R. Jeffrey Davis, P.E., CGWP, CWRE

Principal, Water Resources

Bio
Relevant Experience
Education & Credentials
Insights & News

Bio

Mr. Jeff Davis is a licensed civil and environmental engineer, hydrogeologist, and certified groundwater professional with almost 30 years of global experience working on every continent except Antarctica. He currently serves on the Board of Directors for the National Ground Water Association. Mr. Davis has supported numerous litigation cases involving groundwater impacts and has experience as an expert witness. He has spent much of his career solving complicated water problems involving mining, oil and gas, and water resources. These projects include the clean water supply side as well as the remediation of contaminated sites. The contaminated sites include coal combustion residual (CCR) landfills and other waste impoundments, mining remediation sites, and industrial cleanup sites—both RCRA and CERCLA sites. In working with per- and polyfluoroalkyl substance (PFAS) compounds, MTBE, chlorinated solvents, hydrocarbons, nitrates, and road salt, he has developed and used numerous groundwater models for the mining, energy, chemical, and agricultural industries. Other projects have involved environmental impact statements, environmental assessments, sea level rise and groundwater intrusion, water management, groundwater–surface water contamination, dewatering, natural resource damage assessment, and water supply and treatment. He has extensive knowledge of groundwater flow-and-transport principles and has taught numerous workshops and classes in the U.S. and around the world. His current focus is on water and groundwater sustainability and drought resiliency. Mr. Davis has extensive experience in the design and implementation of aquifer storage and recovery (ASR) projects across the country.

Relevant Experience

Water Management

Water Supply and ASR Feasibility, Sacramento County, California — Served as principal investigator for a proposed land development project that evaluated the feasibility of developing a reliable water supply and implementing an ASR program. Key tasks included constructing a conceptual hydrogeologic model and conducting a geophysical survey to characterize the subsurface. The study provided critical insights into sustainable water management options to support the development while ensuring long-term resource stability.

Water Rights and Supply Analysis, Umatilla County, Oregon — Served as principal investigator for a project that involved a water rights and water supply study for an industrial client in eastern Oregon. The client was facing curtailment of groundwater withdrawals by the Oregon Water Resources Department. The department alleged that the client’s pumping was impacting nearby stream flows, prompting a detailed analysis of hydrogeologic data and monitoring records. The study demonstrated minimal to no connection between the groundwater pumping and river flows, providing critical evidence to support the client’s continued water use.

ASR Feasibility, Ada County, Idaho — Served as principal investigator for a feasibility study for an ASR project. Ada County owns and operates Hubbard Reservoir, which receives irrigation water from the New York Canal. The project included building a conceptual model of the site and refining an existing groundwater model to analyze the effects of recharge from the reservoir.

ASR Feasibility and Piloting, Utah County, Utah — Served as principal investigator for a feasibility study for an ASR project. During the spring runoff of 2023, the team measured the runoff in several rivers, creeks, and ditches, and constructed a new infiltration basin, all in an effort to advance aquifer storage projects within the county. The project has continued with permitting and the implementation of a pilot project for the constructed infiltration basin.

ASR Feasibility, Utah County, Utah — Served as principal for a feasibility study for an ASR project. Former agricultural water rights were converted for industrial use and the effluent was being considered for aquifer replenishment. Both infiltration and direct injection of the treated water were considered as part of the feasibility study.

Provo ASR, Provo, Utah — Served as the project manager and engineer of record for the current Provo ASR project. Five sites (three infiltration and two direct injection) are currently permitted for pilot studies that have been ongoing since 2020. Final engineering design and permitting have been completed for all five sites.

Water Reuse and Aquifer Sustainability, Eagle Mountain, Utah — Served as the client manager and engineer of record for the current Eagle Mountain City, Utah, water-reuse planning and aquifer sustainability project. Water rights for Eagle Mountain were evaluated along with the groundwater system to understand aquifer sustainability for the city, which is expecting tremendous future growth, including large industrial water demands.

ASR Evaluation, Weber County, Utah — Served as the project manager and engineer of record for the current evaluation of the Weber Basin Water Conservancy District, Utah, ASR project. This project has been actively operating for more than 10 years. Hired to evaluate the storage capacity of the program and obtain greater recovery volumes from the system, working with the Utah Division of Water Rights.

