Water

<p><p><p><p><p>The Southern Delivery System, or SDS as we refer to it, is a water project serving the communities of Pueblo West, Security, Fountain, and Colorado Springs with 50 miles of 66 inch pipeline, three pump stations, and a new greenfield water treatment plant to connect into the existing system. There are really three drivers for building SDS. One is growing demand in all of the partner communities; the second, really, reliability of all of our systems; and finally, protection against droughts. We've had two major droughts in the last decade. And SDS protects us by diversifying our water portfolio.</p> </p> </p> <p><p><p>MWH has a long history of program management. And we were able to bring all of that delivery expertise to this program. What was particularly brilliant was bringing all the disciplines that MWH has to bear, from engineering to construction to specialized functions such as public involvement, document management, program controls. That's been particularly unique here. I've really been impressed by the team that we've been able to put together--so many smart people that have come to work on this project.</p> </p> </p> <p><p><p>And part of it is MWH's support all the way to the top of the organization. I've been extremely impressed by that. And we could not have had a better partner with our Colorado Springs Utilities team. Colorado Springs Utilities has done decades of planning the delivery of this program. Through working in residential areas of Pueblo West, through farmland and cattle grazing areas, to boring underneath I-25, two railroad lines, and Fountain Creek, MWH's expertise was brought to bear to actually work out how to make sure we had full permit compliance in the environmental and construction management team in place to make sure we honored all of that planning.</p> </p> </p> <p><p><p>The most important thing that I want people to remember about SDS is the hundreds of people that have pulled together to make it happen. The accomplishments to date on this project have been significant. We are $156 million under budget. We've met all of our local spend goals. And we're forecast to be delivering</p> </p> </p> <p><p><p>on or ahead of schedule. Water is really the lifeblood of any community. And to be able to have a viable, sustainable economy, you've got to have water. SDS brings that to Colorado Springs and our neighboring communities. And really the beauty of a project like this is it's our present to future generations.</p> </p> </p> </p> </p>