What the Orange County Water District is about to decide

This is Council Brief’s first edition on the Orange County Water District — the agency whose board meets at 18700 Ward Street in Fountain Valley and whose capital work shows up in other cities’ wells. Almost the entire agenda is a consent calendar of 22 items pre-cleared by three committees that met on September 3, 9 and 10. These are pending decisions from the posted agenda — not outcomes. Every item links to the official record.

Source: official agenda (PDF) · ocwd.com · Agenda posted at 18700 Ward Street, Fountain Valley, not less than 72 hours before the meeting

💧 A $6,747,796.48 PFAS contract in Fullerton

• On Contract No. FUL-2026-1, the Fullerton Well 10 PFAS Treatment Project, the board would “accept bid and authorize award…to the lowest responsive bid and responsible bidder, Big Ben Inc. in the amount of $6,747,796.48.” It would also receive and file the affidavit of publication of the notice inviting bids and ratify issuance of Addenda 1 and 2. Item 5
• PFAS are the “forever chemicals” at the centre of the district’s litigation against manufacturers — and the same agenda sends the board into closed session on OCWD v. 3M Company et al. The agenda does not connect the two items. Items 5, Closed Session

🚰 Two more PFAS projects: Santa Ana and Buena Park

• For the City of Santa Ana Walnut PFAS Treatment Plant Project (Contract No. SA-2026-1), the board would authorize a CEQA categorical exemption and the filing of a Notice of Exemption, and authorize issuance of a Request for Proposals for Construction Management Services — an early step, with no construction contract yet. Item 6
• At the Buena Park Linden Well, where a packer installation isolates the well screen “to reduce PFAS,” the board would authorize Change Order No. 2 to General Pump Company, Inc. for an amount not to exceed $150,000 to furnish and install a variable frequency drive, and increase the project budget by $150,000 for a total project budget of $808,739. Item 14

💰 $6,934,145.88 in disbursements

• The board would “ratify/authorize payment of bills.” The supporting item states that for the period August 27, 2026 through September 9, 2026, including manual checks and wire transfers, staff is presenting cash disbursements totaling $6,934,145.88. Item 1
• The agenda breaks that into $1,227,431.50 (08/27–09/02), $4,043,297.94 (09/03–09/09) and $1,663,416.44 in payroll. Item 1
• Also on consent: the Summary Cash and Cash Equivalents Control Reports and the Investment Portfolio Holdings Reports, both dated August 31, 2026, and the Budget to Actual Report for the fiscal year ending June 30, 2026 — all to be received and filed, with no figures on the agenda face. Items 15, 16, 22

🔧 Pumps, switchgear and a fire pump: the plant maintenance list

• Bender/CCP appears three times: Amendment No. 1 to Agreement 1826, not to exceed $118,701, to refurbish Reverse Osmosis Transfer Pump A01; Amendment No. 1 to Agreement 1827, not to exceed $59,283, for GWRS Product Water Pump A02; and a purchase order in the amount of $99,859 to repair Microfiltration Backwash Waste Pump A03. The first two each carry matching additional funds for R&R account R25015. Items 11, 12, 13
• $236,177 to Teamwork/TRL Systems for a replacement fire pump, driver and control panel, with $50,000 in additional funds for account R25013. Item 18
• $112,806 to Integrated Power Services for five replacement GE Powervac breaker lift trucks, with $32,806 in additional funds for account R26050. Item 17
• $101,587 to Vertiv to replace, test and certify the 910 area main switchgear batteries, plus $1,587 in additional funds for account R26012. Item 8
• $70,270 to Smaart Power for a power system coordination and arc flash hazard study of the Fountain Valley power distribution system. Item 9

🌐 Cybersecurity, software, and a database of how far the ground has sunk

• Not to exceed $61,921.14 to Tevora, a reseller for Arctic Wolf, to renew the district’s cybersecurity services for one year commencing August 30, 2026 — a start date that has already passed. The board would also authorize two additional annual renewals not to exceed a 3% increase per year, plus applicable taxes. Item 19
• Not to exceed $54,000 to Intera, Inc. to build “a geospatial-temporal database of historical ground surface benchmark elevations in support of the District’s land subsidence risk evaluation” — part of a basin storage expansion evaluation. Item 7
• Not to exceed $27,400 to Esri to update the district’s spatial database engine software. Item 10

📋 A federal bill, and a rewrite of the district’s own contracting rules

• The board would take a formal position — Support — on the Special District Fairness and Accessibility Act (H.R. 2766), which the agenda describes as establishing “a formal definition of ‘special district’ in federal law” and requiring federal agencies to recognise special districts as local governments for federal financial assistance. Item 4
• It would also approve a revision of Chapter 6, Contract Administration, of the District’s Policy and Procedures Manual, adopt a resolution updating it, and “authorize OCWD staff to conduct procurement per the revised Chapter 6.” The agenda does not summarise what changes. Item 21

🪑 Also on the agenda

• Revised classification titles for the Human Resources job series, and a surplus declaration covering vehicles, office furniture, maintenance shop and heavy equipment and obsolete warehouse inventory “as of August 25, 2026.” Items 3, 20
• Minutes of the board meetings held August 19 and September 2, 2026, a Water Resources Summary, and committee reports from Communications (Chair Tran), Water Issues (Chair Green) and Administration and Finance (Chair Yoh). Items 2, 24, 25
• Closed session also lists anticipated litigation — one potential case, with no further detail. The board reconvenes in open session before adjourning. Closed Session

Council Brief summaries are produced from official public records by our automated newsroom and reviewed before publication. Items are described as posted; the council may amend, continue, or remove items at the meeting. Spot an error? hello@councilbrief.com — we publish corrections.