Ben Snyder Joins WRA to Lead Engineering Service Line

Press Release • updated: Jul 11, 2018

SAN RAFAEL, Calif., July 11, 2018 (Newswire.com) - Ben Snyder joins WRA, Inc. as Senior Water Resource Engineer and will direct WRA’s new engineering service line, providing a suite of engineering and design services for our clients. “We are extremely excited to have Ben on board," said Chief Executive Officer Tim DeGraff. "His expertise now gives WRA a fully integrated platform to bolster our in-house expertise of biologists, planners, regulatory, mitigation, and GIS specialists to provide a collaborative team under one roof for our clients and projects.” He is experienced in environmental data collection and advanced modeling techniques, as well as development of construction drawings and bid documents. Ben brings more than 10 years of engineering specialization in hydraulics and habitat restoration design to the company, including previous experience leading design efforts in California and Oregon.

“We are excited to bring on Ben to our San Francisco Bay Area team,” said WRA President Geoff Smick. “While WRA has been a leader in aquatic habitat restoration design for decades, we have relied entirely on strategic partnerships to fulfill the complex hydrodynamic modeling required for many of these projects. By bringing this expertise in-house, we can offer a more seamless product to our clients while still collaborating with our long-time strategic partners. Ben’s engineering experience in both the public and private sectors will allow him to integrate into our stream and wetland restoration projects with a goal of improving ecosystems. We look forward to having Ben lead this new service line at WRA.”

The engineering service line will expand the capabilities of WRA’s existing aquatic and fisheries practices by providing engineering and hydrology expertise to fisheries, wildlife, botanical, wetland, design, and permitting projects. Features of the new service line include: 

  • Hydrologic investigations, flood frequency analysis, flow-duration curves, and rainfall-runoff modeling

  • Multi-dimensional hydrodynamic modeling

  • Sediment transport modeling

  • Water quality modeling

  • Geomorphic channel design

  • Design of large wood habitat features

  • Development of detailed design drawings and bid documents

  • Implementation oversight

Ben’s passion for his work started while a student at Colorado State University, where he completed both undergraduate and graduate work. “I find streams and rivers absolutely fascinating,” said Ben. “In addition to their natural beauty under ordinary conditions, the power of a river during a large flow event is riveting to watch. And once you start to scratch below the surface, the complexities of the interrelationships between hydrology, hydraulics, geomorphology, fisheries biology, and microbiology provide endless amounts of opportunities to learn and increase our understanding of the natural world. But the most rewarding part of this work is being able to see designs come to life, watching year after year as the vegetation grows in; seeing schools of juvenile fish hanging out around a habitat you helped create is really cool.”

Originally from Pennsylvania, Ben has lived in the Bay Area since 2006. Outside of work, Ben enjoys skiing, backpacking, and cycling.  

WRA, Inc. provides professional consulting services in plant, wildlife, and wetland ecology, regulatory compliance, mitigation banking, CEQA/NEPA, GIS, and landscape architecture. Formed in 1981, the firm is a certified small business (OSBCR ref. #13333) with approximately 80 professionals who have completed more than 3,000 projects for public agencies, non-profit, and private organizations. WRA has offices in California and Colorado. For more information, visit www.wra-ca.com.

Media Contact:
Liz Agraz
Phone: 415.454.8868
Email: info@wra-ca.com

Source: WRA, Inc.

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