Drainage Reuse Initiative, Harris County, Texas — Served as part of a team for the development of the Drainage Reuse Initiative for Harris County Flood Control District in Harris County, Texas. The project investigated the feasibility of alternative methods of flood mitigation by conveying stormwater to the subsurface, including natural infiltration to groundwater, enhanced infiltration or injection into aquifers, and mechanical injection to deep aquifers.

Roseville ASR, Roseville, California — Served as one of the groundwater leads for the development of an ASR program for the city of Roseville, California. Initial efforts involved developing a regional-scale conceptualization for the major portion of the Central Valley area. Developed a subsequent regional multilayer groundwater model, followed by a number of local-scale transport models to simulate pilot tests and understand the ASR process.

Coal Combustion Facilities

Coal Combustion Residual Waste and Disposal, Bonanza, Utah — Served as the engineer of record for a coal power plant. Oversaw all efforts related to the monitoring and compliance of the facility’s CCR waste and disposal. This included semiannual reporting, development of alternative source demonstrations, and annual groundwater monitoring reports.

Hexavalent Chromium Investigation, United States — Served as the principal investigator for a study to understand and evaluate the proposed EPA changes to hexavalent chromium (Cr(VI)) as it would apply to the monitoring and management of CCR landfill facilities. The work included examining potential regulatory levels from a human health perspective.

Alternate Water Sources Investigation, United States — Served as the principal investigator for a study to understand and evaluate differences at CCR facilities between upgradient and downgradient sources and locate potential evidence of alternate sources using isotopes, microbial fingerprinting, and historical sampling data. After development of a sampling and analysis plan, advanced statistical and multivariate methods and machine language were used to document analyses that show potential for distinguishing source water from alternate sources.

Oil and Gas Waste Management

Oil and Gas Waste Facility, De Beque, Colorado — Served as the principal engineer for the permitting and operating of an 800-acre oil-and-gas waste-disposal facility southeast of De Beque, Colorado. Involved in several aspects of the permitting process, including the hydrogeological study and groundwater investigations; stormwater design; pond liner design and construction; closure certification; and submittal of the revised engineering design and operation plan.

Remedial Investigation, Billings, Montana — Served as the groundwater lead for the Yale Oil of South Dakota Facility in Billings, Montana. The Superfund site facility is in the remedial investigation phase; the risk-assessment work plan has been submitted to the Montana Department of Environmental Quality, and the client is waiting for comments before proceeding with the risk assessment.

EPA Study, Washington, DC — Served as participant and technical reviewer for EPA’s “Study of Hydraulic Fracturing for Oil and Gas and Its Potential Impact on Drinking Water Resources.” Participated in technical roundtables and technical workshops and completed a peer review of the EPA’s five retrospective case studies.

Fate and Transport Modeling, Texas — Served as groundwater lead for fate-and-transport modeling and analysis of chloride contamination in southern Texas near the Gulf of Mexico. As part of the site mitigation phase, modeling was used to determine the potential migration of the chloride through the shallow aquifer system and nearby receptors.

Lockwood Solvent Groundwater Plume Site, Billings, Montana — Served as one of the groundwater leads performing groundwater modeling for the Lockwood Solvent Groundwater Plume site, an EPA Superfund site in Billings, Montana. The site spans 580 acres, and much of the groundwater there is contaminated with volatile organic compounds, including tetrachloroethene, trichloroethene, cis-1,2-dichloroethene, and vinyl chloride.

Planning and Permitting

Biotechnology Facility, Salt Lake City, Utah — Served as principal investigator leading a privileged and confidential waste stream characterization engagement for a biotechnology facility. Worked closely with legal counsel and client technical staff to design defensible sampling protocols, evaluate analytical detection limits, and prepare technical memoranda supporting nonhazardous waste classification for state regulatory review.

Beverage Can Manufacturing and Filling, Salt Lake City, Utah — Served as principal investigator for wastewater, stormwater, and Utah Pollutant Discharge Elimination System permitting, monitoring, and compliance for an aluminum can manufacturing and filling facility. Worked closely with the client, its operations team, and state and municipal regulators to regularly monitor and report all discharges from the facility.

Ely Energy Center EIS, White Pine County, Nevada — Served as principal lead for the development of a regional groundwater model for Steptoe Valley in White Pine County, Nevada. The investigation and model were part of the EIS for construction of the Ely Energy Center.

Haile Gold Mine EIS, Kershaw, South Carolina — Served as groundwater lead as the third-party contractor developing an EIS for the proposed Haile Gold Mine near Kershaw, South Carolina. The EIS analyzed the potential direct, indirect, and cumulative environmental effects of the proposed project and its alternatives. Work included project-team coordination for geology, groundwater, and surface water resources areas; review of applicant-supplied information; agency coordination; and public involvement.

