Professional Engineering Services for Buckman Direct Diversion Facility

The purpose of this Request for Qualifications (“RFQ”) is to solicit Statements of Qualifications (“SOQ” or “SOQs”) from a qualified Offeror interested in providing Professional Engineering Services for the redesign and reconstruction of portions of the Buckman Direct Diversion Facility (Facility) intake and raw water pumping facilities. This RFQ is being issued by the City of Santa Fe (City) on behalf of the Buckman Direct Diversion Board (Board).

The Facility is a diversion and treatment plant on the Rio Grande River near Santa Fe, New Mexico. The point of diversion is approximately 15 miles northwest of the City of Santa Fe and is located about three miles from the confluence of the Rio Grande River and Los Alamos Canyon.

The Facility was intended to operate in this fashion:

• Raw water is pulled from the Rio Grande diversion site.
• Sediment is removed near the diversion site through Lakos separators.
• Water is pumped uphill (1,100 vertical feet through 11 miles of 30” raw water pipe and three pump stations).
• The water is filtered and purified at an advanced treatment plant.
• Drinking water is then pumped to the utility providers.
• The illustration of the major systems in the process train are uploaded in the Vendor Questionnaire #18

The Board was created pursuant to a Joint Powers of Agreement between the City and Santa Fe County, effective March 11, 2005. The Board oversees the management and operations of the Facility. The Board is made up of two City Councilors, two County Commissioners, an At Large Citizen member, an Alternate Citizen member, and two non-voting representatives from the Las Campanas Community.

Under the Joint Powers Agreement for the Facility, the Board is responsible for diverting, treating, and transmitting surface water in accordance with respective diversion allocations and delivery demands.

The planning and design of the Facility began in 2001 and the Facility became operational in 2011. The Facility was expected by the Board to provide the necessary robust diversion, treatment, and reliable operations to meet much of the water demands of the City and the County for the foreseeable future. The Facility was intended to be able to divert, convey, and treat varying daily and monthly water diversion volumes, depending on water demands and source water availability. A maximum daily diversion of 20.8 MGD (32.2 CFS) at the river and 15 MGD net at the treatment plant could be needed at any time throughout the year.

The Facility does not currently operate or perform as anticipated or desired, due to a number of issues. Many of the issues can be attributed to the Facility’s inability to adequately address extensive seasonal and precipitation triggered fluctuations in sediment and turbidity conditions in the Rio Grande. To improve the Facility’s performance and operation, the Board anticipates that design and construction of a new intake facility to exclude sediment from entering the intake will be a first step priority, coupled with improvements to the sediment removal process.

The Facility is the foundation of a resilient water future for the partners and as such a permanent solution must be achieved.