Senior Water Resources Planning Engineer

What you'll do:

• Serve as Project Manager and/or Technical Lead for complex Colorado water resources planning projects, including:
  Long‑range water supply and integrated water resources plans;
  Water rights evaluations and strategy support;
  Basin‑scale hydrologic and yield analyses;
  Scenario‑based planning related to climate variability, demand growth, storage, reuse, and operational constraints.
• Provide technical support to water rights applications and processes, including:
  Support for water court change cases (engineering analyses, yield impacts, depletion accounting);
  Evaluation of conditional and absolute water rights;
  Analysis of augmentation plans, substitute supply plans, and conjunctive use operations;
  Coordination with legal counsel on water rights matters.
• Lead or contribute to development of quantitative planning and decision‑support models, including surface water and/or integrated surface water–groundwater systems.
• Prepare and review technical memoranda, reports, exhibits, and expert‑support documentation suitable for planning studies, regulatory review, and legal proceedings.
• Support business development by:
  Assisting in preparation of proposals (scope, staffing, fee);
  Participating in client meetings and industry events;
  Leveraging existing and developing new client relationships across Colorado.
• Supervise and mentor engineers, planners, and analysts; provide technical guidance and quality control.
• Coordinate with multidisciplinary internal teams (environmental, water/wastewater, planning) and subconsultants.

• Bachelor’s degree in Civil Engineering, Water Resources Engineering, or related engineering discipline.
• Professional Engineer license in the State of Colorado (or ability to obtain via comity within a defined timeframe).
• 10+ years of progressively responsible experience in water resources planning and/or water rights analysis.
• Demonstrated experience working in Colorado’s prior appropriation system.
• Experience supporting or leading projects involving Colorado water rights administration, such as augmentation plan support, change of water right analyses, yield and reliability analyses, conjunctive use or replacement water evaluations.
• Strong technical writing and presentation skills.
• Experience preparing scopes, schedules, and budgets for professional services.
• Ability to work independently while functioning as part of a collaborative team.

• Direct experience working with or supporting municipal or regional water providers in Colorado, basin round tables or Colorado Water Plan–related efforts, state agencies such as the Colorado Water Conservation Board or Division of Water Resources.
• Modeling experience relevant to Colorado water rights and planning, such as State Mod, River Ware, or StateCU.
• Experience with groundwater flow modeling (MODFLOW or equivalent), particularly for stream‑aquifer interaction analyses, well depletions and lagged response evaluation, support of water rights and augmentation planning decisions.
• Planning‑level evaluation of groundwater supplies as part of integrated municipal or regional water supply portfolio.
• Experience with scenario‑based and risk‑informed planning approaches.
• Familiarity with climate‑driven hydrologic stressors affecting Colorado supply systems.
• Experience collaborating with legal teams on water rights matters; may provide technical support for water court proceedings, including preparation of engineering analyses and coordination with legal counsel.
• Existing professional relationships within the Colorado water community (utilities, agencies, or legal firms).
• Advanced degree preferred but not required.

The annual salary range for this position is $128,260 - $188,601 and is dependent on candidate's qualifications as compared to minimum and preferred requirements. Exempt employees are eligible for overtime pay at a straight-time hourly rate for any hours over forty (40) hours per week. Employees are eligible for annual bonuses and amounts are determined by company profitability and growth, and for employees at higher compensation grades, group and personal performance are also considered.

We offer a comprehensive benefits package including medical insurance, prescription drug coverage, dental insurance, vision insurance, healthcare advisory services, flexible spending accounts, health savings account, health reimbursement account, family and medical leave, short‑term medical leave/short‑term disability, long‑term disability, 401(k) matching, life insurance, critical illness insurance, accident insurance, legal/d, tuition reimbursement program, employee assistance program, paid parental leave, paid holidays, paid time off, travel assistance, pet insurance, access to company cabins and partner discounts.