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ABOUT ME

Douglas B. Blatchford, PE, PH, CEM ,CFM
President
See latest resume here
 

 

 

I'm a water resource professional with over 38 years of experience, blending both practical science and engineering. I began my career in the American southwest before the age of microcomputers; now I relate that experience to a connected global community that faces the specter of climate change, food shortage, population growth, and  transboundary water conflict.

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Over the years I’ve diversified my water resource work to include infrastructure design, surface water hydrology, groundwater hydrology, floodplain management, water supply and demand, operations, dam safety, watershed restoration, climate science, and geographic  information systems.  Geospatial  intelligence is the common thread that weaves through all of my experience– since the age of four I’ve been sketching freehand maps of the United States, Europe and Asia. This innate sense of geography has taken on new meaning in a world knitted together by geospatial data and the world wide web.  I also have a keen understanding of the global economy and business of water, ranging from macroeconomics to day to day program management. For example, I recently used geostatistical interpolation (kriging) to reconstruct the paleosurface of the Friars Formation below Qualcomm Stadium, and incorporated this geologic structure into a numeric groundwater model. This work was completed within the context of litigation, local politics, an understanding of drought impact on local agencies throughout California, and an understanding of the need for local water supplies to the economy of San Diego. The work was completed in spite of Federal shutdowns and staff reductions.

Greg Cross at the City of San Diego paid me this complement:

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Doug is also very flexible with new ideas and incorporates them, while at the same time, manages the scope of the project. He is also resourceful in finding what ideas or strategies have worked in the past, and applies them to the current course of action. Doug is a team player in the sense that he draws on the skills and ideas of others and a coach in the sense that he keeps everyone moving toward the same goal, with a winning attitude!

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My career now takes this innate childhood talent related to geography and integrates it into modern data management practices, as related to both science and engineering. I look forward to working on cutting edge research related to climate science, to integrating surface and groundwater resource management, to constructing surface and subsurface hydrologic simulations, monitoring global issues from a water resource perspective, and just about anything else related to water and water management.

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Credentials 

  • Licensed Civil Engineer, State of Arizona, CE 29210, exp 12/31/2024

  • Licensed Civil Engineer, State of California, C40534, exp 3/31/2025

  • Licensed Civil Engineer, State of Colorado, 0050564, exp 10/31/2025

  • Licensed Civil Engineer, State of Nevada, CE 10783, exp 12/31/2024

  • Licensed Civil Engineer, State of New Mexico, C15468, exp 12/31/2024

  • Licensed Civil Engineer, State of Texas, 136846, exp 12/31/2024

  • Licensed Civil Engineer, State of Utah, 9498342-2202, exp 3/31/2025

  • Certified Environmental Manager, State of Nevada, #1503, exp 3/8/2024

  • Certified Floodplain Manager, Association of State Floodplain Managers, US-09-04239, exp 7-31-2025

  • ​Professional Hydrologist, American Institute of Hydrology, PH-09-H-1915-AIH exp 1/15/2029

  • FAA Certified sUAS Remote Pilot #4017575

  • Competent Communicator, Toastmasters

Education

  • Bachelor of Science, Civil Engineering, University of California, Davis, June 1980

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  • Bachelor of Science, Geology, University of California, Davis, June 1980

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  • Master of Science, Geoscience, University of Nevada, Las Vegas, and Desert Research Institute, May 1999.

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  • Master of Geographic Information Systems, The Pennsylvania State University, May 2014

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  • Certificate, Remote Sensing, The Pennsylvania State University, August 2018

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  • Certificate, Geospatial Intelligence, The Pennsylvania State University, August 2018

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See Federal recommendation here
 
Memberships

 Active Memberships:

  • American Institute of Hydrology

  • Association of State Floodplain Managers

  • Colorado River Water Users Association

  • Floodplain Management Association

  • Society of American Military Engineers

Past Memberships:

  • American Public Works Association

  • American Society of Civil Engineers 

  • American Water Resource Association

  • Arizona Hydrologic Society

  • ​Association of Engineering Geologists

  • Association of State Dam Safety Officials 

  • National Groundwater Association

  • Nevada Water Resources Association

  • Toastmasters

  • Western Coalition of Arid States 

Continuing Education 

  • Organizational Psychology, ~ 1990 - Cal State Bakersfield

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  • ​Construction Technology,  1992 - UCLA Ext

 

  • Principles of Hazardous Materials Management, Nov-Dec, 1992 - UCD Ext

 