Four Corners Power Plant EIS, Farmington, New Mexico — Served as groundwater lead as the third-party contractor in developing an EIS for the Four Corners Power Plant and Navajo coal mine in Farmington, New Mexico. The EIS analyzed the potential direct, indirect, and cumulative environmental effects of the proposed project and its alternatives. The groundwater portion included analyzing field investigations, pump tests, conceptual and numerical modeling of the project and surrounding area, and remediation and reclamation activities.

Iron Ore Operations Cumulative Impact Assessment, Pilbara, Western Australia — Served as one of the groundwater leads for a cumulative impact assessment for a proposed expansion of iron ore operations in the Pilbara in Western Australia. Work included identifying the methodology and developing the conceptual models to perform the assessment. The groundwater modeling included both quantitative and qualitative approaches.

Litigation Support

Bulk Fuel Storage Facility Litigation, Honolulu County, Hawaii — Served as a technical expert in support of a bulk fuel storage facility litigation, providing independent evaluation of groundwater and drinking water distribution system impacts following a fuel release. Led detailed review and critique of contaminant fate and transport modeling, including assessment of mass‑balance and hydraulic modeling approaches used to characterize migration within the public water system and evaluation of the design and effectiveness of post‑release flushing programs. Synthesized large and diverse data sets—including sampling results, complaint records, Department of Health reports, and expert declarations—to assess exposure pathways and the extent of systemwide contamination. Authored a sworn expert declaration grounded in case‑specific technical review and professional judgment, contributing defensible, science‑based opinions to complex environmental litigation.

Road Salt Contamination Litigation, Boise County, Idaho — Served as the principal lead to support litigation related to road salt contamination of a drinking water aquifer serving private wells in Lowman, Idaho. The contamination was traced to negligent storage practices by the Idaho Department of Transportation, with a conceptual model developed to demonstrate the source and migration of the salt into the aquifer. Provided recommendations to mitigate the contamination, restore groundwater quality, and prevent future impacts to the community’s drinking water supply.

PCE Contamination Litigation, Onslow County, North Carolina — Served as a testifying expert for a project involving PCE-contaminated groundwater impacting a public water supply. Performed a post-audit of an existing groundwater fate and transport model to assess its accuracy and reliability and extended the model’s time domain to evaluate its performance against updated concentration data from multiple monitoring wells.

ASR Well Design and Construction Litigation, Washington County, Oregon — Served as a testifying expert in a litigation case involving allegations of design and construction failures in an ASR well. The client, accused of lacking standard of care in its engineering services, required a technical review of the well design, construction practices, and operational performance. The analysis provided an expert evaluation of the ASR well’s deficiencies and clarified the extent of liability and adherence to professional standards.

Stormwater Pipeline Litigation, Sweetwater County, Wyoming — Served as the engineering expert for a litigation case involving the failure of a stormwater pipeline at a trona ore mining and processing facility, where the client, a construction company, faced accusations of negligence. The work included multiple site visits to assess pipeline conditions and a detailed review of engineering plans to evaluate construction practices and compliance with design specifications. The findings provided critical insights into potential causes of failure and helped clarify the client’s responsibilities under standard construction practices.

Expert Witness for PFAS Litigation, Martin County, Florida — Served as the groundwater expert witness for a litigation case in Martin County. The multidistrict litigation bellwether case involved PFAS contamination of groundwater affecting public drinking water. Opinions were given regarding PFAS sourcing, and fate and transport in groundwater, and regarding public water supply planning.

Water Resources Litigation, Grand County, Colorado — Served as principal investigator for a litigation case involving flooding damages caused by a canal breach. Surface water modeling was used to determine amount and extent of erosion and sedimentation from the flooding.

Water Resources Litigation, Northwest Minnesota — Served as principal investigator and expert witness for a litigation case involving agricultural water rights and pumping near tribal lands. Developed a conceptual model to understand the hydrogeological conditions and constructed a groundwater model to determine possible impacts due to the agriculture activities.

Groundwater Litigation, Ventura County, California — Served as the groundwater expert for a litigation case in Ventura County. The case includes the development of a basin-wide groundwater–surface water model, not only for purposes of litigation but also for compliance with Sustainable Groundwater Management Act requirements. The groundwater basin in question is currently listed as a priority basin by the State of California.

