SAN ANTONIO, TX, Feb. 3, 2005 -- Black & Veatch has entered the design phase of a comprehensive program management contract that will help the San Antonio Water System (SAWS) meet current and future demands for drinking water and decrease reliance on a single source of supply. Nine consultants have joined Black & Veatch to design the production, transmission and treatment infrastructure of the Gonzales County Carrizo Aquifer Program.
"With population and water demand for the greater San Antonio area projected to double by the year 2050, SAWS developed a long-range plan that identified several water supply projects essential to meet future needs," said SAWS Major Projects Coordinator Andrea Beymer. "We contracted with Black & Veatch to provide program management for the Gonzales County Carrizo Aquifer Program a year ago, and that program thus far has progressed smoothly through planning into the design phase."
The Gonzales County Carrizo Aquifer Program will include the development of wells, pumping stations, approximately 100 miles of transmission main, water treatment plant modification, high-service pumping stations and integration facilities. The new facilities will be designed, constructed and operational by January 2008. The program budget is approximately $300 million dollars for phase-one facilities.
Working with a team of specialty sub-consultants, Black & Veatch is providing comprehensive program management and technical support. In that role, the company is overseeing all planning and design. Additionally, through its sub-consultants, Black & Veatch is leading easement acquisition and community involvement efforts and coordinating Web-based document management and communications with numerous stakeholders.
"This program will help meet the water demands for the San Antonio area and we are very pleased to be able to work with SAWS to make this a reality," said Black & Veatch Program Manager William Davis. "We've worked with SAWS on other successful and innovative projects that include the Aquifer Storage and Recovery Integration Project, water infrastructure master planning, and conceptual design services for the Lower Guadalupe Water Supply Project, and we are honored to be associated with such an effective water system."
Information about the program can be found at www.gccap.info.
About Black & Veatch
Based in Overland Park, Kan., Black & Veatch Corp. (www.bv.com) is a leading global engineering, consulting and construction company specializing in infrastructure development in the fields of energy, water and information. Founded in 1915, Black & Veatch serves its clients with conceptual and preliminary engineering services, engineering design, procurement, construction, financial management, asset management, information technology, environmental, security design and consulting, and management consulting services.
The Water Sector of Black & Veatch provides innovative, technology-based solutions to utilities, governments and industries worldwide. Local project managers work with a global team of water and wastewater treatment process experts to address site-specific challenges through a broad range of consulting, study, planning, design, design-build and construction management services.
The employee-owned company has more than 90 offices worldwide. Black & Veatch is ranked on the Forbes "500 Largest Private Companies in the United States" listing for 2004.
About SAWS
The San Antonio Water System (www.saws.org) is a public utility owned by the city of San Antonio. It was created in May 1992 through the consolidation of the City Water Board, the City Wastewater Department and the Alamo Water Conservation and Reuse District (an independent city agency created to develop a system for reuse of treated wastewater). SAWS is governed by a seven-member Board of Trustees, responsible for overall policy and management of the system. The utility serves approximately one million people, including approximately 300,000 separate customers, in the urbanized part of Bexar County.
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