The East Valley Water District Board of Directors on July 25 approved a $2 million contract with Balfour Beatty/Arcadis to function as the lead designer of the Sterling Natural Resource Center, located on the east side of Del Rosa Drive.
Officials described the project as a “state-of-the-art wastewater treatment facility” which is to “produce water to recharge the natural groundwater aquifer, with a design focused on reliability, efficiency and flexibility to initially treat 8 million gallons of water per day.” According to the district, the facility will also include a community center supporting education, entertainment and leisure.
“The Sterling Natural Resource Center will be a multi-faceted public asset,” said East Valley Water District Chairman Chris Carrillo. “Through the skills and expertise that Balfour Beatty and their team bring to the project, we are confident that the Sterling Natural Resource Center is on track to becoming a world-class facility.”
Prior to making a recommendation to the East Valley Water District’s board of directors, district staff, consisting of John Mura, the district’s general manager; Brian Tompkins, its chief financial officer; Jeff Noelte, its director of engineering and operations; and Shayla Gerber, the district’s senior administrative assistant, “conducted a thorough selection process with multiple best-in-class firms to identify a design-build partner that understood the project, its significance to the community and overall vision of the facility,” according to Mura. “During the multi-step interview process, Balfour Beatty/Arcadis proved to be the most fitting firm through the presentation of innovative proposals, progressive concepts and a well-rounded team of infrastructure experts. The Balfour Beatty/Arcadis team includes the world class expertise of Balfour Beatty, carrying out project management, Arcadis U.S., Inc., responsible for design manager/engineer-of-record services; Ruhnau Clarke Architects, serving as the project architect; Trussell Technologies to handle regulatory/permitting issues; WSP, which will handle off-site pipelines/recharge, and Inframark, to do operations. Selection of the design-build partner is a milestone that brings the Sterling Natural Resource Center one step closer to reality. Now that we have secured our funding and selected our team, we are ready to begin construction before the end of 2018.”
Permitting and construction of the facility is expected to be completed in less than three years with the facility serving the East Valley Water District community, consisting of the City of Highland and portions of both the City and County of San Bernardino and local businesses. .
“For 20 years, Balfour Beatty has safely delivered projects that provide and treat water for communities throughout the state of California,” said Crandall Bates, vice president of Balfour Beatty’s US Civils Western Region. “We are proud to bring this experience to our partnership with the East Valley Water District through the design and construction of the Sterling Natural Resource Center.”
Intended to recharge the local Bunker Hill Groundwater Basin, the Sterling Natural Resource Center will be capable of treating up to 8 million gallons a day initially, with the ability to expand to 10 million gallons a day, Mura said.