Title Transfer of Two Dams in California from Federal to State Regulatory Jurisdiction

The Contra Costa Water District (CCWD) located in the San Francisco Bay Area in California recently decided to initiate the transfer of title of two dams and reservoirs from the United States Bureau of Reclamation (USBR) to CCWD. CCWD has operated these dams for the benefits of their customers for decades, but the dams were designed, constructed, and owned by USBR. After the title transfer process is complete, CCWD will own the dams, bringing the dams under State of California regulatory jurisdiction (federally owned dams are exempt from state jurisdiction). The State of California dam safety regulators, the Division of Safety of Dams (DSOD), required a suite of condition assessments and studies to be completed in order to assess whether the two dams would meet DSOD requirements for existing dams. GEI Consultants (GEI) supported CCWD during this asset transfer process by conducting the required assessments and studies. GEI completed comprehensive studies of both facilities including spillway condition assessments, an intake tower seismic stability assessment, an emergency drawdown analysis, embankment seismic stability assessments, embankment seepage analyses, instrumentation inspections and rehabilitation, outlet works inspections (including dive and ROV inspections), underwater concrete inspections, inundation mapping, EAP development, toe drain inspections, and review of previous studies. Since undergoing title transfer from federal jurisdiction to state jurisdiction is somewhat rare, we present herein a detailed description of the scope, methodology, challenges, and results of the condition assessments and engineering analyses performed to convey to others what could be involved for similar projects. GEI concluded that the dams undergoing the title transfer are performing satisfactorily with minimal deficiencies, and that the studies completed satisfy DSOD requirements.