Dr. Victor Miguel Ponce has completed 43 years on the civil engineering faculty at San Diego State University (SDSU), California (1980-2023). His areas of expertise are: (1) computational hydraulics and hydrology, surface-water hydrology, environmental hydrology, sedimentation engineering; and online hydraulic and hydrologic engineering; (2) open-channel hydraulics, flood hydrology, drought hydrology, hydroclimatology, ecohydrology, and ecohydroclimatology; and (3) environmental impact assessment, sustainability of groundwater and sustainable development. He has 54 years of experience as a civil engineer, 52 years in academia, and 46 years as a university professor in Colorado and California. He earned M.S. (1970) and Ph.D. (1976) degrees at Colorado State University, achieved the rank of full professor at San Diego State in 1983, and held the office of civil engineering department chair during the period 1989-92.

He teaches Computational Hydraulics and Hydrology, Environmental Hydrology, Surface-water Hydrology, Sedimentation Engineering, all graduate-level classes. Dr. Ponce's extensive research and teaching experience led to the publication of Engineering Hydrology: Principles and Practices (Prentice Hall, 1989). The second, online edition of Engineering Hydrology: Principles and Practices was released in 2014. In addition, Dr. Ponce has completed, also in 2014, the online book Fundamentals of Open-channel Hydraulics and its translation into Spanish (2015). In 2018, he published Road Drainage Manual (in Spanish). Dr. Ponce has also webpublished a Fortran text and is the author of three hundred and eighty (380) online scripts for hydrologic, hydraulic, and sediment transport calculations, open to the world at-large. His Visualab, established in 2001, is a premiere world-class facility for online data/media research/teaching/service, with close to one-thousand (1,000) videos available to the world at-large, through both YouTube ^®.

Dr. Ponce has recently completed (2019) a study of the control of roll waves in channelized rivers, with particular focus to the channelized tributaries of the La Paz river, in La Paz, Bolivia. The study focuses on the role of β, the exponent of the discharge-flow area rating, on the avoidance of flow instability and the control of roll waves. In 2017, he completed an ecohydrology study of the species red shank (Adenostoma sparsifolium), in Tierra del Sol, San Diego County, California. This study pioneers field ecohydrology by documenting soil moisture gradients responsible for vegetative lineaments. In 2016, Dr. Ponce participated at the Water and Climate Initiative, convened by Colorado State University, Fort Collins (CSU), on June 12-13, 2016. Thirty experts were selected worldwide to prepare the agenda to enable CSU to effectively compete in the areas of teaching and research in water engineering on a global basis. In 2014, Dr. Ponce completed a study entitled Effect of groundwater pumping on the health of arid vegetative ecoystems. Also in 2014, he completed a study entitled Ecohydroclimatological research: The case for geomorphology. In 2013, Dr. Ponce completed the following studies: (1) Impacts of Soitec Solar projects on Boulevard and surrounding communities, San Diego County, California; (2) Cumulative Impacts of large-scale energy projects in Boulevard and surrounding communities, San Diego County, California; and (3) Comments - Water Issues to the Shu'luuk Wind Project DEIS. In 2012, Dr. Ponce completed the Arenas Study in the Guadalupe valley, Baja California, Mexico. Also in 2012, he completed the study Thompson Creek Groundwater Sustainability Study, in Poway, California.

In 2011, Dr. Ponce completed (1) the series OpenChannel, a collection of 40 online videos for teaching Open-channel Hydraulics online; and (2) the series EngHydro, a collection of 40 online videos for teaching Engineering Hydrology online. Dr. Ponce has also produced one-hundred-and-fifty (150) other online videos on a wide variety of topics. In 2011, he participated, in colaboration with URS, Inc., in a hydrology study of the Tijuana river basin, sponsored by the City of San Diego, California. In 2010, he completed Comments on the DSEIS for the Campo landfill, in Boulevard, San Diego County, California. In 2009, Dr. Ponce completed the environmental impact study of La Calzada and Calicantro dams, for the La Leche river flood control project, in Lambayeque, Peru. In 2008, Dr. Ponce completed a study of the flood hydrology of the La Leche river, in Lambayeque, Peru. Also in 2008, he completed a study of the hydrologic and environmental impact of irrigation on the Vitor valley, in Arequipa, Peru. In 2006-07, he performed the following studies: (1) the sustainable yield of ground water, (2) impact of the proposed Campo landfill on the hydrology of the Tierra del Sol watershed, in San Diego County, California; and (3) groundwater utilization and sustainability. In 2005, he was a member of the Peer Review Panel assembled for the evaluation of South Florida's Regional Simulation Model (RSM). Also in 2005, he completed a study of the hydrology and hydraulics of Tecate Creek, Baja California, Mexico. In 2004 he completed a study of the sustainable architecture of Arroyo Alamar, and a study on the feasibility of pumping to provide recycled water for the Tecate River Park. In 2003 he completed a study of the hydroecological characterization of the Arroyo Alamar. In 2002, Dr. Ponce completed a study of three issues of sustainable management in the Ojos Negros valley, Baja California. In 2001 he completed an interdisciplinary study of groundwater depletion in the Ojos Negros valley, in Baja California, and a study of the flood hydrology of the Binational Cottonwood Creek- Arroyo Alamar. In 1995, he performed a reference study of the hydrologic and environmental impact of the Parana-Paraguay Waterway, on the Pantanal of Mato Grosso, which comprises five countries in South America (Argentina, Bolivia, Brazil, Paraguay, and Uruguay). In the 1980s, he completed research projects for the National Science Foundation, the USDA Soil Conservation Service, in Washington, D.C., the U.S. Geological Survey, and Pacific Gas and Electric Company, in California. In the late 1970s, he completed a research project for the National Science Foundation, in Washington, D.C. In 1976, Dr. Ponce completed his Ph.D. dissertation on the Link Canals of Pakistan. His consulting experience includes several projects in San Diego County, California, and Pima and Mohave counties, Arizona.