Pipeline Spill Litigation, Williston, North Dakota — Provided litigation services for groundwater and surface water contamination from a pipeline spill in North Dakota. A large spill of produced water (brine) impacted surface streams as well as the shallow aquifer system. Work included groundwater modeling, field investigations, and remedial strategies.

Road Salt Contamination Litigation, Vandalia, Ohio — Performed fate-and-transport modeling and analysis of sodium chloride contamination of an aquifer in Vandalia, Ohio. Stored road salt caused limited contamination of a shallow aquifer that supplied drinking water to nearby residential homes. The groundwater model included the local domestic pumping wells, which helped determine the possible extent of chloride impacts. Largely due to the conceptual site model and transport modeling results, litigation was settled out of court to the satisfaction of the client.

Climate Impact Assessment

Sea Level Rise Groundwater Intrusion Modeling, Alameda County, California — Served as the principal groundwater lead and engineer for a project that supported a climate adaptation initiative for the Port of Oakland addressing the impacts of sea level rise on subsurface conditions. The work involved detailed subsurface characterization and groundwater intrusion modeling to assess the potential for rising seawater to affect infrastructure and operations. The analysis provided critical data to inform resilience strategies and adaptation measures for long-term sustainability.

Sea Level Rise Groundwater Intrusion Monitoring, Ventura County, California — Served as the principal groundwater lead and engineer for a project that supported a climate adaptation program for the naval facility at Point Mugu by evaluating groundwater intrusion risks associated with sea level rise. Analyzed groundwater monitoring data to identify trends and data gaps critical for assessing potential impacts on infrastructure and operations as well as habitat. The results informed targeted monitoring and adaptation strategies to enhance the facility’s resilience to future climate-related challenges.

Sea Level Rise Groundwater Intrusion Assessment, Santa Barbara County, California — Served as the principal groundwater lead and engineer for a proposed coastal hotel expansion in Santa Barbara County. The project involved reviewing technical studies to assess potential environmental and resource challenges. Critically evaluated key reports, including a sea level rise hazard study, water resource reports, and stormwater and drainage studies, to identify gaps and raise concerns about the feasibility and sustainability of the development. The analysis provided valuable insights to guide decision-making and ensure compliance with long-term coastal resilience and resource management goals.

Groundwater Modeling

Subsidence Monitoring/Modeling, Fort Bend and Harris Counties, Texas — Served as the groundwater lead and engineer on several groundwater development projects in Fort Bend and Harris counties. Groundwater withdrawals are strictly curtailed due to historical subsidence. The Subsidence Districts have installed GPS Port-A-Measure (PAM) units and used InSAR mapping. Using this data plus the output from the models PRESS and MODFLOW-SUB to measure subsidence impacts.

Groundwater Model Development, New Jersey — Led a team of hydrogeologists to construct a groundwater flow and fate and transport model of perfluorononanoic acid and other contaminants. The model will be used to design a pump and treat system and possible aquifer replenishment with the treated groundwater.

Hydrogeological Services, Montgomery County, Texas — Provided modeling and hydrogeological consulting services for the Lone Star Ground-water Conservation District’s (Montgomery County, Texas) update of its desired future conditions and groundwater management plans. Also provided litigation services for the district.

Groundwater Model Development, Havana, Florida — Provided consulting services for Northwest Florida Water Management District as it updated its regional groundwater model—an integrated groundwater–surface water model that provides regulatory control of the groundwater withdrawals and manages saltwater intrusion in the Floridan aquifer due to pumping.

Crop Production Services, Various Locations, U.S. — Served as the groundwater lead to provide modeling and hydrogeological consulting services for a number of crop production services legacy sites. The groundwater at the sites was contaminated with nitrates from long-term fertilizer use. Groundwater modeling was used to determine the fate and transport of the nitrates and to develop a remedial strategy for cleanup.

Legacy Way Tunnel Design, Brisbane, Australia — Provided senior oversight and technical review for all hydrogeologic assessments related to the Legacy Way tunnel design project, a 4.6 km underground tunnel in northern Brisbane, Australia. Work included evaluating field tests, preparing geotechnical and environmental reports, and modeling the entire project area.

Mercury Fate and Transport, Cincinnati, Ohio — Served as the groundwater lead for performing fate-and-transport modeling and analysis of a mercury spill at a municipal landfill in Cincinnati, Ohio. As part of the project management phase, modeling was used to determine the potential migration of mercury through the landfill to the leachate collection system. Modeling efforts examined both the spatial distribution and the temporal component of the mercury transport.

