Following the completion of its 2022 Wildlife Corridors Action Plan, which identifies projects for reducing wildlife-vehicle collisions, the New Mexico Department of Transportation (NMDOT) proceeded to plan and design the state’s first wildlife overpass over U.S. Highway 550, north of the village of Cuba. As part of ongoing cultural resources support for the agency, Barr was tasked with completing a Phase I cultural resource survey to identify and evaluate potential impacts to cultural resources within the project area.
Barr’s cultural resources team conducted a survey of an 8.1-mile segment of U.S. Highway 550 that provided up-to-date information on 21 previously recorded archaeological sites and four previously recorded historic cultural properties. We also discovered and recorded two new archaeological sites.
Barr’s survey data will be used to streamline the process of assessing potential impacts to cultural resources within the wildlife-crossing project area. It will also help NMDOT mitigate any adverse impacts on cultural resources and outline necessary actions for compliance with Section 106 of the National Historic Preservation Act.
Helping Des Moines protect critical infrastructure
Des Moines Water Works hired Barr to perform an assessment of its flood risk management system for the Fleur Water Treatment Plant, which is safeguarded by a levee that encircles the facility. The system had been realigned and reinforced over time in response to significant flooding that compromised portions of the levee. The goals of the assessment were to identify and prioritize flood risk management concerns and provide remedial actions in accordance with FEMA criteria (44 CFR 65.10) and USACE levee design guidelines.
Desktop review and facility observation
To understand the water treatment plant’s history, operation, and flood risk, Barr compiled and reviewed existing data associated with the levee system, including original plant, floodgate, and levee design documents; historical flooding records; soil boring logs; gallery and tunnel collection system records; hydraulic models of the Raccoon and Des Moines rivers; the plant’s emergency response plan; and other supporting information. The Barr team also visited the site to observe the condition and operation of the plant's floodgate and levee system.
From observations to recommendations
The assessment revealed several vulnerabilities. Barr recommended targeted upgrades to improve resiliency, including realigning the levee to protect key infrastructure, adding an emergency overflow to the north tunnel shaft, replacing floodgate seals, and addressing seepage and structural issues in an aging retaining wall.
Des Moines Water Works prioritized four of these essential modifications to safeguard the potable water supply during flooding of the Raccoon and Des Moines rivers. We are currently administering the construction of these improvements, which are expected to be completed in 2026. By combining technical expertise with a deep understanding of what’s at stake for the community, Barr is helping Des Moines Water Works take proactive steps to protect its vital infrastructure and water service during extreme storms.
Barr successfully navigated Minnesota’s Public Utilities Commission (PUC) state permitting process for the Birch Coulee Solar Project, a proposed 125-megawatt facility in Renville County, Minnesota. From the initial field surveys to the final Site Permit approval, our team provided comprehensive, end-to-end support to AES US Renewables.
Our work began with studies to inform the permitting strategy and optimize project design. Barr’s studies included habitat assessment, noise study with baseline monitoring, and wetland delineation. We also coordinated a cultural resources survey that included active participation from tribal representatives. This process ensured that Traditional Cultural Specialists from local tribes were invited to take part, allowing them to identify areas of cultural significance within the project site that required avoidance.
To strengthen the Site Permit application, Barr produced compelling before-and-after visual renderings, performed a prime farmland analysis, authored an Agricultural Impact Mitigation Plan, and developed a thorough Decommissioning Plan. Our team compiled all technical studies, created clear and user-friendly map sets, and assembled a complete application package that met Minnesota Rule requirements.
The application was submitted in July 2024 and was accepted without comments. The PUC issued the Site Permit in August 2025.
Barr prepared the environmental impact statement (EIS) for the Minnesota Energy Connection Project, a proposed 170-mile, 345 kV transmission line project. Barr’s work supporting the Minnesota Department of Commerce’s Energy Environmental Review and Analysis (EERA) unit started with participation in seven public scoping meetings. We helped our client answer questions, explain the regulatory process, and facilitate public input on potential alternatives and impacts during preparation of the EIS.
During the scoping comment period, Barr catalogued over 400 comments and more than 60 route alternatives. Barr reviewed these alternatives and assisted EERA in determining which alternatives should be recommended for analysis in the EIS based on Minnesota Rule 7850.2500. Barr assisted EERA in drafting the final scoping decision.
