling and geotechnical and environmental evaluations of multiple federal port and harbor projects to support securing dredge material permits for both operations and maintenance and capital improvement projects. Evaluations conducted have covered a wide variety of reuse and disposal options. Services have included program design, development of sampling and analysis plans (SAPs), coordination with regulatory agencies, modeling, and preparation of data reports for oversight agency approvals.
Naval Weapons Station Seal Beach Environmental Characterization Project, Seal Beach, California Managed the sediment and soil evaluation tasks to support the construction of a new public boat channel to service Huntington Harbor and a causeway to the existing East Mole, as well as dredging for a new turning basin and realignment of the federal channel followed by construction of the ammunition pier and supporting facilities. Evaluated 1.3 million yd3 of sediment for a variety of reuses, including onsite construction fill, the creation of eelgrass habitat, the creation of dune and transition habitat, and nearshore beach nourishment. In addition, sediments were evaluated for potential disposal at the LA-2 and/or LA-3 Offshore Dredged Material Disposal Sites. Responsibilities included study design, the creation of an SAP, vibracore operations, data validation and interpretation, modeling of water quality effects, report preparation, and presentations to the regulatory agencies for permit approvals.
Dredge Sediment Studies, Northern California Bays and Harbors, San Francisco, California Conducted sediment sampling and contamination assessments in Richmond Harbor, Humboldt Bay, Oakland Estuary, Coast Guard Island, the San Franciso Bar Channel, and Redwood City Harbor (USACE San Francisco District), characterizing PCB contamination to guide dredging decisions. These studies have included sampling, testing, and interpretative reports to support subsequent dredging designs and permitting. Currently managing field operations as a subcontractor for ongoing USACE San Franciso District maintenance dredging operations.
Port of Los Angeles Channel Deepening Project, San Pedro, California Directed sediment characterization and ecological assessments to support the deepening of port channels, facilitating dredge material management and permitting.
California Department of Water Resources, California Managed various dredge material investigation projects throughout the Sacramento River and San Joaquin River Delta to increase water flows. Responsibilities included project design and the production and agency approval of all the SAPs, sampling, and reports for each of these projects to obtain necessary permits.
Maintenance and Deepening of Sacramento and Stockton Deepwater Ship Channels, Various Locations, California Served as project manager under contract to USACE, Sacramento District. Provided dredge sediment sampling and analyses services for the Sacramento and Stockton deepwater ship channels. Performed dredge sediment studies in both rivers for multiple projects. The deepening project required 134 vibracore samples over a river reach of approximately 35 miles for chemical and toxicity testing to permit the subsequent dredging. Dredge sediment disposal was at a series of upland placement sites along the river routinely used for maintenance dredging material disposal. Developed special operational methods and deployment equipment to efficiently obtain continuous vibracore samples to the desired dredge and over-dredge depths, working under the fast current conditions of the river. Operationally precise GPS navigation and real-time water depth data in the tidal and river outflow regime were necessary to obtain cores in the desired locations and to the correct sediment elevations for these dredge projects.
Port of Los Angeles/USACE Outer Harbor Deepening and Pier Construction Program, California Served as the operations manager for studies for the major remodeling of the Port of Los Angeles for the federally funded main channels as well as berth deepening and redevelopment.
California Department of Water Resources Feasibility Study for Dredging the Clifton Court Forebay to the California Aqueduct, Byron, California Served as project manager for an investigation to determine the physical, chemical, and toxicological properties of approximately 1 million yd3 of sediments within the Clifton Court Forebay. Evaluated several dredging alternatives and scenarios for their effects on reducing prescreen loss of salmonids.
Minor Slough and Prospect Island Redevelopment as a Wetland, California Department of Water Resources, Rio Vista, California Provided project management and oversight for physical and chemical characterization of sediments and levee soils necessary for dredge planning for this critical habitat restoration project in the Sacramento River Delta.

