Atkins given Rainbow MWD contract for Urban Water Management Plan update

The Rainbow Municipal Water District approved a consultant contract with Atkins to prepare an updated Urban Water Management Plan for the district.

Rainbow's board voted 3-0 to award the $46,180 contract. Bob Lucy was absent and Tory Walker is professionally an engineer and has worked with Atkins in the past, so Walker recused himself from the vote.

"It's a pretty standard process," said Rainbow general manager Tom Kennedy. "The whole region is doing them."

The California Water Code requires water suppliers which serve at least 3,000 customers or provide at least 3,000 acre-feet annually to prepare and adopt an Urban Water Management Plan (UWMP) which assesses current demands and supplies and which addresses methods to ensure reliable and adequate water service over a 20-year planning horizon.

The UWMP must be updated every five years, and an agency which does not submit an updated UWMP is not eligible for grant funding or loans administered by the state. The Rainbow update is due to the state Department of Water Resources on July 1, 2016.

Preparation of the UWMP will require collaboration with neighboring agencies, the San Diego County Water Authority, and the public. Rainbow is in the process of updating its potable water and wastewater master plans, which will include potential projects to offset imported water needs. The UWMP update will incorporate the master plan supply and reliability data and will also address water shortage contingency planning, demand management measures, and compliance with related legislation.

Atkins is working with the district on updating Rainbow's water and wastewater master plans; on Jan. 27 the Rainbow board approved a professional services contract with Atkins for that project.

"They're already working with most of the staff," Kennedy said. "They have a lot of our information already."

Atkins was determined to be the most qualified firm to fulfill the UWMP tasks after Atkins, Infrastructure Engineering Corporation, and Risk Management Professionals responded to Rainbow's request for proposals.