About

Federal Energy Regulatory Commission 
As a Branch Chief in the Division of Dam Safety and Inspections, John supervised up to eight civil engineers and other staff and help ensure that regulated dams met agency dam safety standards. John directed design review, construction, quality control, environmental documents regarding dam remediation construction and maintenance projects.  He represented FERC at several site-specific PMP/PMF board of consultant meetings. He participated in several board of consultant’s meetings regarding the design of large dam remediation projects. His work included the preparation of construction, operation reports regarding the safety of dams. He applied expert knowledge in the field of hydrology and hydraulics to evaluate PMF, inflow design flood, and spillway hydraulics studies.  

U.S. Army Corps of Engineers 
As a hydraulic engineer, John developed preliminary and final hydraulic designs of flood control structures such as dams, debris basins, levees, and channel improvements. He was the hydraulics expert in dam safety teams that performed inspections of concrete gravity, and earth fill dams in the region. As the Hydraulics Section GIS engineer, John directed GIS support of planning, engineering, and construction-operations division projects.  He reviewed plans prepared by other agencies or private architect-engineer contractors for technical adequacy and advised construction personnel in the preparation of drawings, specifications, and change orders.

E2 and Stanley Consultants
As a senior civil engineer for various consulting companies, his experience included serving as the Project Manager for the civil site work engineering on the Hyperion Wastewater Treatment Plant Full Secondary Improvements. In this capacity, he managed up to three Civil Engineers and six Technicians and Drafts persons in the preparation of contract administration documents including addendum, change orders, drawings, and specifications for the construction of facilities including freeways, streets, grading, storm drains, sewers, gas lines, and miscellaneous utilities.  He also directed the design of pressure conduits and open channels including complex hydraulic structures such as diversion structures and overflow weirs and reported the progress of the civil site work in weekly meetings. 

EMCON Associates 
As a senior civil engineer, John supervised the preparation of storm drain plans to carry runoff around landfills, landfill grading plans, designed leachate collection systems, prepared hydrology reports, drainage studies and cost estimates. He used hydrology modeling software including HEC-1, and the modified rational program to estimate 100-year and 500-yr frequency floods. John designed open channels, diversion dams, detention basins, roads, culverts, and erosion control elements including gabions and riprap. 

Nevada Division of Water Resources 
As a hydraulic engineer, John was responsible for processing water right applications, which included checking water right maps, processing proof of beneficial use forms and performing general hydraulic calculations. He estimated water production rates in wells and open channel flow channels using measuring devices such as flow velocity meters, weirs, and calibrated buckets. John prepared and reviewed hydrology studies on large drainage basins and estimated surface and subsurface flow quantities. He also helped implement a computer database program for tracking water right ownership.

Nevada Department of Transportation 
As a roadway design and drainage engineer, Mr. Onderdonk prepared freeway design drawings and prepared hydrology studies using methods including the S.C.S., U.S.G.S., and rational methods. He applied the HEC-1 program to estimate various frequency floods and the principals of hydraulics to design culverts, catch basins, detention basins, and open channels. John designed river erosion control elements, including gabions and grouted riprap and used the HEC-2 program to model water surface profiles on channels and rivers.