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BKF + Lotus Water: Creating a More Resilient Water Future, Together

Lotus Water Announces Merger with BKF Engineers, Expanding Leadership in Water Resources and Resilience

Lotus Water is pleased to be joining BKF Engineers, a leading planning, engineering, surveying, and construction management firm specializing in the Transportation, Water, Development, and Government Markets across the western United States. Creating a more resilient water future together, we are Stronger by Design! This strategic merger positions the combined organization to better serve public agencies, utilities, and communities facing increasingly complex water and climate challenges.

By joining BKF, Lotus Water adds advanced technical depth and resilience-focused services that complement BKF’s broad civil, infrastructure, and environmental engineering practices. Together, the combined organization is sharpening its focus with a clear priority: to lead the industry in sustainable, resilient design that prepares communities, protects our watersheds, and strengthens infrastructure into the future.

“Water resilience is one of the defining infrastructure challenges of our time,” said Peter Wijsman, Executive Vice President of Infrastructure Solutions at BKF Engineers. “By bringing Lotus Water into BKF, we are intentionally building a premier water resources platform, one that combines deep technical experience, innovative thinking, and the scale required to help communities and utilities adapt to climate change, protect critical infrastructure, and plan confidently for the future. This acquisition accelerates our ability to lead in the water market and innovate solutions that are both resilient and enduring.”

A Powerful Alignment of Vision + Values

“The acquisition creates a significantly larger and more experienced water resources practice, expanding BKF’s capacity to pursue larger and more complex projects while continuing to deliver first-class outcomes. Lotus Water’s established presence in Northern California and the Pacific Northwest also supports BKF’s strategic growth in key West Coast markets,” says Greg Hurd, President and CEO of BKF.

Lotus Water will continue to operate as Lotus Water and clients of both firms will benefit from a more comprehensive suite of services, combining BKF’s operational scale, geographic reach, and multidisciplinary expertise with Lotus Water’s leadership in water resilience, policy development, advanced modeling, nature-based solutions, and innovative design approaches. Lotus Water will operate as a critical part of BKF’s Water Resources practice, maintaining its strong technical culture and focus on sustainable solutions while gaining access to expanded resources and opportunities for growth.

Following the acquisition, Lotus Water will operate as a standalone legal and operating entity within the BKF family of companies.

BKF + Lotus Water: Creating a More Resilient Water Future, Together.

For more information, visit bkf.com.

2023 Company Retreat

Since the pandemic, the Lotus team has expanded remotely beyond the Bay Area, with employees hailing from the Pacific Northwest, up the Rockies, and across to the East Coast. While we love seeing everyone in our weekly lunchtime staff meetings on Teams, there’s no replacement for spending time all together in the same place to exchange ideas, problem-solve, catch up….and go on safari?!… That’s right - thiis year, Lotus brought together the entire team from across four states for our a first-ever overnight retreat in Santa Rosa, hosted at Safari West. The team kicked off the morning with small-group workshops and breakout activities to envision company goals, culture, ways to balance the convenience of remote work and the collaborative benefits of in-person interaction, and how to best align projects with Lotus’ values and mission.

Of course, no trip to Safari West would be complete without a tour of its 400-acre free-range preserve. With important business planning and staff recognition awards wrapped up, it was time for the retreat’s main event. Starting with a walking tour of the preserve’s aviary habitats, our expert guides shared a brief history of the safari’s conservation mission and introduced us to a flamboyance of flamingos and other colorful birds before guiding us on a grand tour of the preserve in restored military jeeps. Complete with the sweltering inland air of late spring to properly transport us to the African savanna, we not only saw unique mammals like the aoudad, but learned fascinating trivia, while taking turns braving the blazing sun to enjoy prime views from the rooftop seats.

As our day at the safari wrapped up and evening crept in, the team headed up to a house nestled in the hills of Santa Rosa for sunset drinks by the pool and dinner locally catered by Epicurean Escape, taking advantage of the beautiful weather and setting to share good food and laughs with each other. Though departing early the next morning was a struggle for some, the retreat was a wonderful reminder of why we all have chosen to work together at Lotus to tackle projects that seek new ways of protecting and managing water resources for our communities.

A playful baby southern white rhino, the crowd favorite

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Green Schoolyards From Award-Winning Grant Program

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Earlier this year, the San Francisco Public Utilities Commission (SFPUC) celebrated the one-year anniversary since the launch of its Green Infrastructure (GI) Grant Program, the City’s first large-scale GI grant program that provides funding to San Francisco property owners to capture and manage stormwater through GI. The first year of the GI Grant program saw many milestones, including an applicant workshop with over 100 participants, 6 project grants totaling $5M in funding, and winning a 2020 Outstanding Sustainable Stormwater Program Award from the California Stormwater Quality Association (CASQA).

Today, we celebrate another exciting milestone - the first two grant projects have completed construction, just in time for the rainy season!

 
 

Bessie Carmichael Middle School

The SFPUC awarded San Francisco Unified School District (SFUSD) $0.4M, working with SFUSD’s Green Schoolyards program and additional funding, to transform the Bessie Carmichael schoolyard. The GI Grant Program funded:

  • Site soil remediation

  • A repaved and painted play yard

  • A mural to promote education around the environment and infrastructure through art

  • Three in-ground planted bioretention basins, and

  • Four above grade planters to manage roof and yard stormwater runoff.

Altogether these seven stormwater management BMPs will manage 275,000 gallons of stormwater annually within the Channel Watershed.


 

Lafayette Elementary School

An additional $0.5M was awarded to fund stormwater infrastructure improvements at Lafayette Elementary School, integrated into SFUSD’s building modernization project. The grant funded:

  • Two bioretention basins

  • A large planted dry creek bed to manage stormwater runoff from the play yard and a portion of the roof

  • New planters

  • Impervious surface removal, and

  • Educational signage throughout the yard.

The stormwater improvements will manage 350,000 gallons of stormwater annually in the Sunset Watershed.

Lotus Water continues to provide technical and programmatic support for the GI Grant Program, working closely with the SFPUC to develop the program guidebook, perform site visits at potential grant project sites, review applications and plan submissions, and provide construction administration services.  

Read more about the GI Grant Program here.

LEJ Volunteer Day!

Lotus had the privilege of volunteering at Literacy for Environmental Justice (LEJ), a non-profit dedicated to promoting ecological health, environmental stewardship, and community development in Southeast San Francisco.  LEJ works to create urban greening, eco-literacy, community stewardship, and workforce development opportunities that directly engage and support local residents in securing a healthier future. Team Lotus got our hands dirty (literally!) in their native plant nursery by moving soil, cleaning seeds, and transplanting baby plants to replenish native plant stock for restoration projects in Candlestick Point State Recreation Area (CPSRA).  The team had a blast getting outdoors and rolling up our sleeves to contribute back to our community!