In May 2016, WSC opened our first office outside of California, located in Portland, Oregon. This opportunity better positions us to serve the Pacific Northwest.

The Portland office is conveniently situated off Highway 205 near Mt. Talbert Nature Park. The office is staffed by Scott Duren, Holly Tichenor, Alec Vowels and Samantha Schreiner. Our team is hard at work serving clients in Oregon in a variety of capacities. We are hiring to fill positions at the Portland office. Check out the WSC careers page for more information.

Address:
12901 SE 97^th Avenue, Suite 370
Clackamas, OR 97015
Phone: (503) 419-6336
Fax: (971) 275-1911

Every year ending in five or zero, California water providers are required to prepare Urban Water Management Plans (UWMPs) to enable long-term resource planning and project existing and future water demands. Water suppliers that either provide over 3,000 acre feet of water per year or serve more than 3,000 urban connections are required to submit a UWMP to California’s Department of Water Resources (DWR). Each UWMP evaluates supply, supply reliability, demand, demand management measures, supply and demand comparisons, recycled water, and optionally climate change impacts, for the next 20 years. For more information, see DWR’s website.

In the preparation of their Guidebook for the 2015 UWMPs, DWR called on WSC to contribute as part of their Guidebook Advisory Committee and through support in developing energy intensity calculation methodologies.  WSC has leveraged this insight and knowledge to bring value-added services to all of our clients, as well as confirm that each submitted UWMP will be accepted by DWR.

For the 2015 round, WSC will be submitting 17 UWMPs for various districts across California in July. WSC has been hired by the Cities of Arroyo Grande, Victorville, Riverside, Pismo Beach, Lompoc, and Camarillo, California American Water Company (Sacramento, Monterey, Ventura, Los Angeles and San Diego Districts), Soquel Creek Water District, San Lorenzo Valley Water District, Rincon Del Diablo Municipal Water District, and Big Bear City Community Services District. Additionally, WSC will be completing a Regional Urban Water Management Plan (RUWMP) for the San Bernardino Valley Municipal Water District. This RUWMP will consist of ten individual agencies whom will have a chapter dedicated to addressing their approach to meeting their individual agency requirements for normal, single dry year and multiple dry year scenarios.

For the 2005 and 2010 round, WSC submitted 13 UWMPs, all deemed completed and accepted by DWR without the need of revisions.  WSC will continue to coordinate with DWR staff to ensure each agency’s 2015 UWMP is deemed complete, and is confident that all UWMPs will be accepted by DWR without the need for revisions.

Submitted 2010 UWMPs are available on DWR’s website, as well as summaries of 2010 UWMP Data.

Nearly six years ago, WSC began working with California American Water Company (California American Water), the California State Coastal Conservancy, the National Marine Fisheries Service, and several project stakeholders on the removal of the San Clemente Dam and restoration of the Carmel River. At the time of project inception, the San Clemente Dam was over 90 years old and nearly 95% filled with sediment, causing the San Clemente Dam to be deemed seismically unsafe by the California Division of Safety of Dams. In addition to reaching the end if its useful life, the San Clemente Dam posed several environmental concerns, including negative impacts to native species like the South-Central California Coast Steelhead Trout (Steelhead) and the California Red-Legged Frog. After thorough analysis, the Project Team concluded that the dam was to be removed in efforts to improve fish passage, repopulate native species of plants and animals, and ensure the safety of the local community. As a unique approach, the $83 million project was jointly funded by public and private parties, including California American Water, the California Coastal Conservancy, and the National Marine Fisheries Service, among others.

As of December 2015, the San Clemente Dam was completely removed and the Carmel River began flowing along its new course, including 56 carefully engineered resting pools for the spawning Steelhead.  The completion of this project has spurred the efforts to study and remove dams throughout the country. More information about the project and the conversation it has spurred can be found in the San Francisco Chronicle’s Article about the project.

