Jacobs has been selected by the Delta Conveyance Design and Construction Authority(DCA) for engineering design management (EDM) services related to the California WaterFix program. Estimated at $17 billion in 2017, WaterFix is California's largest water conveyance project, designed to bolster the reliability of the state's water supplies, while protecting and enhancing the San Francisco Bay-Delta estuary, a vital environmental asset.
The California WaterFix program, slated to begin in early 2019, will upgrade outdated and unreliable water infrastructure that is more than 50 years old and dependent on levees that put clean water supply at risk from earthquakes and sea-level rise.
"WaterFix is one of the highest profile infrastructure projects in the nation, essential to secure clean water supplies for 27 million people, area businesses and three million acres of agricultural land," said Jacobs COO and President of Buildings, Infrastructure and Advanced FacilitiesBob Pragada . "Building on our long-term relationship with California water agencies, DCA will tap into our extensive water infrastructure and engineering design experience to begin modernization of California's water delivery system."
Jacobs' initial $93 million contract with DCA will support the preliminary and final engineering design phase of the 15-year program. Major infrastructure components include three water diversion intakes (3,000 cfs each) with state-of-the-art fish screens, two large tunnels (40-foot diameter and 35 miles long), two large pumping stations (4,500 cfs each) and miles of new roads and utility relocations.
Following more than a decade of studies, WaterFix emerged as the most effective solution to address California's water shortages while also improving environmental conditions in the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta – such as reducing the harmful impacts of the existing infrastructure diversions near endangered fish habitats and reinstating more natural river flows.
WaterFix also stands to generate nearly 122,000 jobs for the region and offer greater water security, enhanced disaster preparedness and climate change resilience for millions of California residents, businesses and agriculture that obtain their water from the Delta.