Water Quality Monitoring

Municipal Watershed Monitoring, Marine Corps Base Camp Pendleton, Oceanside, California As a subcontractor to CH2M Hill from 2013 to 2018, oversaw and managed a dry and wet weather monitoring program at two river mass loading stations (MLSs) on Marine Corps Base Camp Pendleton as well as water quality and sediment quality monitoring in various lagoons throughout the base. Automated flow-based composite samplers with telemetry were installed at the MLSs to accurately determine pollutant loading. Sediment sampling involved the sediment quality objective triad approach.
Porous Paving and Treatment Train Water Quality Monitoring, County of San Diego, California Oversaw field operations to assess and demonstrate the use of enhanced source and treatment control BMPs at the large county operations center (COC). Approximately 64,000 ft2 of traditional imperious pavement with three different types of porous paving materials at the COC were installed in addition to a treatment train consisting of a continuous deflective separation unit followed by a media filtration system (MFS) that provides filtration through perlite media. Three additional porous pavement pilot sites were installed to receive additional runoff from rooftops and adjacent impervious areas along with three more MFS units used to evaluate performance of alternative media while focusing on treatment of dissolved metals. Provided technical support, monitoring design, and field monitoring services. All monitoring equipment was networked via spread spectrum radio modems to a single landline to provide full communication and control capabilities. Specialized monitoring systems were installed to provide simultaneous flow measurements at two locations, perform real-time calculations to determine flow at a third site, and control separate influent and effluent samplers at the MFS sites.
Calleguas Creek Watershed TMDL Compliance Monitoring Program, California Helped develop and initially managed TMDL compliance data collection tasks during dry and wet weather for the Watershed Coalition of Ventura County. TMDLs were developed for Calleguas Creek to address impairment from metals, trash, toxic pollutants, nutrients, and toxicity.
Central Coast Long-Term Environmental Assessment Network Effluent Monitoring, River Monitoring, Nearshore Monitoring, and Mussel Monitoring, Monterey Bay Area Governments, California Involved in the initial program development, site selection, and instrumentation of various automated high-volume active (modified passive) sampling stations installed at publicly owned treatment works, rivers, and the ocean on moorings to collect data on trace organic pollutants with ultra-low reporting limits.

Oceanography

Southwest Ocean Outfall, San Francisco, California Managed the design, construction, installation, and operation of two state-of-the-art telemetered oceanographic moorings. Each mooring transmitted real-time acoustic Doppler current profiler (ADCP) data and multiple conductivity, temperature, and depth (CTD) sensor data through inductive cabling. Responsibilities included instrument and data acquisition, troubleshooting, instrument maintenance, deployment and retrieval, and data retrieval and reporting.
Multifaceted Offshore Research for Desalination Plant Environmental Impact Report, Santa Cruz, California Participated in yearlong dive operations maintaining a shallow water moored instrument array consisting of water quality sondes and an ADCP. Also participated in monthly plankton net tows in the morning and evening for quantitative and qualitative study to measure organism entrainment potential on desalination intake screens and in periodic water quality sampling at various locations off the coast of California.

Arctic Operations

Scientific Study Vessel Operations for the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management (BOEM), Beaufort Sea, Alaska Skippered a vessel for BOEM over multiple seasons, conducting various oceanographic and biological studies from the Canadian border to Barrow, Alaska. Studies included oceanographic mooring deployment and retrieval, diver operations, water column profiles with a large water quality array, deployment of planktonic and bait sensing arrays, and support of the Bowhead whale tagging operations.
Exxon Valdez Spill Response Support, Prince William Sound, Alaska Participated in water and sediment sampling cruises for several months after the grounding of the Exxon Valdez and in the subsequent year to monitor sediment and water during remedial activities.    
Oil Exploration Vessel Operations for British Petroleum, Beaufort Sea, Alaska Skippered an in-house vessel and led vibracore operations in the Beaufort Sea from Barrow, Alaska, to the Canadian border to sample sediments for oil exploration. Collected 10-ft cores at more than 100 locations and processed them for the presence of volatile and semivolatile organic compounds.
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