Ricardo E. Aguirre

Ricardo E. Aguirre, PE, BC.WRE, CFM, AP directs WEST’s newest office in Red Rock, Arizona, and is spearheading development of the land management and water security service line. Mr. Aguirre has 23 years of experience in engineering with primary skill in hydraulics, hydrology, stormwater infrastructure design, land management, groundwater recharge, and project management. He serves as project manager for several NRCS PL-566 projects and combined flood control design/land management projects. Mr. Aguirre is focused on integrating natural processes into large scale engineering projects to achieve multiple objectives. For example, much of his work involves using water harvesting and land management to increase soil organic matter, reduce soil loss, infiltrate stormwater to recharge groundwater aquifers, provide passive irrigation for vegetation, control invasive species, lessen the heat island effect, and sequester carbon back into the soil, with the ultimate goals of reducing excess flooding, preventing soil erosion, and reversing desertification.

Mr. Aguirre has written and presented widely on low impact development, green infrastructure, and decentralizing stormwater through both mechanical and biological best management practices. He is certified in water harvesting and an accredited professional in Holistic Management, a decision-making framework that considers humans, their economies, and the environment as inseparable. As a professional educator in Holistic Management, he has developed and given intensive training courses for engineers in using water harvesting and land management practices to complement or replace traditional water resources engineering practices.

Early in his career, Mr. Aguirre worked for the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, where he developed computer models to prioritize spending allocations depending on the needs of aging infrastructure. He incorporates that experience in his training courses to demonstrate how effective resource management can often be less expensive and offer more benefits than technical solutions. He is a member of the American Society of Civil Engineers, the Arizona Floodplain Management Association, and the Savory Institute.