His international consulting experience has been with Southern Peru Cooper Corporation (SPCC) in Toquepala and Cuajone, Peru, the World Bank, in Roorkee, India, the U.S. Trade and Development Agency in Lambayeque, Peru, the Inter-American Development Bank in Georgetown, Guyana and Cajamarca, Peru. Other international consulting has been with the United Nations Development Programme (Argentina and India), the European Union (Santa Cruz, Bolivia), the Organization of American States (Bahia/Pernambuco and Mato Grosso, Brazil), and private consulting engineering firms in several countries, including Bolivia, Brazil, Colombia, Mexico, Peru, and the United States. His professional experience encompasses the three largest South American river systems: (1) the Parana-Plata (the Upper Paraguay river, in Mato Grosso and Mato Grosso do Sul, Brazil), (2) the Amazon (the Pirai river, in Santa Cruz de la Sierra, Bolivia), and (3) the Orinoco (the Meta river, in Meta, Colombia). Other direct river experience includes the Santa Cruz river in Arizona, the São Francisco river in northeastern Brazil, the Itajai river in Santa Catarina, Brazil, the El Barbón, Alamar and Tecate rivers in Baja California, Mexico, and the Tlaxiaco river in Oaxaca, Mexico. His professional accomplishments include teaching, research, consulting and/or service in the following twenty (20) countries:  United States, Canada, Mexico, Argentina, Bolivia, Brazil, Colombia, Ecuador, Guyana, Paraguay, Peru, Venezuela, Germany, Italy, Portugal, Spain, India, Nepal, Pakistan, and China.

Dr. Ponce's academic collaboration has been with the following universities:  Escuela Politecnica de Chimborazo (Riobamba, Ecuador), Universidad Nacional Hermilio Valdizan (Huanuco, Peru), Pontificia Universidad Catolica del Peru (Lima, Peru), Universidad Nacional de Ingenieria (Lima, Peru), Universidad Autonoma de Tamaulipas (Tampico, Mexico), Universidad Tecnica Particular de Loja, Ecuador, Universidad Nacional de Cajamarca, Peru, Instituto Tecnologico y de Estudios Superiores de Monterrey (Mexico), Universidad Nacional Agraria La Molina (Lima, Peru), Universidade do Algarve (Faro, Portugal), Universidad de Alcala (Alcala de Henares, Spain), Università degli studi di Salerno (near Naples, Italy), Universidad Nacional del Altiplano (Puno, Peru), Universidad Nacional Pedro Ruiz Gallo (Lambayeque, Peru), Universidad Andina Roger Cáceres Velásquez (Juliaca, Peru), Instituto Politecnico Nacional, ESIME-Culhuacán (Mexico City, Mexico), Universidad Catolica de Santa Maria (Arequipa, Peru), Universidad Nacional del Centro del Peru (Huancayo, Peru), Instituto Tecnologico de Oaxaca (Oaxaca, Mexico), El Colegio de la Frontera Norte (Tijuana, Mexico), Universidad Mayor de San Simon (Cochabamba, Bolivia), Universidad Nacional de San Agustin (Arequipa, Peru), Instituto Politecnico Nacional, CIIDIR (Oaxaca, Mexico), Universidad Autonoma de Baja California (Mexicali and Ensenada, Mexico), Universidade Regional de Blumenau (Santa Catarina, Brazil), Universidade Federal de Ceara (Fortaleza, Brazil), Universidade Federal de Mato Grosso (Cuiaba, Brazil), University of Alberta (Edmonton, Alberta, Canada), Escuela Tecnica Superior de Ingenieros de Caminos, Canales y Puertos (Madrid, Spain), and Universidade Tecnica de Lisboa's Instituto Superior Tecnico (Lisbon, Portugal).

Over the past 54 years of civil engineering practice, Dr. Ponce has logged a total of 2,635 professional growth items, including 7 textbooks (Engineering Hydrology 1st ed, Engineering Hydrology 2nd edition (online), Fundamentals of Open-channel Hydraulics (online), Fundamentos de la hidraulica de canales (online), Fortran (online), and Hidrologia Aplicada (forthcoming in 2020), 52 refereed journal papers, 97 proceedings papers, 347 technical reports and other nonrefereed publications, 63 research grants and contracts, 246 invited lectures, 19 honors and awards, 381 online scripts for hydrologic and hydraulic calculations, 260 professional and other stories, and 1,150 online videos.

Dr. Ponce's Google Scholar index is 30 (i.e., 30 papers with a minimum of 30 citations each); his i-10 index is 49 (48 papers with a minimum of 10 citations each), with a total of 5,996 citations to date in the specialized hydraulic and hydrological literature. His distinctions include, notably, the prestigious Karl E. Hilgard National Hydraulic Prize (1979), awarded by the American Society of Civil Engineers, as well as several honorary appointments.

Dr. Ponce's comprehensive website ponce.sdsu.edu, established in 1999 and boasting more than 340,000 visits to date, is a unique online resource featuring more than 23,000 links, including static (HTML/CSS), dynamic (PHP/MySQL), and video (RTMP and YouTube^®) applications. Of these links, more than 90% are open to the world at-large. This website is actively being used as a reference on hydraulic, hydrologic and water engineering, and online civil engineering practice, by students, colleagues, and other interested parties around the globe. Dr. Ponce's two (2) YouTube^® channels, established in 2011, have a combined number of approximately 800 visits per day.

Versión en Español