Michael Love and Associates

What Michael Love and Associates does

Michael Love & Associates, Inc. (MLA) is a privately held, founder-owned water resources engineering consultancy founded in 1999 and headquartered in Arcata, California. The firm specializes in stream and estuary restoration, fish passage engineering, dam removal design, fluvial geomorphology, and watershed hydrology, serving a client base that spans federal, state, and local government agencies, non-profit conservation organizations, water utilities, and large private engineering firms operating as prime contractors. MLA delivers services on a project-based professional services model, including topographic and geomorphic mapping, engineering design plans and specifications, construction management and inspection, and grant funding assistance for restoration projects.

MLA's underlying technology combines civil and environmental engineering with fisheries biology, hydrology, river hydraulics, and sediment transport expertise. The firm led the development of the FishXing software for the U.S. Forest Service and U.S. Federal Highways Administration - an industry-standard tool for fish passage analysis - and authored fish passage and stream restoration design guidance documents for the U.S. Forest Service and California Department of Fish and Wildlife. Field and analytical capabilities include RTK/Total Station survey, LiDAR scanning, drone-based imagery, HEC-RAS hydraulic modeling, GIS, and Civil 3D design. The firm conducts research in partnership with Cal Poly Humboldt and the USGS Conte Anadromous Fish Laboratory.

MLA's go-to-market relies on direct consulting engagements and professional referrals rather than formal sales or marketing functions. The firm of five key staff (Principal Engineer, Project Engineer, Engineering Geomorphologist, and two Associate Engineers) operates from a single Arcata office, drawing on long-standing relationships with agencies including USFWS, USFS, NMFS, BLM, NPS, FHWA, CDFW, and California Coastal Conservancy, as well as subcontractor roles with prime contractors such as AECOM, CDM Smith, and GHD. Geographic operations span California, Oregon, Alaska, and Maine.

Name

Michael Love and Associates

Legal name

Michael Love & Associates, Inc.

Website

https://h2odesigns.com

Company type

Private

Founded year

1999

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

1–10 employees

Short description

Michael Love & Associates is a California-based water resources engineering consultancy founded in 1999, specializing in stream restoration, fish passage, and dam removal design for federal, state, and local government agencies, non-profits, and engineering prime contractors across the U.S. West Coast, Alaska, and Maine.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Water Resources Engineering Consulting

NAICS

Environmental Consulting Services (54162), Research and Development in the Physical, Engineering, and Life Sciences (54171)

SIC

Services-Engineering Services (8711)

akta.pro primary industry

Water, Wastewater & Hydraulics Engineering Consulting (BPAHAIAD)

akta.pro secondary industries

Water Resources & Watershed Protection (BPAGAGAK), Hydropower Environmental & Fish Passage Solutions (EUACAEAJ)

Keywords

• Water resources engineering
• Fish passage design
• Stream restoration services
• Fluvial geomorphology consulting
• Dam removal engineering

Headquarters

HQ city

Arcata

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Operations, Technology or R&D, Marketing or Sales

Revenue model

1. Engineering Consulting Services: Provides engineering analysis and design services for watershed restoration and aquatic species management. Services include topographic and geomorphic mapping, engineering design plans and specifications, and construction management and inspection. Works with governmental agencies, non-profits, and private sector on project basis.

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels1 record

Marketing channels2 records

Core offering

Michael Love and Associates is a water resources engineering consulting firm that designs and plans river and estuary restoration, fish passage and culvert retrofits, dam removal projects, and fluvial geomorphology and hydrology analyses for federal, state, and local agencies, non-profits, private firms, and utilities. The firm's principal led development of the FishXing software for the U.S. Forest Service and Federal Highway Administration, used to evaluate fish passage through culverts and stream crossings.

Product overview

Michael Love & Associates (MLA) is a consulting firm offering a unified suite of water resources engineering and environmental analysis services, not a software product platform. The core offerings include River Restoration, Estuary Restoration, Fish Passage, Dam Removal, Fluvial Geomorphology, and Hydraulics and Hydrology services. MLA also developed the FishXing software, a specialized tool for fish passage analysis. All services apply interdisciplinary expertise in civil/environmental engineering, hydrology, river hydraulics, fluvial geomorphology, sediment transport, and fisheries biology to support watershed restoration and aquatic species management from concept to completion.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• River Restoration Engineering

Quantifiable outcome

• Dozens of projects led from concept to completion

Named customers16 records

Segments6 records

Ideal customer profiles2 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Feature5 records

Partnerships

Four partnerships are on record, tiered core.

• U.S. Forest ServicecoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerMLA led development of FishXing software and associated online resources funded by US Forest Service. Ongoing collaboration including research partnerships through Cal Poly Humboldt. Authored fish passage and stream restoration design guidance documents for US Forest Service.
• Federal Highways AdministrationcoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerCo-funded development of FishXing software for fish passage analysis. Technical collaboration on fish passage engineering for transportation infrastructure.
• California Department of Fish and WildlifecoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerMLA authored fish passage and stream restoration design guidance documents for California Department of Fish and Wildlife. Ongoing collaboration on regulatory guidance and restoration standards.
• Cal Poly HumboldtcoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerPrincipal Michael Love serves as co-principal investigator on numerous research projects. Partnership provides access to academic research capabilities and pipeline for recruiting environmental resources engineering graduates.

Scale indicators2 records

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights5 records

Direct peers

• Stillwater Sciences: California-based ecological consulting firm specializing in riverine, wetland, and salmonid habitat restoration with similar multidisciplinary science-plus-engineering capabilities. Listed as an active collaborator of MLA and operates in directly overlapping fish passage and restoration niches.
• Northwest Hydraulic Consultants: Hydraulics, hydrology, and sediment-transport specialist firm with strong Pacific Northwest and California presence. Listed as a private-sector collaborator of MLA and competes for the same river hydraulics and watershed restoration engagements.
• Prunuske Chatham, Inc. Northern California restoration and water resources engineering firm with comparable fish passage, stream restoration, and water quality expertise. Closely matched in size, geography, and service mix to MLA.
• Pacific Watershed Associates: Northern California firm focused on watershed restoration, road-related sediment reduction, and fisheries habitat improvement. Listed in MLA's private-sector partners and competes for related grant-funded restoration projects.

Regional players

• Stetson Engineering: California-based water resources and civil engineering firm with adjacent fish passage, dam, and stream restoration capabilities. Appears in MLA's partner/client network and operates in overlapping California markets.
• Quincy Engineering, Inc. California-based transportation and water resources engineering firm that collaborates on fish passage projects involving road/bridge infrastructure. Competes for similar FHWA-adjacent work in Northern California.
• McBain Associates: Northern California water resources and environmental engineering firm listed in MLA's private-sector partner network. Comparable scale and overlap in hydraulic, hydrologic, and stream restoration services.
• Telamon Engineering Consultants: California-based civil and water resources engineering firm with bridge, hydraulic, and fish passage expertise. Competes for transportation-related fish passage and streambed design contracts.

Broad incumbents

• AECOM: Global engineering and environmental services giant that subcontracts to and competes with MLA on large watershed, dam removal, and fish passage programs. Provides the multidisciplinary scale MLA lacks while MLA provides niche fish-passage expertise AECOM lacks.
• CDM Smith: Large environmental and water infrastructure consulting firm listed in MLA's private partner/client network. Competes for federal and municipal water resources and restoration contracts at a much larger scale.

Market position

Strengths4 records

Weaknesses4 records

Competitive moat4 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights6 records

Customer concentration

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles5 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about Michael Love and Associates