  • Land Development Procedures, 1992 - UCLA Ext

 

  • Legal Aspects of Construction Management, 1992 - UCLA Ext

 

  • Water Surface Profile Computation: HEC-2, 9/27 - 10/1 1993-UCD Ext

 

  • Groundwater Hydrology: Monitoring, Protection, and Clean-up, May 1993 - UCD Ext

 

  • Regulatory Framework for Toxic and Hazardous Substances, June 1993 - UCD Ext

 

  • Soil Sampling for Environmental Remediation, Nov 1993 - UCD Ext

 

  • Dale Carnegie, August 1994 - Las Vegas

 

  • OSHA 1910.120 (HAZWOPER), April 1995 CCSN

 

  • MODFLOW, May 1995 - NGWA

 

  • NDEP Environmental Manager Workshop, June 1996 - NDEP

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  • Advanced Land Surveying, Spring 1997 - CSU Fresno

 

  • Advanced Design Techniques for Streambank Protection, February 2000 - IECA

 

  • Roller Compacted Concrete and Soil Cement for Water Resources, June 2000 - PCA

 

  • Project Management, 2000 - Carter-Burgess

 

  • USACE Wetland Delineation Training, August 2002 - WTI

 

  • HYDRA Sewer Modeling Training, 2003 – Pizer

 

  • RiverWare: Introduction to Simulation Modeling, November 2005 – CADSWES

 

  • HEC-GeoRAS, 2006 - UNLV

 

  • RiverWare: Rule Based Simulation, 2006 – CADSWES

 

  • FLO-2D, 2006 - CCRFCD

 

  • Effective Communication Skills for Managing Conflict and Confrontation, January 26, 2007 - USBR

 

  • How to Communicate with Tact and Professionalism, February 5-6 2007 - USBR

 

  • Standard Query Language, March 26-29, 2007 - USBR

 

  • 9th Annual Law of the Colorado River Conference, May 10-11, 2007 – CLE

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  • Application of Tree Ring Data to Water Management, May 14, 2007 -USBR

 

  • US-Mexico Border Tour,2007 – WEF

 

  • Hydrologic Database Training, October 10-1, 2007 -USBR

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  • Collaboration and the Colorado River, October 12, 2007 - UNLV

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  • Water Accounting on the Lower Colorado River, November 7, 2007-USBR

 

  • Dam Safety Risk Analysis Best Practices, 2009 - USBR Denver

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  • Design Build Workshop, 2009 - USBR – LC

 

  • ​ Introduction to 1D and 2D River Flood Modeling using MIKE FLOOD, September 2010 - DHI

 

  • Geog 482 - Nature of Geographic Information, March 2011 - PSU

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  • Remote Sensing Applications for US-Mexico Border Water Management, June 2011 - WEF

 

  • Geog 483 - Decision Support with a GIS, June 2011 - PSU

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  • Geog 484 - GIS Database Development, September 2011 - PSU

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  • San Diego Water Tour, September 2011 - WEF

 

  • Geog 497D - LiDAR Technology and Applications, December 2011 - PSU

 

  • Regional Statistical Hydrology and Flood Prediction, February 2-3, 2012 - UWI

 

  • Dam Safety Training: Facility Operations & Maintenance, May 1-3, 2012 - USBR

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  • Geog 485 - Introduction to GIS Modeling and Python, March 2012 - PSU​

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  • Geog 583 - Geospatial Design and Analysis, June 2012 - PSU

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  • Geog 584 - Geospatial Technology Project Management, December 2012-PSU

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  • Geog 586 - Geographic Information Analysis, September 2012-PSU

 

  • Geog 862 - GPS and GNSS for Geospatial Professionals, March 2013--PSU

 

  • Geog 863 - GIS Mashups for Geospatial Professionals, May, 2013 – PSU

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  • Geog 596 – Capstone, May 2014 - PSU

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  • Managing from the Middle, May 2014 --Center for Creative Leadership

 

  • Geog 882 – Geographic Foundations of Geospatial Intelligence, May, 2015—PSU

 

  • Geog 883 – Remote Sensing Analysis and Applications, May 2016 – PSU

 

  • Geog 892 – Geospatial Applications of Unmanned Aerial Systems, May 2017--PSU

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  • SPCC Compliance Manager Training, December 2017--Aarcher Institute 

 

  • Geog 480 – Exploring Imagery and Elevation Data in GIS Applications, May 2018--PSU

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  • Safety Evaluation of Existing Dams Seminar, May 2018 –Reclamation

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