Project Information
The San Diego County Water Authority's (Water Authority's) mission is to provide a safe and reliable water supply to the people who live and work in the San Diego region. The region's 3 million residents and $130 billion economy depend on the Water Authority to fulfill this mission.
The Water Authority was organized on June 9, 1944, and formally annexed to Metropolitan Water District of Southern California (Metropolitan) to receive deliveries from the Colorado River Aqueduct on December 17, 1946. Metropolitan is a consortium of 26 cities and water districts that provides water to nearly 18 million people in southern California. The Water Authority has 23 member agencies (Member Agencies), consisting of six cities, 16 special districts, and the Pendleton Military Reservation. The Water Authority is governed by a 34-member Board of Directors.
Up to 90 percent of the water used in San Diego County comes from the Colorado River and Northern California and is imported by the Water Authority. This imported water must be treated at a treatment plant before it can be used for drinking and other potable water uses. Nearly half the treated water serving the San Diego region is treated at the Skinner Water Treatment Plant in Riverside County, owned by Metropolitan.
Both growth in southern Riverside County and San Diego's needs have increased warm weather demand for treated water from the Skinner facility beyond its rated production capacity. A new, Water Authority-owned regional treatment plant will help mitigate treated water shortages by increasing the amount of treated water that can be produced in San Diego County. It will also provide more local control and location diversity of the County's treated water supply.
There are three alternative water sources for the new regional water treatment plant - Colorado River Water (CRW), State Project Water (SPW) and under emergency conditions when the SPW/CRW water supply through the Water Authority's pipelines is interrupted, the plant may operate with water from Lake Hodges and Olivenhain Reservoir. Under normal operations, the plant is expected to receive 20 to 40 percent SPW and 80 to 60 percent CRW blended water. Under certain conditions when CRW may not be available, the plant may receive 100 percent SPW.
At the May 27, 2004 meeting, the Water Authority's Board of Directors adopted the Member Agencies' recommendations to provide regional treatment capacity at the Water Authority's proposed Twin Oaks Valley Water Treatment Plant. On June 24, 2004, the Water Authority's Board of Directors approved implementation of a proposed Twin Oaks Valley Water Treatment Plant project using the design-build-operate (DBO) procurement method and solicitation of this RFP. The Water Authority projects in accordance with its Draft Regional Water Facilities Master Plan (December 2002) that it needs to have 50 mgd of water treatment and production capability on line prior to June 1, 2008, and 100 mgd of water treatment and production capability on-line prior to June 1, 2010.
