Water Resources Engineering - Hydrology & Hydraulics Expert Witness Services

Water Resources Consulting Services

429 Wilson Lane
P.O. Box 1290
Windsor, California 95492
USA

Contact: Mr. Rick Van Bruggen, PE, D.WRE
Tel: (866) 601-4889, Fax: (707) 604-0051

Website: www.hydrologyexpert.com

Email: Send an email

Expert Witness - Forensic Expert - Litigation Support - Speaker Bureau

Water Resources Consulting Services conducts studies of surface water hydrology and hydraulics and designs flood control systems. The Company President, Mr. Van Bruggen has over 30 years of civil engineering experience specializing in the modeling of flood control systems, watersheds and floodplains. He has extensive experience as an expert witness on the forensics of flood events having given testimony in over 50 cases, representing both plaintiff and defendant clients equally .

Services

Water Resources Consulting Services is a civil engineering consulting firm in the field of surface water resources hydrology and hydraulics. WRCS specializes in the management and modeling of flood control and water supply projects and the hydraulic design of stormwater conveyance and detention facilities. Our investigations involve studies of surface water hydrology and hydraulics, FEMA floodplain investigations, channel and detention basin designs, sediment production and erosion. We have experience in statistical analysis and data management, alternative plan development, and benefit/cost analysis. We have extensive litigation support expertise, from the causes of, and solutions for, real property flooding, channel erosion and sedimentation, to the evaluation of historic flood events, reservoir operations, storm water system designs and drowning occurrences.

While surface water hydrology and hydraulics are our only fields of practice, our diversity within these fields is unmatched. WRCS has project experience ranging from dam and channel design to the complex modeling of two-dimensional, time variant hydraulic systems. We have performed environmental impact analyses, redefined floodplains and developed hydrology and hydraulics standards for municipalities.

Our engineering capabilities include:
• Hydrologic watershed simulations, including pre- and post project flood hydrographs
• Alternative storm drain, channel system & detention basin analysis and design
• Floodplain analysis and mapping; preparation of FEMA requests for Letters of Map Revision
• Design of channel stabilization and energy dissipation structures, riprap and gabions
• Design of dams, channels, detention and sedimentation basins, culverts and bridges
• Hydraulic evaluation of wetlands and estuaries and the development of project mitigation measures

Litigation Support Services

Water Resources Consulting Services provides expert witness services on the causes of, and solutions for, flooding, the evaluation of historic flood events, and the hydraulic evaluation of drowning occurrences. Water Resources Consulting relies on over 30 years of experience to offer services in:

Water resources engineering
Hydraulic modeling of rivers
Channels and storm drain systems
Hydrologic watershed modeling
Floodplain and flood zone analyses
Dam, reservoir, channel and levee investigations
Statistical interpretation of meteorologic and stream flow data
Operations and Maintenance of Reservoir and Flood Control Systems
Forensics of flood events

Areas of Expertise:

