CVWD awards $15.3m contract to Garney Pacific for Valley View consolidation

CVWD awards $15.3m contract to Garney Pacific for Valley View consolidationThe fully grant-funded initiative will connect 127 rural users to the district's central network, backed by a combination of EPA and State Revolving Fund grants.

Garney Pacific won the $15.3 million construction contract after submitting the lowest responsive bid among 12 competitors.

The Valley View Water Consolidation Project will absorb eight private small water systems along Airport Boulevard in Thermal.

The board also advanced a $12 million USDA grant application to support the $22.1 million Avenue 66 Trunk Sewer Project.

The Coachella Valley Water District (CVWD) Board of Directors has authorized a $15.3 million construction contract to Garney Pacific for the Valley View Water Consolidation Project, marking a major milestone for a long-planned regional drinking water initiative. Awarded during the board's July 14, 2026, meeting, the contract will allow the district to absorb eight private small water systems located generally along Airport Boulevard in the community of Thermal. The consolidation will bring approximately 127 new connections into the CVWD system. Garney Pacific was selected as the lowest responsive and responsible bidder from a pool of 12 proposals received in early June. The total project authorization of $16.8 million includes the base construction contract, additional tribal monitoring agreements, and contingency expenditures. According to CVWD engineering staff, the project is entirely grant-funded through a combination of Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) federal funds and State Water Resources Control Board State Revolving Fund (SRF) money. The SRF grant will cover the project's base bid, while EPA funds are being leveraged to cover upsizing costs that the state could not accommodate. The Valley View consolidation was one of several major capital projects advanced during the July meeting. The board also held a public hearing to finalize a $12 million grant application to the USDA for the Avenue 66 Trunk Sewer Project. That $22.1 million wastewater expansion will install 14,000 linear feet of 8- to 12-inch gravity main and a 280-gallon-per-minute lift station, designed to accommodate a projected local annual growth rate of 2%. Additionally, the board approved a $232,196 task order with Albert A. Webb and Associates for the final design of the Highway 86 Water Transmission Main Phase 3A. The design work will reroute a vulnerable, above-ground section of transmission pipeline that currently spans natural washes and is frequently undermined during heavy storm events, which poses a persistent risk to water service for Salton Sea communities.