GEI to Provide Construction Management Services for Vail Dam

New dam roller-compacted concrete dam to meet seismic and hydrologic standards

Temecula, CA, September 4, 2024 – GEI Consultants has been selected to provide Construction Management (CM) services for the seismic and hydrologic remediation of the Rancho California Water District’s (Rancho Water/District) Vail Dam.

Constructed in 1949 and acquired by Rancho Water in 1978, Vail Dam is a 152-foot-high concrete arch dam across Temecula Creek. The dam captures water from the Santa Margarita Watershed and provides flood protection for the City of Temecula and Marine Corps Base Camp Pendleton.

In 2012, based on updated studies, the California Department of Water (DWR) Division of Safety of Dams (DSOD) concluded that the existing Vail Dam needed to be rehabilitated to meet updated seismic and hydrologic safety standards. Rancho Water determined that replacing Vail Dam with a roller-compacted concrete (RCC) dam would mitigate any deficiencies.

“Our team at GEI brings first-hand, successful CM experience of RCC dams in Southern California,” says Jerry Reed, GEI’s principal-in-charge of the Vail Dam Project. “We’re also experts at navigating the specific technical, regulatory, environmental, and political challenges in that region.”

To date, GEI’s CM team has worked on more than 280 dams in the State of California and successfully led CM for five California dam improvement or replacement projects completed since 2000.

“Rancho Water looks forward to collaborating with GEI Consultants on the vital rehabilitation of Vail Dam,” said the District’s Interim General Manager Jason Martin. “This project is crucial for securing the local water supply that our customers depend on for safe and more affordable drinking water. By maintaining the dam, we not only meet the stringent standards of the DSOD, but we also ensure the preservation of Vail Lake as an important water storage reservoir, which reduces our reliance on imported water and enhances our drought resiliency.”

Once complete, the region will have a state-of-the-art dam with a renewed lifespan of 75-100 years which will also provide enhanced flood protection for the surrounding area.

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About GEI: GEI Consultants, Inc. is a consulting engineering firm that delivers professional services that improve our world’s-built environment. With more than 1,400 staff and 57 offices in North America, GEI is a leader in providing multi-disciplined engineering and environmental services to a range of private and public sector clients, both domestically and abroad.

As a member of the employee-owned GISI family of companies, we foster personal relationships with our clients and support our staff in a partnership model, which is underpinned by continuous learning and sharing of knowledge. We retain proven, recognized experts and attract the best minds to deliver to our clients a refreshing blend of technical expertise, collaborative spirit, and innovation that is rare in our profession. We engineer solutions in five primary end markets: Water Resources, Energy, Buildings, Infrastructure, and Industrial. For more information on GEI, please visit www.geiconsultants.com.