Winner: All American Canal Lining Project
The All American Canal Lining Project (AACLP) is a congressionally authorized key element of the 2003 Quantification Settlement Agreement (QSA). Its goals are to reduce canal seepage losses and aid the state of California in meeting its QSA Colorado River water use limitations.
The lining project consists of constructing a concrete-lined canal parallel to and replacing a 23-mile section of the 82-mile earthen canal, which conveys Colorado River water to the Imperial and Coachella Valley. The project will conserve 67,700 acre-ft of water per year. Conserved water will be transferred to the San Diego County Water Authority and the San Luis Rey settlement parties.
The AACLP was constructed in three segments separated by three existing hydroelectric facilities along the canal. Successful bidders for the work included Kiewit Pacific and a joint venture of Ames and Coffman. Construction required more than 20 million cu yd of excavation and 2 million sq yd of concrete. Environmental mitigation included: 44 acres of new wetlands; 1,025 acres of flat-tailed horned lizard habitat; a 50-acre warm water game fish pond; and a 30-acre dune restoration
Implementing the AACLP included organizational, legal, environmental and construction challenges. Legal challenges included a nine-month work stoppage due to an injunction. Environmental constraints included significant compliance mitigation, a demanding physical desert environment and adjacency to high-use public sand dune areas and the Mexican border. The most significant construction challenge was the requirement that the flow of water through the canal could not be interrupted. The project was started in June 2007, and finish date will be in March 2010.
- Owner: U.S. Bureau of Reclamation (Operated by the Imperial Irrigation District)
- Designer: Bookman-Edmonston, a div. of GEI Consultants
- Contractors: Parsons Water & Infrastructure, Inc., Kiewit Pacific Co., Ames/Coffman
- Cost: $300 million
- Size: 23 miles/sq ft