Valley Construction Management receives RMWD pump stations construction management contract

Valley Construction Management was awarded the Rainbow Municipal Water District construction management contract for the replacement of the West Lilac, Rancho Amigos and Dentro De Lomas pump stations.

Rainbow’s board voted 4-0 Tuesday, Jan. 23, with one vacant seat, to approve a $110,480 contract with Valley Construction Management to oversee the construction which will be performed by Pacific Hydrotech Corporation. The board also made a determination that the construction management contract itself is not a project which is subject to California Environmental Quality Act review.

“We’re getting really good value from Valley,” Rainbow general manager Jake Wiley said.

The San Diego County Water Authority's Second Aqueduct is west of Interstate 15. The SDCWA annually shuts down portions of the Second Aqueduct for inspection and maintenance as does the Metropolitan Water District of Southern California. The CWA takes over operation of the aqueduct from MWD approximately six miles south of the Riverside County border. During those shutdowns Rainbow rents, installs and operates temporary pump stations in up to four locations to supply water to the Hutton, Turner and Gopher Canyon tanks. The temporary pump stations Rainbow rents create noise as well as expense.

The Robert A. Weese Filtration Plant is owned by the city of Oceanside and operated by Oceanside’s Water Utilities Department but is physically located in the Rainbow service area off of Silverleaf Lane in the Gopher Canyon area. In August 2017, the Rainbow board authorized district staff to proceed with the design for an interconnection to the Weese Filtration Plant. The eventual design contract included the replacement of the pumps which supply the Hutton and Turner tanks.

The Hutton Pump Station is in the 7200 block of West Lilac Road and the Turner Pump Station is in the 31200 block of Rancho Amigos Road. Four of Rainbow’s eight connections to the aqueduct are from MWD rather than from the CWA, and during the design of the interconnection project, Rainbow decided that regular use of the pumps to move water from the Morro Zone to the south zones would allow Rainbow to save money by using the MWD connections even when the CWA portion of the aqueduct is operational.

The decision preceded the beginning of the effort by Rainbow and the Fallbrook Public Utility District to detach from the CWA and obtain water from the Eastern Municipal Water District, which is an MWD member, at a lower price. Completion of the pump stations will allow all Rainbow water to be taken from turnouts north of the MWD/CWA boundary, which will give Rainbow the infrastructure to complete the detachment.

“It’s a pretty significant project for the district,” Wiley said.

In January 2021, Hoch Consulting, which is headquartered in Oceanside, was awarded the Rainbow contract to design the Hutton and Turner pump stations. The temporary pumps also require fueling, so permanent pump stations will also reduce the risk of a fuel leak or spill. The Hoch design work included general site layout, structural foundation, connection details, integration with Rainbow’s supervisory control and data acquisitions system and site valving.

During the design of the two pump stations, the project team determined that the design criteria did not include all information needed to model the demands in Rainbow’s southern zone. Hoch and Rainbow staff proposed a macro approach to Rainbow’s comprehensive hydraulic model to determine the sizing of the Hutton and Turner pump stations.

Due to Turner Pump Station infrastructure limitations it was proposed to shrink the Turner Zone, expand the Hutton Zone and create the Dentro De Lomas Pump Station in the 1900 block of Dentro De Lomas.

An August 2022 Rainbow board action approved a change order adding the scope of services necessary for the third pump station, extended the contract end date and found that the design portion of the project was not subject to California Environmental Quality Act review. The design plans were completed in August 2023.

A 5-0 Rainbow board vote Tuesday, Dec. 19, awarded Pacific Hydrotech, which is headquartered in Perris, a $5,657,500 contract for the pump station construction. The board action also approved an addendum to the Programmatic Environmental Impact Report to cover the Rancho Amigos Pump Station while authorizing a notice of exemption for the other two stations which were previously analyzed.

The request for proposals for construction management services was advertised Thursday, Dec. 21. Seven proposals were received by the Wednesday, Jan. 17, deadline. A review committee evaluated and scored the proposals based on the work approach, project management and team qualifications and project experience and recommended that the contract be awarded to Valley Construction Management. Valley Construction, which is headquartered in San Diego, was previously awarded Rainbow’s construction management contract for the replacement of Lift Station No. 1.