By JP Robinette, Engineering and Construction Manager of the Sites Project Authority
Sites Reservoir represents a historic opportunity to improve the generational water outlook for California’s farms, cities, and environment. The Sites Project Authority (Authority) has established a model for how to come together and develop a mega-project with local leadership and investment from water agencies across the state as well as the state and federal government. This unique combination of local leadership, collaboration, and integration into existing, critical state water infrastructure has resulted in bipartisan support and an affordable, permittable, and buildable project that will add 1.5 million acre-feet of storage to our water system. That water, enough to serve 7.5 million people for a year, will be stored for use when our Participants need it most.
The planning is almost done and most of the critical permits are in hand, with the water right permit expected this fall as the remaining major milestone before Participants will commit to their share of the construction and operation of the Project. The question has shifted from if Sites will be built to how.
The Authority has initiated preparations for construction of the Project, an important part of “the how.” In addition to purchasing a portion of the critical parcels of land for the Project, in 2022, the Authority adopted a Contracting Strategy based on the organization’s values and built upon prior legislation authorizing a variety of delivery methods—thanks, again, to bipartisan support. The strategy established nine main packages of work and a mix of contracting methods, with the majority of work planned to be delivered using a method called Construction Manager at Risk, or CMAR. Why CMAR?
Keeping Our Commitments: The Authority believes in the value a contractor can provide early in the design process to not only improve designs and save money, but also to keep commitments to the community and to regulators as to how the Project will be built. The contractor will help the Authority make and keep its commitments.
Achieving Cost Certainty: The Authority believes that cost certainty should be achieved through fair allocation of risk and by applying lessons learned. The Authority humbly approaches this mega-project and will use multiple work packages within the CMAR contract with guaranteed maximum prices, each applying lessons learned and building out the total Project cost in the first few years.
Delivering on an Ambitious Schedule: The Authority believes to achieve its schedule, avoid costly delays, and improve our water system as soon as possible, we need to issue early work packages to complete the design of critical facilities and prepare for construction. The contractor will develop a work sequence that gets this done on time.
Developing a Workforce and Utilizing Local Contractors: Early engagement with the CMAR will allow implementation of programs to meet the Authority’s Construction Workforce Policy. The policy was developed with community input and places a lot of responsibility on the contractor for working with organized labor, developing workers in the Project and surrounding areas, and providing opportunities for local contractors. The contractor will get going right away with life-changing training and careers for people in and around the Project area.
The Authority is currently in the process of selecting their first CMAR contractor to construct the reservoir and roads package of the Project. A competitive bidding process ensures we select the best possible team that will provide the best value for the Project and local community. The first phase of the competitive bidding process determined the most qualified teams, consisting of both local and international firms. The second phase, Request for Proposals, allows the Authority to dive deeper into evaluation criteria such as working with organized labor, employing local contractors and personnel, skill in completing similar sized projects, and their proposed approach to fitting in with the community.
Overall, embracing the CMAR approach has set the stage for the Authority to successfully deliver major components of the Project with the highest level of efficiency, expertise, cost certainty, and project management. The launch of the CMAR selection was a critical milestone for the Project and the Authority expects to complete the procurement process and bring their first CMAR on board by this fall. While there are still important milestones ahead, we look forward to breaking ground in late 2026 and building a reservoir for all of California by the end of 2032.
