Tim Ormond, P.E., M.S.

Tim Ormond, P.E., M.S.

Tim Ormond has more than thirty years of experience in water resources planning and engineering, with a career focused on watershed restoration, hydrology, stormwater management, green infrastructure, and ecological design. As President of Blue Earth Engineering, Tim works at the intersection of engineering and natural systems, developing practical approaches that restore watershed function while strengthening the resilience of communities and landscapes.

Tim is particularly interested in water cycle restoration—using green infrastructure and ecological design to slow, spread, infiltrate, and retain water within the landscape. His work combines engineering with an understanding of natural hydrologic and ecological processes to address challenges ranging from stormwater runoff and stream degradation to flooding, erosion, water quality, and climate resilience.

Much of Tim’s work over the past two decades has focused on developing and demonstrating innovative approaches suited to the steep terrain and unique hydrology of the Southern Appalachians. His research and demonstration projects include the Steep Slope Bioretention Pilot Project, the development of Slope Infiltration Practices (SIPs), and the Stormwater Mycelium Filter Research Project. He also led the Bailey-Mundy Stormwater Demonstration Park at Mars Hill Town Hall, which received the Land of Sky Friends of the River Award in 2014.

Tim frequently collaborates with local governments, environmental nonprofits, universities, landscape architects, community organizations, and other partners on watershed restoration and resilience initiatives throughout Western North Carolina. Recent work includes the A-B Tech Wetland Education Park, which transformed approximately an acre of formerly developed land into a system of bio-infiltration areas, constructed wetland habitat, and public educational space.

Tim was the lead author of the 2026 publication Water Connects Us All: A Community Guidebook for Restoring Mountain Watersheds, a comprehensive resource developed to help communities better understand the connections among water, land use, ecosystems, and climate resilience—and translate those connections into practical action.

Before establishing his practice in Western North Carolina, Tim spent fourteen years with a global consulting firm, where he managed water resources and environmental projects throughout the United States. His work included innovative stormwater research and pilot projects in the Lake Tahoe watershed, where stringent water-quality protection requirements helped shape his interest in combining engineering, research, and ecological systems.

Tim holds a B.S. in Civil and Environmental Engineering from Worcester Polytechnic Institute and an M.S. in Civil and Water Resources Engineering from Texas A&M University. A registered professional engineer since 1997, he has published and presented technical work at regional and national conferences. His continuing study has included sustainable stormwater management, rainwater harvesting, ecological design, and permaculture, and he earned his Permaculture Design Certificate in 2013.

Tim has also devoted significant time to community service and civic leadership in Asheville and Buncombe County. He has served on the Water Committee of the Asheville Buncombe Food Policy Council and on the City of Asheville Sustainability Advisory Committee, where he was elected Chair. Following Hurricane Helene, Tim was appointed to the City of Asheville Infrastructure Recovery Board and currently serves as its Chair, helping support community dialogue and decision-making around the city’s long-term infrastructure recovery and resilience.

Across his professional and community work, Tim seeks to demonstrate how restoring natural water processes can provide practical infrastructure solutions while creating healthier streams, landscapes, ecosystems, and communities.