capital program at the AGC of Califor- nia conference. He said he welcomed the opportunity to share his agency’s critical Capital Investment Plan (CIP) with the contractors, subcontractors, and other construction industry firms in attendance. “Our CIP has grown significantly


during the last four years or so, and we are approaching a half billion dollars a year of capital work. It’s such a good opportunity for us to get the word out on what we’re doing,” Thomas commented. “Tere’s so much infrastructure work


in Southern California currently, and it’s important that we get out there and engage with the contracting community as much as we can to let them know what’s coming. Te more interest there is in our projects, the better it is for us. We want to let folks know that Metropolitan Water District is a good partner to have.” During the Water & Utility Showcase,


where Thomas presented alongside representatives from Southern Cali- fornia Edison (SCE) and San Diego Gas Company, panelists shared some of their biggest challenges working with contractors. Thomas offered the exam- ple of receiving a very low winning bid from a new contractor that had clearly left money on the table. “We know that’s going to be a chal-


lenge, but this happens to us all the time,” he commented. “When we know that a particular contract is going to be especially challenging, we put extra resources on it. If it takes getting more of our engineers involved or more of our construction managers involved, then we’ll do that.” At the end of the day, he said, “Our goal, which we think is the same goal as our contracting partners, is to deliver a good project and deliver it at a good value – to get in, get out and finish with a facility that is something to be proud of.”


Advice to Contractors What advice would Thomas offer con- tractors looking to work with MWD to achieve the smoothest workflow on their projects? “Your submittals have to be com-


plete, they have to be well thought out, and they have to be timely,” he said. “We know pretty quickly how well our contractors have set up their office en- gineering and their submittal process.


resources quickly and accelerate sched- ules,” he noted. “We’re kind of figuring it out as we go, but I’m very optimistic that this will ultimately become a regular part of our capital delivery program.”


AGC To Recognize MWD as 2027 Owner of Year MWD’s participation in the 2026 Owners Showcase at CONSTRUCT is just one example of the ways in which this critical


“There’s so much infrastructure work in Southern California currently, and it’s important that we get out there and engage with the contracting community as much as we can to let them know what’s coming.”


– MICHAEL THOMAS, MWD


That is very important because our work is submittal intensive. Also, mak- ing sure you’re doing everything very safely, making sure that you’re setting up schedules, and having free-flowing communication between the contrac- tors and our staff – those are all parts of delivering the whole project. The sooner the contractor figures out working with us in those ways, the better the jobs go.” While a large portion of MWD’s de-


livery is traditional design/bid/build, more collaborative delivery approaches are now making their way into their proj- ect mix. MWD is currently employing collaborative delivery methods on two major projects underway in Southern California. “One of the real benefits of collabo- rative delivery is you can mobilize more


Southern California water agency works with the construction industry and AGC of California contractors throughout the year to deliver vital water project to build a better California.


Recognizing the nearly 100-year-old


agency’s vital role helping build California in partnership with AGC of California and its member contractors, AGC of California recently announced MWD will be recognized as its 2027 Owner of the Year during the upcoming Awards Gala on February 5, 2027 in San Francisco. “We’re certainly proud to be recog-


nized by the contracting community for the work we do,” commented Tomas. “Our partnership with industry and the work we accomplish together is critical to maintaining and expanding our critical water infrastructure in California.”


CALIFORNIA CONSTRUCTOR NOVEMBER/DECEMBER 2026


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