Colorado desalination project receives exceptional scores

The VNS Federal Services (VNSFS) team that operates the Paradox Valley Unit (PVU) desalination project in Colorado for the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation once again received exceptional ratings on its most recent evaluation.

PVU received "exceptional" ratings in three of the four areas covered in the Contractor Performance Assessment Reporting System (CPARS) assessment completed Oct. 30. VNSFS has been performing operations & maintenance (O&M) at PVU since 2014.

The evaluation period was from July 26, 2022, through July 25, 2023, and the categories were: Quality, Management, Safety, and Small Business Subcontracting. The VNSFS team at PVU received exceptional marks in the first three categories, and satisfactory in the latter.

“During the evaluation period, VNSFS performance met all contractual requirements and exceeded many to the Government's benefit,” wrote Dwane Esplin, Contracting Officer for the Bureau of Reclamation.

“Project management continues to work aggressively promoting a strong partnering relationship with Reclamation. Joint meetings continue to be open and honest discussions of current conditions and issues affecting the site. This relationship provides the means for continuous improvement in communications, work methods, and ensures safety and quality service,” Esplin continued.

The assessment includes an extensive list of projects on which Esplin said VNSFS took the initiative to identify and remedy.

In terms of safety, “VNSFS continues to provide an exceptional level of service for its focus on the safety program which consistently results in an exceptional safety record, and other trainings programs to be in compliance with Reclamation's safety requirements,” Esplin said.

In the small business subcontracting category, the satisfactory ranking is due primarily to the fact that many HUBZone, veteran-owned and disabled veteran-owned small businesses that could perform work at PVU do not register with the U.S. Small Business Administration, said PVU Project Manager John Adams. VNSFS “demonstrated a good faith effort to meet all subcontracting goals and exceeded in two,” Esplin wrote in his assessment.

Adams said the CPARS report is evidence of "the great partnership and relationship trust we've built with our customer."

PVU operates 24 hours a day, seven days a week to prevent up to 100,000 tons of salt per year from entering the Delores and Colorado rivers in this remote area of western Colorado. It does this by extracting brine groundwater and injecting it into a deep injection well. Saline concentrations of this naturally occurring brine groundwater have measured in excess of 250,000 milligrams per liter - about eight times saltier than seawater. PVU is part of the broader Colorado River Basin Salinity Control Program.