Values & History
Larry Walker Associates (LWA) was founded in 1979 in Davis, California by Larry and Louise Walker with the guiding principle of providing outstanding service to clients. During our first decade, we developed our foundational values—passion for excellence, building meaningful relationships, forward-thinking, caring, and serving the public good—with a management style focused on treating everyone with respect and providing generous employee benefits.
I’d like both our clients and our employees to feel good about their relationship with LWA. I’d like our family and our employees to be proud of LWA because of the work we do and the contributions we make toward the environment and the public good.
—Larry Walker
Our expertise originally focused on grants management assistance and wastewater treatment plant design, then we evolved to become recognized statewide experts in wastewater and storm water. We experienced significant growth from 1990-2004, expanding from 10 to 38 employees while supporting clients to address the Clean Water Act Amendments of 1987, which emphasize water quality criteria for toxic pollutants and regulation of municipal stormwater. In 2005, LWA ownership transferred to the Walkers’ four children, with Tom Grovhoug assuming the presidency, working with Susan Walker as CFO. Ashli Desai became the president in 2018 with Brian Laurenson as Executive Vice President and Jeff Walker as CFO. The firm continues to thrive, growing to over 80 employees while expanding to serve the broader water resources community, including groundbreaking water reuse projects, stakeholder-based watershed management initiatives, and cutting-edge groundwater programs throughout California and beyond.