Cross Valley Canal Extension Lining Project – Pool No.8
Award
Water Project
Description
The Kern County Water Agency (Agency) constructed the Cross Valley Canal Pool No. 8 Lining
Project (Project). With the assistance of Provost & Pritchard Consulting Group, the Agency
successfully planned, implemented, and constructed the Project, which significantly improved its
ability to provide wholesale treated water supplies to four retail water purveyors in the
Bakersfield area. The completed Project has increased reliability and reduced water losses from
seepage, thereby enhancing the Agency’s delivery of treated State Water Project (SWP) water
to its customers and reducing the amount of recovery well pumping required at its groundwater
banking facilities.
The improvements involved lining approximately 5,280 linear feet of earthen canal in Pool No. 8
of the Cross Valley Canal Extension with fiber-reinforced concrete, installing various ancillary
safety and management features, and constructing a robust dewatering trench system
underneath the canal to mitigate higher groundwater levels during wet seasons, thus preserving
the canal lining’s life expectancy.
In 2017, the Agency was awarded a United States Bureau of Reclamation (USBR)
WaterSMART Grant, receiving $989,933 in funding. Additionally, in 2022, the Agency secured
$3,586,800 from the California Department of Water Resources through the Urban and
Multibenefit Drought Relief Program to partially fund the construction project.
The Project was complex due to significant constraints, including the need to continuously
convey water to the Henry C. Garnett Water Purification Plant (HCGWPP) during construction.
The project area was confined to limited right-of-way to minimize potential impacts on adjacent
lands, bordered by commercial and industrial complexes on one side, including the Bakersfield
Heart Hospital, and riparian habitat along the Kern River on the other. This project exemplifies
how water districts and agencies can significantly improve their water delivery reliability and
supply while reducing the additional energy costs associated with an earthen canal.
Branch
