Carollo Engineers Wins $210M Contract for California Water Treatment Plant
According to Construction Dive, Carollo Engineers has secured a $210 million contract to manage construction of phase one of the new Ophir Water Treatment Plant in Placer County, California, announced June 16.
Market Impact
The plant will be built on a 22-acre site along Ophir Road in Auburn, California, roughly 33 miles north of Sacramento. Phase one will add 10 million gallons per day of treated water capacity, enough to serve 10,000 families, with the completed facility eventually handling up to 30 million gallons per day.
The project is driven by capacity constraints at the Placer County Water Agency’s existing Foothill Water Treatment Plant in Newcastle, which approaches peak operational limits during summer months. Placer County currently holds an “abnormally dry” rating from the U.S. Drought Monitor, and California has seen persistent drought conditions, with five of the 30 driest months on record occurring in 2021 and 2022, according to the state’s Office of Environmental Health Hazard Assessment.
Walnut Creek, California-based Carollo will handle schedule and cost tracking, inspection, documentation, project coordination, and SCADA programming for the initial phase. The contract follows a $200 million win in April for a water reuse facility north of Reno, Nevada, signaling sustained momentum for the firm in Western US water infrastructure.
“The Ophir Water Treatment Plant will deliver a resilient, reliable water supply for the community while reinforcing the region’s critical water infrastructure for generations to come,” said Keith Corcoran, Carollo principal-in-charge.
What It Means for Subcontractors
- A $210 million water treatment project of this scale will require civil, mechanical, electrical, and instrumentation subcontractors. Field service companies in Northern California should monitor procurement activity from Carollo Engineers as construction planning advances.
- The SCADA and controls scope signals demand for instrumentation and automation subcontractors familiar with industrial control systems and water treatment environments.
- Carollo’s back-to-back wins in California and Nevada suggest a broader pipeline of municipal water work in the Western US. Subcontractors active in those markets should position themselves with water agency primes now, before project phases ramp up.
- Future phases of the Ophir plant were not disclosed, meaning additional contract opportunities are likely as the project progresses beyond phase one.
