Aspen managed a five-year on-call contract by the California Department of Water Resources (DWR) to provide environmental documentation, permitting, and mitigation monitoring services for projects associated with the State Water Project in southern California. Aspen provided a wide range of services under this contract, including all agency coordination and public outreach activities associated with each project. Aspen managed a large team of experts for this contract, including both in-house technical staff and specialty subcontractors, in order to provide DWR with all environmental and engineering expertise that was needed over the term of the contract.
Aspen worked on 17 water and energy projects for DWR under this contract, including new reservoir construction, replacement of major water pipelines, modifications to dam releases to simulate natural flows downstream, repairs to access roads and construction of new roads, and various types of repairs and replacement of existing water infrastructure. Work was conducted across a large region of southern California, including desert, mountain, riparian, and urban environments, and involved projects on both the East and West Branches of the California Aqueduct. Aspen completed assignments at various reservoirs along the California Aqueduct, including Pyramid Dam, Tehachapi East Afterbay, Silverwood Lake, Lake Perris, Quail Lake, Castaic Lake, and Crafton Hills Reservoir.
Tasks completed by Aspen under this contract included preparation of environment review documents, such as EIRs and Mitigated Negative Declarations, preparation and processing of environmental permits, such as CWA 404 permits and CDFG 1600 permits, assistance in Endangered Species Act consultation, monitoring of construction activities, preparation of cultural resources surveys and reports, and preparation of biological surveys, reports, and studies. Aspen assisted DWR in the planning and design of projects to avoid or minimize environmental impacts and worked closely with DWR engineers, designers, and managers. Aspen also worked closely with DWR field personnel on pre-construction compliance with mitigation measures and monitoring of construction activities for compliance with mitigation and permit conditions.