Scoping resulted in more than 10 potential connection points between a western and eastern routing option that were miles apart. To help interested parties assess the viability of these options and their potential combinations, Barr’s GIS and environmental team designed the EIS to study multiple route options within seven regions. To accommodate the remaining alternatives, Barr also completed equivalent comparisons for shorter route refinements. The EIS examined a range of human and environmental impacts, including aesthetics, greenhouse gas emissions, biological resources, human health and safety, and land-based economies.
The Draft EIS was published in October 2024. Barr supported the public hearings with visuals and meeting attendance in November 2024. The Final EIS was published in January 2025. As part of the Final EIS, Barr catalogued over 1,400 unique public comments and prepared draft responses to each. These responses were finalized with EERA staff.
In February 2025, the Administrative Law Judge indicated that the EIS satisfied the requirements set forth in Minnesota Rule and determined it to be adequate under Minnesota law. The Public Utilities Commission (PUC) issued the Route Permit and Certificate of Need in June 2025.
In 2024, Barr was hired by the Town of Frederick, Colorado, to assist with a water rights court case around the proposed releases of water from Milavec Reservoir to replace historical irrigation return flows. A key issue centered around downstream water quality impacts from the releases resulting from the reservoir’s history of higher nutrients and algal blooms.
Barr helped the town evaluate the water quality of the reservoir and several sources that supplied water to the reservoir and users downstream, including the Lower Boulder Ditch. We determined it was likely that the water quality of the proposed Milavec Reservoir releases would be comparable to downstream sources owned and operated by others. Barr was then able to help negotiate a settlement to avoid trial. We are now helping the town monitor the water quality of the reservoir and develop a water quality study to determine when and how often releases from the reservoir will be restricted to avoid downstream impacts.
Since 2017, we have represented the San Diego Unified Port District (District) on sediment investigations near the Tenth Avenue Marine Terminal (TAMT) in San Diego Bay. This work was previously performed by Windward Environmental LLC, which is now part of Barr.
The California Regional Water Quality Control Board has issued two Investigative Orders (IOs) to the District and City of San Diego (City) related to the TAMT. The first IO (R9-2017-0081) required the District and the City to establish the nature and extent of sediment contamination, its potential sources, and contaminant transport and pathways. The second IO (No. R9-2022-040) required the District and the City to determine if sediments within and adjacent to the TAMT meet narrative sediment quality objectives (SQOs) that protect beneficial uses, including those associated with aquatic life, benthic communities, human health, wildlife, and resident fish.
The District and City of San Diego collaborated to address both IOs. On behalf of the District, we supported the development of focused sampling plans and collected sediment trap, surface sediment, sediment core, biota, and water samples to answer study questions presented in the IOs. We then contributed to the in-water sediment evaluation for the Sediment Chemistry Assessment Report, completed in 2020, to address the first IO. Our sediment trap sampling and analysis were critical to understanding sediment sources and transport pathways at the TAMT. Also in 2020, we completed a supplementary study to evaluate sediment trap chemistry throughout San Diego Bay, providing deeper insight into sediment sources and transport.
To address the second IO, we led a collaborative team in developing the Sediment Quality Objectives Assessment Report, which was completed in March 2025. As part of this effort, we conducted a sediment quality evaluation, an ecological risk assessment, and a human health risk assessment. We were the primary author of a memorandum summarizing the development of toxicity reference values for the ecological risk assessment. To support the human health risk assessment, we developed a calibrated food web model (FWM) for San Diego Bay and applied it to the TAMT, which helped our team assess potential human health risks and understand how sediment contamination might impact the local food chain.
Our recommendations in the Sediment Quality Objectives Assessment Report were to refine the focus areas for evaluating the benthic communities and human health SQOs, delineate contamination hotspots that could impact human health, and further characterize resuspended sediment to assess recontamination potential before any potential future actions at the TAMT.
Preserving Hispanic heritage in Montrose
In 2019, a proposed development in Montrose, Colorado, threatened the remains of a historical morada: an adobe chapel used during Hispanic Catholic services, particularly during Easter by los Hermanos (the Penitente Brotherhood). A Hispanic neighborhood, commonly referred to as Tortilla Flats, rallied support to save the remnant foundation and archaeological remains from destruction. In response, the City of Montrose worked to list the morada with the State Historic Preservation Office as a significant historical resource and has since engaged in various efforts to promote understanding and appreciation of Montrose’s Hispanic heritage.