By early February 2016, an adult Steelhead was spotted migrating upstream into the new Carmel River. Redds, or nests that female Steelhead build for their eggs, have also been seen past the original site of the San Clemente Dam, showing unprecedented progress. Fish experts predict that the number of migrating Steelhead could more than double in its first year.  To learn more about the potential effects on the Steelhead and future action to be taken to aide their recovery, take a look at the Monterey Herald’s article.

The project site was filmed throughout the construction period and is continuing to be streamed live on the web to show changes with the seasons and water flow.  California American Water has created a series of videos on the progress of the dam removal. The first segment, New Life for the Carmel River, provides a visual background on the San Clemente Dam in relation to its original state and the future of the project. The second segment, San Clemente Dam Removal Update – Year 2, shows the progress made on the dam removal from the beginning of construction to the end of the second year of construction. The third and last segment, San Clemente Dam Removal Update – Year 3, features the final stages of the removal of the dam and construction of the new 25 mile section of the Carmel River, as well as the intended impact of this project on the local community and environment.

Final tasks are being addressed and the project is scheduled to be completed by Spring 2016.  Following project completion and an observation period, California American Water will donate the surrounding land to the US Department of the Interior’s Bureau of Land Management for public ownership into perpetuity.

The removal of the San Clemente Dam and the re-routing and restoration of the Carmel River marks the largest dam removal project in California’s history, and is precedent-setting for future dam removals nationally, and worldwide.  Like the San Clemente Dam, numerous dams all over the country are at risk of sediment build-up and structural instability, and ultimately reaching the end of their useful life.  The knowledge and insight gained throughout this project will be utilized to address this growing concern.  Additional details regarding the impact of aging dams and steps being taken to remove dams throughout the country can be found in the Engineering News-Record’s article.

WSC is thrilled to have been the Project and Construction Manager for this project for the last six years, and our team looks to build on the success of this project, bringing innovation, experience and leadership to address complex challenges throughout the water industry.

California American Water selected WSC to complete the design for the Emergency Interconnection between California American Water and the City of Thousand Oaks, as well as the Gainsborough Zone Improvements project within their Ventura County District.  California American Water serves communities in San Diego, Los Angeles, Ventura, Monterey, and Sacramento Counties.

The Emergency Interconnection will provide a backup supply source between California American Water and the City of Thousand Oaks’ water system.  The scope of the project includes the installation of approximately 200 LF of 8-inch ductile iron pipe and a meter vault.  The meter vault will house a bi-directional water meter and pressure-sustaining valve.  The project also includes flow and pressure monitoring, powered by a small solar panel.

The Gainsborough Zone Improvements project will create a new pressure gradient, the Mayfield zone, through the construction of a new booster pump station, 1,685 LF of 8-inch pipeline, and a pressure-regulating valve (PRV) station.  The new pressure gradient will serve an existing housing complex, as well as a new development, currently under construction.  The construction of the PRV station will increase supply reliability to the Gainsborough zone and serve customers from the Mayfield zone, if necessary.

The City of Pismo Beach (City) has selected WSC to provide engineering consulting services for the Regional Groundwater Sustainability Project (RGSP). For the RGSP, WSC will act as the Program Manager and develop preliminary designs for an Indirect Potable Reuse (IPR) program to treat and inject advanced purified wastewater into portions of the Santa Maria Groundwater Basin to help prevent seawater intrusion and improve water supply reliability for the region.

The City of Pismo Beach currently discharges approximately 1.1 million gallons per day (MGD) of secondary treated effluent to the Pacific Ocean.  The RGSP, which builds upon the findings from the City’s recently completed Recycled Water Facilities Planning Study (RWFPS), will look to identify a preferred location for an Advanced Treatment Facility and a series of injection wells to allow the City and regional stakeholders to utilize advanced purified water to recharge the underlying groundwater basin.  The RWFPS evaluated numerous recycled water alternatives, including Secondary-23 Irrigation, Tertiary Irrigation and Groundwater Recharge and Extraction (Groundwater Recharge), and identified Groundwater Recharge as the most cost effective recycled water alternative through an analysis of qualitative/non-economic and quantitative criteria.

WSC is excited about the opportunity to work with the City and regional stakeholders to improve water supply reliability for the local community through the development of the RGSP.