FPUD approves pre-qualified contractors for CUP, authorizes bid solicitations

Eight contractors have been pre-qualified to bid on the Fallbrook Public Utility District’s contract to construct Santa Margarita River Conjunctive Use Project facilities.

A 4-0 FPUD board vote, with Jennifer DeMeo absent, pre-qualified Alberici Constructors, Archer Western Construction, Filanc, J.F. Shea, Parsons, PCL Constructions, Pulice and W.M. Lyles. The board action also authorized FPUD staff to solicit bids from the pre-qualified contractors and also authorized the bid and construction phases of the design consultant contract with Infrastructure Engineering Corporation.

“This was just to authorize the bid phase,” Jack Bebee, general manager of Fallbrook Public Utilities District, said.

The Santa Margarita Conjunctive Use Project being pursued by FPUD, U.S. Marine Corps Base Camp Pendleton and the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation will enhance groundwater recharge and recovery capability within the lower Santa Margarita River basin and develop a program which will increase available water supplies for FPUD and Camp Pendleton.

Facilities within the lower basin will be constructed to capture additional surface runoff, which currently flows to the Pacific Ocean, during high stream flow periods. The surface water will be recharged through existing groundwater ponds and stored in groundwater basins during wet years while being “banked” for water rights statistics. The water will be used to augment supplies during dry years, which will reduce the reliance on imported water provided from San Diego County Water Authority sources.

The Conjunctive Use Project will include improvements to the diversion works, increased capacity to the headgate and the O’Neill Ditch, improvements to seven existing recharge ponds, installation of new groundwater production wells and gallery wells, water treatment at either an existing or an expanded or new water treatment plant, and a bidirectional pipeline which could deliver water to FPUD while also providing the Marine Corps with an off-base water supply should conditions warrant.

The amount of water obtained will depend on weather conditions. FPUD will not receive any water in the event of an extreme drought. The minimum water delivery to FPUD will be 580 acre-feet for a dry hydrological year, 1,300 acre-feet for a below-normal year, 3,100 acre-feet for a normal year based on the average over the past 50 years, 5,120 acre-feet for an above-normal year, and 6,320 acre-feet for a wet year.

A potential additional allocation of 400 acre-feet is possible, and FPUD also has the first right of refusal for excess water sold rather than used by Camp Pendleton which could provide FPUD with up to 1,500 additional acre-feet annually while also providing Camp Pendleton with revenue for operations and maintenance.

The Camp Pendleton infrastructure will include piping to deliver the water to the boundary of the Naval Weapons Station and Fallbrook behind the FPUD solar facility site on Alturas Road. Construction of the facilities from the Naval Weapon Station boundary is FPUD’s responsibility. The water will be treated at the Alturas Road plant and delivered into FPUD’s distribution system.

The Camp Pendleton cost estimate is $47 million, and construction of facilities on the base has commenced. FPUD’s estimated $45 million cost consists of $27.7 million for a groundwater treatment plant, $5.5 million for a distribution system to the Gheen Zone east of Stage Coach Lane, $7.9 million for the Gheen Pump Station and a storage tank with piping, $1.8 million for construction management and supervisory control and data acquisition system integration and $2 million for contingency.

In January 2017, FPUD’s board authorized an application for a State Revolving Fund loan from the State Water Resources Control Board to construct the Santa Margarita River Conjunctive Use Project. The loan will be for $45,000,000 and will be repaid over 20 years at an interest rate of 1.6 percent.

“We’re waiting to finalize the state funding,” Bebee said.

FPUD’s board certified the Environmental Impact Report for the project in September 2016. In July 2018, the FPUD board approved a $1,853,740 construction management services contract with Terrapin Group, which will handle day-to-day oversight of the general contractor.

The activities of the Terrapin Group also included assisting with contractor pre-qualification. In November 2018, the State Water Resources Control Board issued updated water rights permits and an updated license, which did not change the quantity of water FPUD and Camp Pendleton will receive.

FPUD staff prepared a pre-qualification process so that all bidders will be qualified contractors experienced in the construction of drinking water treatment facilities. In December 2018, FPUD advertised for interested contractors to submit the pre-qualification application. The appropriate staff members reviewed the applications in January and evaluated contractor experience, financial capability, safety and regulatory compliance record and other qualifications.

“We approved all eight,” Bebee said.

The final design documents will be sent only to those eight contractors. The request for proposals will be sent after the State Revolving Fund loan money is received.

The design work included an implementation plan and potential phasing options to balance up-front capacity costs with the project yield. In October 2014, the FPUD board awarded a $3,205,140 design contract to Infrastructure Engineering Corporation although funding for only the phasing, modeling and preliminary design tasks was authorized at that time and subsequent design changes increased the total contract amount to $3,207,759.

In September 2015, the funding for the final design was authorized. The Feb. 25 action authorized the bid and construction phases.