Awards

The Sam Snead Storm Drain System project alleviated historic flooding occurring in a residential community in the East Side of El Paso, TX. Improvements consisted of high efficiency surface and subsurface major stormwater infrastructure to safely convey the area’s historic rainfall volumes observed. 55 residential homes were removed from the effective floodzone which in turn, eliminated mandatory flood insurance coverage for those impacted. These residents have been victimized with numerous storms over the past decades causing severe damage to their homes. With successful project completion, several storm events have since occurred with the runoff now being safely captured and conveyed.

A catastrophic storm in 2006 caused $315 Million in losses to businesses, homes, and the existing stormwater system. This initiated a multi-year phased plan of city-wide flood improvements; one being the construction of the Northeast Channel No. 2. This 3.5-mile long and $12 Million conveyance project provided significant hydraulic capacity and resulted in FEMA approving the project's LOMR/PMR applications which were based on extensive H&H modeling. FEMA's FIRM panels for the impacted areas were revised reducing the effective flood zone area by 47% and removing 5,000 properties from Zone A amounting to savings of $670,000 in annual property flood insurance premiums.

The El Paso region has an arid climate and sometimes experiences sustained drought-like periods which must be addressed by El Paso Water's partial dependence on groundwater sources. EPW has a sustainable water supply portfolio which includes aquifer storage and recovery. The ASR Master Plan recommends: 1) a dual-use enhanced stormwater infiltration system using a 2-mile natural arroyo, 2) diversion of existing wastewater tertiary flows to the ASR field for infiltration, and 3) downstream multi-land use development within the ASR field. The ultimate development of the expanded ASR field will potentially defer the long-term and high-cost option of water importation.

One of the largest infrastructure projects ever done in the El Paso region was completed jointly by both El Paso Water Utilities and Ft. Bliss. El Paso’s Kay Bailey Hutchison (KBH) Desalination Facilities has a production capacity of 27.5 million gallons of freshwater daily (MGD) making it a critical component of the region’s water portfolio. The Kay Bailey Hutchison Desalination Facilities have increased EPWU’s production by approximately 25% and has become a major component of the region’s long-term water supply. This project was the top-ranked engineering project in Texas for 2008 and received the Eminent Conceptor Award by the Texas Council of Engineering Companies. The project went on to receive the 9th top-ranked award in the country presented by the American Council of Engineering Companies as well as the winner of the top-ranked environmental engineering project in the United States as presented by the American Academy of Environmental Engineers.

As part of the ongoing initiative addressing the critical repair and reconstruction priorities that resulted from Storm 2006 in El Paso, Texas, the Westside Flood Damage Phase I and II Improvements project was ranked second in highest priority among a long list of projects affected by the series of storm events of Summer 2006 (Storm 2006). The purpose of the project was twofold, to provide repair to the damage caused to the streets and drainage system, and to develop a phased stormwater management plan for the area. This project was the Texas Council of Engineering Companies Engineering Excellence Award Winner (Gold Award) in 2010.