The city hired Barr in 2025 to write and submit a nomination to list Tortilla Flats in the National Register of Historic Places. Our goal is to support the nomination by synthesizing the history of the city’s Hispanic population from 1900 to 1980, with a focus on the origins of Tortilla Flats and the roles of Hispanic residents in the city’s history and in regional agricultural and ranching histories. We will prepare nomination documents supported by thorough research, including primary and secondary source materials such as newspaper articles, photographs, maps, census records, architectural surveys, and scholarly publications.
Listing Tortilla Flats in the National Register of Historic Places will formally recognize the parts that Tortilla Flats and Hispanic residents have played in Montrose’s history. It will also enable residents to access state and federal funding and tax credits for projects that preserve or enhance the neighborhood’s historical character.
Barr will draft the nomination documents in 2025 and 2026 for review by the city’s Historic Preservation Committee and the Colorado Historic Preservation Review Board before submitting them to the National Park Service in Washington, D.C. The Keeper of the National Register of Historic Places will then provide a final review and determination.
On behalf of the Minnesota Chamber Foundation (a committee under the Minnesota Chamber of Commerce), Barr undertook an in-depth study in 2023 to document and compare the environmental review and permitting processes in Minnesota with those of 10 other states with similar economies and natural resources.
The impetus for the project was the state business community’s long-time concern that Minnesota’s environmental-approval processes for industrial facilities inhibit economic growth and development. Permitting timelines are unpredictable but often span several years, partly because the state’s process is unusually vulnerable to legal challenges.
Partnering with the Washington, DC–based Policy Navigation Group and the law firm of Squire Patton Boggs, Barr conducted extensive research, using publicly available data on current environmental-review and permitting rules and practices in Minnesota and the 10 benchmark states. We also interviewed regulators to gather first-hand perspectives on the processes in many of those states. That body of information allowed us to make comparisons, document economic impacts, and identify barriers to and opportunities for improvement.
In early 2024, we presented our analysis to the Chamber Foundation in two documents: the full report, which includes eight appendixes of supporting data and is more than 4,300 pages long, and a 30-page executive summary featuring plain language, charts, and illustrations to clearly communicate key findings to the business community, state legislature, regulatory agencies, and members of the public. The report and its 18 actionable strategies for improving Minnesota’s environmental-review and permitting processes were well received by all of those audiences.
In 2025, Barr teamed with the Chamber Foundation to prepare an update and scorecard documenting improvements achieved in the preceding 12 months, along with remaining challenges. All documents—the full-length report, the executive summary, and the 2025 update—can be viewed and downloaded at www.mnchamber.com/minnesota-chamber-foundation/streamlining-minnesotas-environmental-permitting-process-essential.
A Canadian iron ore mining facility operates a tailings disposal system that handles solid tailings in a pumped slurry that moves through five pipelines to a tailings deposition area. As the tailings deposition area expanded farther away from the mine, the demands on the pumping system increased. As part of an overall tailings management project, Barr was asked to evaluate the capabilities of the then-existing system to provide a baseline for future pipeline extension development plans. Barr also evaluated the installed pumps, which were experiencing limitations, to recommend improvements for better operation. Barr inspected and documented the pipelines and supporting systems, and system stakeholders, including engineering, maintenance, and operations staff, were interviewed to develop an inventory of issues that identified problem areas within the process.
To gain greater insight into the operating problems, Barr modeled the pipelines in AFT Fathom and evaluated numerous scenarios to answer the client’s operational questions regarding potential impacts the proposed changes to the pumps would have on their performance. This analysis also allowed Barr to identify root causes of the problems and provide long-term solutions.
Swift preparation of EA helps keep project on tight schedule
On behalf of the Minnesota Department of Commerce’s Energy Environmental Review and Analysis (EERA) unit, Barr compiled a first draft of the environmental assessment (EA) for the Iron Pine Solar Project in Pine County, Minnesota. The project would develop a 325-mw solar energy generating system with a one-mile 230-kv high-voltage gen-tie line.
Barr’s initial work included reviewing the applicant’s application, the project’s public record and comments received, and the project’s scoping decision. Barr then prepared an EA template and style guide (defining key project terminology) for EERA’s review. Barr’s team of environmental specialists then worked swiftly to help EERA compile the complete the EA and associated maps.
At the conclusion of the EA, Barr assisted in reviewing the project against the specific criteria the commission would be required to weigh in their permit decisions for the site permit (solar facility) and route permit (gen-tie line).
Barr’s assistance and ability to draft the EA for EERA within eight weeks helped keep the project on schedule. The commission issued the permit in July 2025.