Due Diligence Environmental Review, Pascagoula, Mississippi — Served as the environmental lead for performing an environmental assessment at a chemical plant in Pascagoula, Mississippi, as part of a due diligence effort. A number of groundwater and surface water contamination issues due to spills, leaks, and storage of hazardous materials were addressed. The location of the plant on the Gulf of Mexico makes possible environmental impacts from operation of the chemical plant a sensitive issue.

Mining

Bingham Canyon Mine Closure Planning, Copperton, Utah — Completed an independent third-party audit for a closure-plan pit-lake study for Bingham Canyon Mine. Reviewed the consultant scope of work for the pit-lake study and discussed the study, methodology, and pathway to completion with consultant staff. An independent audit report was compiled and submitted to the client.

Hooker Prairie Mine, Bartow, Florida — Served as the model expert to develop a contaminant and water budget and management model for the Hookers Prairie Mine in Florida using the GoldSim modeling software. The purpose of the model was to evaluate the probabilities of the mine meeting its current and future nutrient NPDES loading limits for certain contaminants. The project also included an evaluation of current monitoring data within the mine operations and at discharge locations, and the development of a complete monitoring plan integrated into a GIS as part of the model calibration and validation.

Bridger Coal Mine Investigation, Rock Springs, Wyoming — Served on a technical team to reevaluate groundwater conditions, and treatment and discharge alternatives at the Bridger coal mine in southwest Wyoming. Previous studies’ predicted maximum flows into the mine had been exceeded. Reassessed the situation and provided solutions.

Emergency Response

Emergency Response to Battery Fire, New York — Served as the principal in charge leading a team of multidisciplinary scientists, engineers, toxicologists, and risk assessors for an environmental emergency response at a large-scale battery power storage unit at a solar farm. A thermal incident where several cargo container boxes caught fire and burned required immediate action to assess the environmental and human health impacts.

Emergency Response to Battery Fire, California — Served as the principal in charge leading a team of multidisciplinary scientists, engineers, toxicologists, and risk assessors for an environmental emergency response at a large-scale battery power storage facility. A thermal incident where several cargo container boxes caught fire and burned required immediate action to assess the environmental and human health impacts.

Ecological Restoration

Ecological Restoration, Northeast Idaho — Serves as the principal in charge leading a team of scientists, engineers, and ecologists for an ecological restoration effort in northeast Idaho. The project has involved restoring flow to a creek and working with a number of state and federal agencies to develop and implement a conceptual restoration plan and a mitigation and monitoring plan. The project will also include obtaining the necessary permits and overseeing the restoration in an area of critical habitat.

Project Management

GMS Software Development, Utah — Served as chief engineer for the original development of the software Groundwater Modeling System (GMS) at the Environmental Modeling Research Laboratory at Brigham Young University. A sophisticated graphical environment for groundwater model pre- and post-processing, 3-dimensional site characterization, and geostatistics, GMS is the official groundwater application of the U.S. Department of Defense and is also used by the U.S. Department of Energy, EPA, and thousands of users across the world.

Natural Resource Damage Assessment

Natural Resource Damage Assessment, Southeastern Idaho — Served as the groundwater expert determining groundwater damages in southeastern Idaho due to decades of phosphate mining. Led a team of hydrogeologists evaluating the impacts of selenium and other contaminants and changes in natural groundwater flows across the entire region. The damage assessment included a number of mining areas as well as the facilities where the phosphate material was processed.

Natural Resource Damage Assessment, Eastern Washington — Served as the groundwater expert determining groundwater damages in eastern Washington due to decades of groundwater contamination. For future development on the site, an ASR program is being considered as part of the restoration and long-term sustainability of the groundwater resources.

Education & Credentials

M.S., Civil & Environmental Engineering, Brigham Young University, Provo, Utah, 1998

B.S, Civil & Environmental Engineering, Brigham Young University, Provo, Utah, 1993

Professional Engineer, Utah (License No. 189690-2202), Texas (License No. 125406), Florida (License No. 74838), Colorado (License No. 0051575), Alabama (License No. PE52096), Idaho (License No. P-21839), Oregon (License No. 104270PE), Wyoming (License No. PE 20790)

Certified Groundwater Professional, NGWA (2023)

Certified Water Rights Examiner, Oregon (License No. 104270)