Profile

Representative cases:
Hydraulics of river and channel structures – drowning
*Provided deposition testimony regarding dam hydraulics and signage blamed for drowning, Lynchburg, Virginia
*Provided deposition testimony regarding role of hydraulic structure design in drowning, Big Pine, California
*Hydraulic evaluation of COE river structure linked to drowning, Picayune, Mississippi
*Expert witness in drowning case for the hydraulic review of Weir structure safety, Little Truckee River, Sierra County, California
Reservoir operations - downstream flooding
*Provided expert testimony to jury on the professional standards for reservoir release decisions and their effects on downstream flooding, Cowlitz River, Washington
*Review of municipal irrigation district reservoir operations and their impacts on downstream levee failures, San Joaquin Valley, California
*Provided testimony to jury regarding flood releases from hydroelectric dams by state power authority, Santee-Cooper river system, South Carolina
*Provided litigation support to determine the effects of reservoir releases on downstream flooding during hurricane event, Escatawpa River, Mississippi
Highway design – wrongful death / personal injury / inverse condemnation
*Provided testimony in judge trial regarding Caltrans culvert design, Malibu California
*Provided expert testimony to judge in defense of state highway system design, Salinas River, Monterey County, California
*Provided expert testimony to jury in connection with state highway system design, Orange County, California
*Deposition testimony regarding state highway drainage design investigation in conjunction with wrongful death suit, Hilo, Hawaii
Channel and levee systems - design and maintenance
*Provided litigation support in the defense of mining operation, Wynoochee River, Washington
*Provided expert testimony in judge trial in defense of reclamation district’s flood control operations, r.d. 1000, San Joaquin River, San Joaquin County, California
*Provided deposition testimony on the forensics of Sacramento Valley levee system failure, r.d. 2107, San Joaquin river system, California
*State levee project hydraulic evaluation, Bethel Island, San Joaquin Valley, California
Residential and municipal storm drain system design
*Provided testimony to jury regarding meteorological evaluation of flood event, Novato, California
*Provided mediation testimony in evaluation of city storm drain system’s role in repeated flooding of neighborhood, San Diego, California
*Evaluation of flood potential along unfinished reach of municipal storm drain system, Concord, California.
*Evaluation of municipal storm drain system design, Hilo, Hawaii
*Deposition testimony provided in the defense of subdivision storm water design, Roseville, California.
*Evaluation of municipal storm drain system design, Cumberland, Maryland
*State and city storm drain system design evaluation, Richmond, California

Licenses

Bachelor of Science, Systems Engineering, UCLA, 1980
Master of Science, Water Resources Engineering, UCLA, 1981
Diplomate, Water Resources Engineer, ASCE - 2006

Professional Experience

• Has performed numerous studies of surface water hydrology and hydraulics, meteorology, sediment and debris production, water quality, storm water management and the statistical analysis of hydrographic data
• Has managed flood control and water supply projects involving the hydraulic design of stormwater conveyance and detention facilities, overseeing technical staff and coordination between project clients, consultants and regulatory agencies
• Experienced in alternative plan development and benefit/cost analysis as well as coordinating public involvement in the project decision process and conducting public meetings and workshops

Legal Experience & Services

• Founding National Board Member of the Forensic Expert Witness Association (Northern California Chapter), reflecting distinguished and considerable experience testifying as an expert witness in Water Resources Engineering
• Testified in over fifty cases ranging from the causes of, and solutions for, flooding and the evaluation of historic flood events, to the hydraulic evaluation of drowning occurrences, to the standard of care in reservoir operations and storm water system designs

Affiliations

- American Academy of Water Resources Engineers (AAWRE)
- American Society of Civil Engineers (ASCE)
- Consulting Engineers and Land Surveyors of California (CELSOC)
- Forensic Expert Witness Association (FEWA) – Vice President, National Board of Directors, President Northern California Chapter
- Environment and Water Resources Institute (EWRI) of ASCE - Global Climate Change Committee and Ethics Committee
- Engineers Without Borders, San Francisco Professionals Section - Haiti and El Salvador Projects Groups

Qualifications

Mr. Van Bruggen has case experience as an expert witness ranging from the Standard of Care for the design of storm drain systems or operation of reservoir systems to the hydraulic factors leading to a wrongful death by drowning. He has performed hydraulic environmental impact analyses, redefined floodplains and developed storm drain master plans. If the litigation concerns surface water resources engineering, we have the capabilities. He has thirty plus years of engineering experience specializing in the use of systems engineering and modeling techniques to define and evaluate surface water resource systems, forensic hydrology and hydraulics, and alternative flood control measures.

Awards & Honors

Diplomate Water Resources Engineer, as recognized by the Environment and Water Resources Institute of the American Society of Civil Engineers

Publications

Perfect Storm: The Science Behind Subrogating Catastrophic Flood Losses, The Subrogator Magazine, March, 2006.

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