Jesse Cowger, PE

Jesse was born in Billings, Montana but spent most of his life in Spokane. He attended Washington State University, where he earned a Bachelor of Science in Civil Engineering. 

Since 2004, Jesse has performed municipal water and wastewater systems, planning, funding acquisition, design, and construction management. He specializes in municipal water system planning and design and oversees many of our water projects. He has an exceptional ability to boil down complex issues and deconstruct tangled situations into their basic parts. He excels at communicating these basic parts to clients, funders, regulators, and other engineers. 

Jesse leads by example. He is the President of the firm and a hands-on engineer. In an industry that is increasingly run by businessmen, Jesse is doing the work of an engineer every day. That goes for all of our Principal Engineers. 

When asked about a highlight of his career, Jesse fondly recalls a project with Vera Water & Power in Spokane Valley. When Well 4 imploded, Jesse and the Varela team provided Vera options for replacing the well. Varela’s proposed solution had some risks, but also some significant benefits. Vera chose to move ahead and the replacement well succeeded. Jesse always wants to earn a client’s trust through successful projects.