Don Benito Reservoir Replacement Engineering Services

The City is seeking proposals from qualified firms to provide engineering services for the Water Division's Don Benito Reservoir Replacement Project. A concept design has been developed for a 1.3-million-gallon pre-stressed concrete reservoir located at 3671 Ranch Top Road, Pasadena, 91107, to replace two steel tanks that were destroyed during the 2025 Eaton Fire. The engineering services requested for the project include final design, bid assistance and engineering services during construction. The design entails the preparation of plans and specifications for the construction of a new reservoir including site improvements, yard piping, tank accessories, a disinfection and mixing system, electrical, instrumentation and controls, and a solar photovoltaic system. Refer to Section 6 for detailed scope of work requirements.

The engineering firm is expected to perform the general tasks as described in the Scope of Work. PWP intends to select the most qualified engineering firm for the project. Proposals will be evaluated by PWP's screening committee based on the following criteria:

1. Project understanding and approach
2. Scope of work and reasonableness of project schedule
3. Qualifications of key personnel and relevant experience
4. Overall clarity and presentation of proposal and compliance with RFP
5. Fee for proposed scope of work.

The City of Pasadena's Water and Power Department (PWP) is a municipally owned and operated utility that provides domestic water service through over 35,000 connections in the City of Pasadena, unincorporated areas in Altadena, East Pasadena, and Los Angeles County. Don Benito Reservoir is one of 22 storage reservoirs in the PWP water distribution system and the only reservoir that serves the Don Benito and Don Benito Reduced Pressure Zones. After the 2025 Eaton Fire, the reservoir was demolished and an interconnection with a neighboring water agency was activated for water delivery to the affected zones.

PWP commissioned a concept design report which provides a description of the facility that is to be designed in detail. The concept design includes descriptions of major systems, preliminary drawings, and supporting information. The Don Benito Tank Replacement Technical Memorandum (TM) dated March 16, 2026, is attached to this RFP and is the basis for the scope of work, establishing the technical framework for moving forward into final design.

The replacement of the Don Benito Reservoir is of high priority to PWP. Commitment by the selected engineering firm to an expedited, but reasonable, schedule and adherence to delivery milestones is imperative. In the interest of compressing the duration of the design phase of the project, PWP elects to defer the detailed design of the tank structure by the tank constructor to the construction phase based on performance criteria established by the engineering firm.