David Gutierrez, P.E., G.E.

David Gutierrez has worked in a variety of capacities over his 37-year engineering career. He is considered an expert in overall water management and dam safety and has created and led some of the most complex water management programs within the State of California. As Chief, Division of Safety of Dams, David worked on all aspects of dam safety. Before this, he completed complex dam engineering analysis including hydrologic, concrete dam structural analysis, geotechnical and seismic design, construction oversight and overseeing the maintenance of dams. As Executive Program Manager, David developed and managed the Sustainable Groundwater Management Program which will be used to protect the groundwater basins in California and support local agencies to achieve sustainable groundwater management. David also led the effort in completing regulations for the California Water Commission’s Proposition 1 – Water Storage Investment Program. As a Deputy Director within the Department of Water Resources, he also managed the FloodSAFE program, California’s $5 billion effort to improve California’s levee system and overall flood management.

At GEI David has project managed and has been the engineering manager on numerous multimillion dollar dam safety projects including the design of new dams, design of new spillways, evaluations and rehabilitation of dams and providing direction to dam owners regarding their dam safety programs. He has worked with hundreds of dams and dam owners including the Bureau of Reclamation, Corps of Engineers, Tennessee Valley Authority, California Department of Water Resources, and many others.

Over the course of his career, David has worked with cities, counties, public works agencies, water and flood control agencies, attorneys, the California Legislature, United States Congress, State of California’s Governor’s Office, President of the United States’ Administration, and other entities. A variety of programs and projects required significant political and stakeholder interaction, lobbying for various national dam safety programs, securing federal funding for state levee projects, and testifying in front of Congress or the State Legislature. David has developed and managed various stakeholder processes on various projects. This includes forming and collaboratively working with Tribal Advisory groups, Non-Governmental Organizations, and State and federal permitting agency partners to achieve common goals.

David has served on various national boards and committees including the Board of Directors for the Association of State Dam Safety Officials (ASDSO), President of ASDSO, Chair of the Legislative Committee of ASDSO, the National Dam Safety Review Board, the Department of Homeland Security Government Coordinating Council, and the State of California’s Strong Motion Instrumentation Advisory Committee.