East Ames-Reche Recharge Facility Project

The East Ames-Reche Recharge Facility Project involves the construction of two new groundwater recharge basins on a 10-acre site north of Winters Road in San Bernardino County, California, near Landers, with a target annual recharge capacity of 1,500 acre-feet per year and a maximum flow rate of 5 cubic feet per second. Each basin will be surrounded by 12-foot-tall berms and equipped with a perimeter access road, 6-foot fencing with barbed wire, and nonpotable water pipelines totaling approximately 500 linear feet each, extending from Winters Road to the eastern perimeter of the basins. The project includes headwalls connected to these pipelines, an outlet structure with an energy dissipator, and a nested monitoring well to track infiltration rates, groundwater levels, and water quality. The initiative is designed to increase the Mojave Water Agency’s ability to utilize State Water Project Table A allocations for groundwater replenishment. The project is scheduled to begin in January 2026 and conclude by November 2026, with performance measured against recharge capacity targets and compliance with environmental mandates. All work must adhere to the Mitigation Monitoring and Reporting Program (MMRP), which governs compliance with air quality standards under MDAQMD regulations, biological survey protocols for species such as burrowing owls and western Joshua trees, cultural resource protections under Secretary of the Interior standards, and erosion and sediment control through Best Management Practices including a Stormwater Pollution Prevention Plan. The Mojave Water Agency serves as the lead agency, overseeing inspections and final acceptance at the site and through administrative review at its office in Apple Valley. Contractors are required to secure incidental take permits from the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and California Department of Fish and Wildlife, pay environmental filing fees, report findings to the California Natural Diversity Database, and conduct mandatory consultations with the Yuhavitam of San Manuel Nation if cultural resources are encountered. The project requires the presence of qualified biologists, archaeologists, and paleontologists during construction, with immediate work stoppages enforced within 60 to 100 feet of discovered cultural or paleontological resources. Financial obligations include in-lieu fees for the removal of 68 western Joshua trees and payment of environmental document filing fees upon Notice of Determination. No formal contract value, accounting codes, invoicing system, or standard federal acquisition regulation clauses have been specified; instead, the contract is governed by environmental compliance conditions tied to CEQA and state regulatory authorities, with no