Source: www.acwa.com

SSWD Purchases Groundwater Well Contractor to Secure Scarce Expertise

Fetched 2026-07-29 08:01 from www.acwa.com

Reading Summary (AI-generated)

Reading Summary: SSWD Purchases Groundwater Well Contractor KPM

Key Facts

Sacramento Suburban Water District (SSWD) purchased Kirby’s Pump and Mechanical (KPM), a California Class A General Contractor specializing in groundwater well pump systems.
SSWD first entered an exclusive 5-year contract with KPM in 2023; over ~3 years KPM restored approximately 100,000 GPM of pumping capacity and rehabilitated 19 wells.
An independent cost-benefit analysis found SSWD will recoup the purchase price in under 3.5 years and save approximately $7 million over ten years compared to continuing the contract.
SSWD operates 70-plus groundwater wells and relies primarily on groundwater, making contractor availability a critical operational vulnerability.

Who Is Affected

SSWD ratepayers and the Sacramento suburban community served by the district.
The broader California groundwater well contractor market, where licensed expertise is described as scarce.

Policy/Legal Angle

No specific laws or regulations are cited, but the acquisition touches on public agency procurement authority and the unusual step of a water district directly owning a private contractor.

Blog Angles

Vertical integration in water utilities: Is SSWD’s purchase of a contractor a replicable model for other California districts facing contractor scarcity, and what are the governance risks?
Groundwater workforce gap: How severe is the licensed well contractor shortage statewide, and how does it threaten SGMA implementation timelines?
Make-vs.-buy economics: The $7M savings figure deserves scrutiny — what assumptions drive the cost-benefit model, and who conducted the independent analysis?

Full Text

SSWD Purchases Groundwater Well Contractor to Secure Scarce Expertise

by Sacramento Suburban Water District
Member Submitted News

SACRAMENTO — Sacramento Suburban Water District (SSWD) today announced it has purchased Kirby’s Pump and Mechanical (KPM), a California Class A General Contractor that specializes in mechanical work on groundwater well pump systems.

Licensed groundwater well contractors are in short supply in California. Adding KPM’s expertise allows the District to maintain pumping capacity and respond quickly to repairs, both reactively and proactively.

SSWD entered into an exclusive agreement with KPM in 2023 to maintain and repair the District’s 70-plus groundwater wells for the next five years. SSWD relies on groundwater, and having exclusive access to their services was critical to avoiding prolonged well outages.

“During the three years that KPM worked exclusively with SSWD, they’ve made a significant difference in strengthening the reliability of our water system,” said Dan York, SSWD General Manager. “Their work has restored approximately 100,000 GPM of pumping capacity. They have also rehabilitated 19 wells, upgraded and repaired motor and electrical service, and made numerous other improvements that made our operations more efficient.”

SSWD staff evaluated KPM’s performance over the initial years of the contract. It was determined that KPM could not only undertake standard well maintenance and rehabilitation but also perform a wide range of additional tasks. They also found that SSWD has the facilities to house KPM staff and equipment.

A Board of Directors committee reviewed KPM’s performance and commissioned an independent cost-benefit analysis. The independent analysis found that SSWD would recoup the KPM purchase in under 3.5 years and achieve approximately $7 million in cost savings over a ten-year period compared with maintaining the current contract.

“Today’s purchase of KPM marks another important moment in SSWD’s commitment to water reliability and infrastructure improvement,” said Craig Locke, President, SSWD Board of Directors. “It’s a fiscally responsible decision that strengthens our water system for our ratepayers and the community at large.”

For more information, visit sswd.org .

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