About Us * Quality * Value * Innovation *

Based in the Okanagan

Waters Edge Engineering Ltd. is an Okanagan-based company offering professional services involving coastal processes, stormwater management, and civil engineering. Our team is led by the principal engineer and owner, supported by engineers, junior technical staff, and a network of complimentary science and engineering consultants.

Our office is in Kelowna, BC, close to the shores of Okanagan Lake. We have worked throughout the Okanagan Valley, the Shuswap, and the Kootenays. Our clients are generally municipalities, regional districts, strata developments, private developers, and yacht clubs.

Mission Statement

Waters Edge Engineering applies experience and innovation to assist governments, planners, developers and waterfront land stewards to protect and enhance our shorelines and watercourses and create places for people to experience the joy of the waterfront throughout western and northern Canada. We bring specialized professional engineering to the local market and provide value to our clients through innovation and dependable quality.

Community and Environmental Sustainability

At Waters Edge Engineering Ltd. we are committed to community, sustainability and reducing our impact on the environment. We prioritize these values in all of our decisions and operations. Our commitment to the environment extends to our customers, our staff, and the community in which we operate.

We support local businesses and Canadian sustainable products whenever possible, even when it costs more than other alternatives. Each purchase decision involves evaluating the social and environmental lifecycle of the product. We read the labels and the fine print. We look for locally made products, sold by a local company, and made from repurposed environmentally sustainable products in minimal packaging wherever possible. We recognize that the small local businesses make all the difference in our community and we support them where we can.

Everything in our office is chosen for the smallest footprint and greatest community benefit. For example, for our excellent office coffee, we purchase ethically sourced espresso beans that are roasted and sold by a small locally owned company just a few kilometers away, we use an espresso machine with zero waste, and coffee cream from a local dairy farm in reusable glass bottles (bottles are returned to the dairy for refill). We refill bottles for consumable products, use eco-friendly office supplies, and recycle everything possible, dropping off at the depot any items that do not get picked up in the regular recycling.

We utilize technologies that provide alternatives to business travel and in our projects, we promote the protection and enhancement of biodiversity and ecosystems through our designs in consultation with environmental experts.

We strive to improve our environmental performance over time and to initiate additional projects and activities that will further reduce our impacts on the environment.

Safety

Waters Edge recognizes that safety is always a top priority in any project or scope. The province of BC offers varied landscapes and terrain conditions in which work is possible. Preventative safety measures will differ from location to location. Waters edge has a wide breadth of experience in the province, spanning from the dry belt interior, through Rocky Mountain areas, to coastal regions. This variety of experience shows we have safely completed projects under many different hazard conditions.

Safety is a priority in every aspect of our work here at Waters Edge. The measures we implement to increase safety and decrease risk are generally proportional to the estimated level of risk in our environment. In the field, as hydrotechnical engineers, we often work nearby or in water.

Waters Edge Key Personnel

The company is owned and operated by Tara Hirsekorn, P.Eng., a professional engineer with over 20 years of experience delivering high profile public and private waterfront projects. She is experienced in client satisfaction and has an excellent reputation for delivering successful projects that met the client’s needs.

Tara Hirsekorn is an innovative hydrotechnical/coastal engineer and project manager of successful multi-disciplinary waterfront parks and foreshore development projects. She graduated from UBC and completed the first 10 years of her career in Vancouver; she has been working in Kelowna since 2010.

Tara on Linkedin

Company History

Waters Edge Engineering was incorporated in 2014. After years of experience working on coastal and civil projects throughout western and northern Canada, our company owner and principal Engineer, Tara Hirsekorn, recognized a need for specialized coastal services throughout our beautiful valley and the British Columbia interior. Other companies offering these services have coastal professionals in Vancouver who are not familiar with local conditions – we aim to fill this gap.

Waters Edge further expanded our water resources and municipal engineering services in 2022.