Kings River Pipeline

The City of Fresno was facing a dire water supply future before maneuvering the political climate to pass a necessary water rate increase that allowed the City to move forward with the design and construction of a new 80 mgd Southeast Surface Water Treatment Facility (SESWTF). The water rate increase, and the capital budgets assumed that raw water to the plant would be delivered the way it has traditionally, through existing irrigation canals. However, the existing irrigation canal identified to convey water to the site was historically a riparian corridor where the furthest reaches upstream and downstream were channelized by the Fresno Irrigation District. The thickly vegetated, winding riparian corridor, created concerns with water quality permitting agencies, and the extensive amount of tree removal required to provide access roads for water quality monitoring created a situation where it was increasingly apparent that the irrigation canal was going to create significant cost, environmental, and permitting constraints. The design team needed to develop a pipeline alternative quickly to keep the treatment plant project on schedule. Carollo conducted an alternatives evaluation to determine the cost comparison for pipeline alternatives relative to the costs of the required improvements for environmental mitigation, quality control improvements, and the unknown of permitting.