AECOM Exits Water Use Consultant Role as California Agencies Clash

AECOM Exits Water-Use Consultant Role as California Agencies Clash

Wind turbines and crop irrigation in Tehachapi, Calif., where groundwater use is in dispute.

Image: jmoor17 via Getty Images

AECOM has declined to continue as consultant to the local governments working to update a Tehachapi, Calif., regional water use and shortage contingency plan—citing continuing disputes among the municipal entities and the regional water resource utility.

"Due to the unexpected conflicts between participating agencies, we feel we are unable to complete the work in a way that would not result in a conflict of interest," Dan Conquist, an AECOM department manager in Bakersfield, Calif., wrote in a letter to the general manager of the Tehachapi-Cummings County Water District.

The May 13 letter said AECOM had completed no work since July 2023, was paid in full for its services and would turn over all documents and work products to the district. The firm was hired to develop the new water use plan, replacing one written in 2016, for the city of Tehachapi in Kern County and the service districts of Bear Valley, Golden Hills and Stallion Springs.

According to Tehachapi News, the regional entity has asked AECOM to reconsider.

The conflicts that have stalled work on the plan relate to groundwater use in the Tehachapi Basin—the water source for the city and service districts. The average annual safe yield of groundwater within the basin is 5,500 acre-feet, according to a state court that ordered the water district to report annually on groundwater conditions.

One focus of conflict relates to an apparent clash between the growth-minded city of Tehachapi and the water district over water supply use and allocation.

In a comment made to Tehachapi News, Tom Neisler, water district general manager, is quoted as saying that the city of Tehachapi "has not been able to close the gap between its available water supplies and its desire for growth.”

He also is quoted as saying: "We can only assume that the city’s recent comments created a toxic environment for our consultant AECOM.”

Officials of the water district and of the city of Tehachapi could not immediately be reached for comment.

A fresh sign of the difficulties, however, is Tehachapi's newest lawsuit against the water district, filed May 1 in state court in Bakersfield, which accuses it of violating a 2020 memo of agreement regarding treated recycled water and the granting of recharged water "credits" to the city. The dispute over that matter dates to 2021.

Deputy Editor Richard Korman helps run ENR's business and legal news and investigations, selects ENR's commentary and oversees editorial content on ENR.com. In 2023 the American Society of Business Publication Editors awarded Richard the Stephen Barr Award, the highest honor for a single feature story or investigation, for his story on the aftermath of a terrible auto crash in Kentucky in 2019, and in 2015 the American Business Media awarded him the Timothy White Award for investigations of surety fraud and workplace bullying. A member of Investigative Reporters and Editors, Richard has been a fellow on drone safety with the McGraw Center for Business Journalism at the Craig Newmark Graduate School of Journalism at CUNY. Richard's freelance writing has appeared in the Seattle Times, the New York Times, Business Week and the websites of The Atlantic and Salon.com. He admires construction projects that finish on time and budget, compensate all team members fairly and record zero fatalities or serious injuries.