Water Resources
Water resources encompass all sources of water that are potentially useful for human consumption, recreation, agriculture, industry, and ecosystem function. These resources include surface water, under river flow, groundwater, frozen water, and atmospheric water. Only 3% of all of Earth’s water is fresh water, underscoring the importance of effective water resource management to provide sustainable water supply and quality for our communities while preserving ecosystem health.
Water resource management balances the challenges of too much water (flooding) and not enough water (drought). Our water resources team provides decision support for how climate change, projected water demand, and long-term socioeconomic habits can impact communities over time. At Consor, our experts support our client partners in addressing these challenges through projects focused on climate change, resiliency, flood control, and watershed planning.
Our Services
Surface Water Hydrology & Hydraulics
Dam Safety
Levee Safety
Climate Change & Resilience
Hydrometeorology
Resiliency
Hydraulic Steel Structures
Mechanical
Digital Solutions
Connect with our team below to learn about the expertise, resources, and tools they provide!
Meet Our Team
David Johnson
Water Resources National Business Development Manager David Johnson specializes in water resources, sustainable development, hydrology, and regulatory compliance. His experience includes comprehensive watershed planning, hydrologic modeling, permitting, policy, and flood studies. Learn about his approach to water resources on a holistic, system-wide scale in this video.
Mark Forest
Water Resources Technical Services Director Mark Forest specializes in flood control planning and design, floodplain management, and flood control and stormwater master planning. He brings experience with flood insurance studies, erosion control, rainfall/runoff modeling, hydraulic modeling, alluvial fans modeling, dam breach analysis, and probable maximum flood analysis, which is used for dam and spillway adequacy determination and design.
Sam Smith
Levee Technical Practice Leader Sam Smith is experienced in geotechnical engineering, site inspection/assessment, levee safety, risk management, quality management, complex stakeholder coordination, and project management. He has led levee assessment and improvement projects across the country and conducted multiple formal risk assessments.
Erin Krug
Water Resources Technical Principal Erin Krug is a subject matter expert in the design, inspection, operation, and repair of hydraulic steel structures for flood risk management and navigation projects. She is experienced in performing risk assessments for coastal and riverine flood protection levee systems, flood risk management projects, and impacts to structures like bridges, buildings, floodwalls, closures, and pump stations.
Wade Carr
Mechanical Technical Principal Wade Carr leads multidisciplinary teams through all phases of large, complex mechanical engineering projects. He brings expertise in technical leadership, project management, risk management, and lift gate and electromechanical machinery design. Before joining Consor, Wade worked with USACE, where he standardized ratings for structural, mechanical, electrical, and geotechnical features across locks, dams, and recreational sites.
Mike McMahon
Climate Science and Resiliency Expert Mike McMahon has decades of experience understanding and communicating the interactions of the land-water-atmosphere nexus. His projects and research include climate change quantification, impact analysis, adaptation planning, stormwater and wastewater modeling, forensic extreme storm event analyses, dam safety, EIR/EIS documentation, and GIS mapping for climate adaptation strategies.
Project Highlights
Tide Gate #9
The City of Warrenton selected Consor for scoping and preliminary design services to improve Tide Gate #9, located on the west bank of the Skipanon River at the southwest intersection of SW 4th Street and S Main Ave (USACE River Station D2 31+51). An essential component of the commercial downtown drainage system, the tide gate accommodates overflow through an existing 54-inch diameter corrugated metal pipe. Upgrades will account for hydrologic and tidal conditions and state and federal requirements.
The City was awarded $100,000 from the Tide Gates Program for this project, which includes funding from the Infrastructure Finance Authority of Oregon and the Oregon State Lottery via the Oregon Business Development Department. This initial grant award will help the City advance design to justify additional loan or grant funding, depending on the City financial office and State approval.
Steigerwald Floodplain Restoration
Consor served as the Estuary Partnership’s owner’s project representative and construction manager for this $32M ($21M construction) project that restored the hydrologic connectivity between Gibbons Creek, the Columbia River, and adjacent floodplain habitat within the Steigerwald Lake National Wildlife Refuge. The goals of this large, complex project were to reconnect about 965 acres of the Refuge that was historically part of the Columbia River Floodplain, reduce the flood risk from Gibbons Creek for the Port of Camas/Washougal and City of Washougal, improve the habitat for fish and wildlife, and improve the Refuge’s trail system.