Max Dugan, PE, ENV-SP, CWRE
Max is a Principal Water Resources Engineer based in Oregon with more than 10 years of experience focused on municipal stormwater planning, permitting, design and management, as well as on watershed planning, surface-water and groundwater resources management, and wildfire-related response, mitigation, and planning.
Specialties
Municipal Stormwater Management; Sustainable Groundwater Management Planning and Policy; Green Infrastructure Planning and Design; Wildfire Response, Mitigation, and Planning; Watershed and Stream Restoration; Integrated Water Resource Management Planning; Low Impact Development, Green Infrastructurel, Sustainable Practices; Stream and Lake Restoration Studies and Design; Urban Stormwater Management Planning and Design; Watershed Studies and Water Quality Modeling; Resilience and Adaptation; Sustainable Groundwater Management; Wildfire Response, Planning, and Mitigation
Practice Areas
Water and Natural Resources
Education
MS, Civil and Environmental Engineering, Stanford University, 2014; BS, Civil Engineering, University of Nevada, Reno, 2013
Registration
Professional Engineer: California #85985, Oregon #106490PE, Nevada #34088; Qualified SWPPP; Developer 85985; Envision Sustainability Professional (ENV-SP) #62266; Certified Water Rights Examiner (CWRE): Oregon #106490
Client Service
Max applies his technical skills across disciplines to engage with diverse audiences to help address critical issues of water, groundwater, land management, water quality, and resilience and adaptation.
As a consultant, Max supports a broad range of clients, including municipal governments working to improve water quality and comply with municipal separate storm sewer system (MS4) permit requirements. He works with Groundwater Sustainability Agencies, agriculture clients, and communities to sustainably manage their groundwater resources and to plan, develop, and implement meaningful multi-benefit projects. In addition, he helps power and utility owners and developers manage their portfolio projects or develop new renewable energy resources. Regardless of the client, he focuses on complex, multidisciplinary projects that build stronger, more resilient communities and protect, restore, or enhance natural resources.
Max’s project experience includes helping develop the Green Streets Clean Water Plan and Water Ways Report for the County of San Diego to identify and evaluate green infrastructure and water-supply needs and opportunities through a water-quality, resilience, and community-focused lens. He also leads and supports multi-benefit land repurposing projects for clients throughout the California Central Valley, including in the critically overdrafted Tule Subbasin and the underserved community of Fairmead. Max and his team also focus on post-fire response, evaluation, and stabilization of areas affected by numerous wildfires, including the 2021 Dixie Fire, which burned nearly 1 million acres and impacted critical infrastructure, hydropower facilities, communities, and natural resources within the Feather River and other Sierra Nevada watersheds and forests.
To advance the state of the practice, Max frequently develops design guidance, manuals, and trainings for various elements of municipal stormwater programs throughout San Diego, Riverside, and Orange Counties. He also regularly attends and presents at local, regional, and national conferences on community-focused approaches to improving water quality and managing natural resources. Within Geosyntec, as co-chair of the firm’s water and natural resources practice group, Max supports collaboration, practice development, and innovation for his colleagues across the United States, Canada, Europe, Australia, and the Middle East.
Contact Max at mdugan@geosyntec.com.
