Poway’s largest capital improvement program to increase the reliability of drinking water for water customers now and generations to come is on schedule and under budget. Principal Civil Engineer Robert Weber shared an update at the Feb. 3 Poway City Council meeting to highlight milestones and the upcoming timeline for the city’s $80 million water infrastructure improvement program.
Construction of the city’s $31.6 million replacement Clearwell is roughly 95% complete. The Clearwell Replacement Project, two 4-million-gallon prestressed tanks to store treated water, was preceded by the construction of a temporary bypass system. The new tanks are expected to be online by late spring and once the temporary bypass system is removed, the ballfield at Lake Poway will be restored (Fall 2026).
The final project in the water infrastructure improvement program is a Treated Water Facilities Project. This project will give Poway’s water system operational flexibility, enhance the city’s ability to sell treated water to the Ramona Water District, and enable future water treatment plant rehabilitation by giving Poway direct access to an alternate treated water source. The city will also install two emergency interconnections with the City of San Diego water system.
The emergency interconnection projects are expected to go to bid this year and construction on the Treated Water Facilities Project is planned to begin in 2027.
At the conclusion of the update, Mayor Steve Vaus praised the city for rebuilding essential water facilities that date back more than 60 years – and doing it on schedule and under budget during one of the most inflation-impacted construction periods in memory.
“I am incredibly proud of our team and all of their professionalism,” Mayor Vaus said. “This is great news – the kind of news that reminds us of something that’s become all too rare. And that is how good government works and that’s something I hope everyone in Poway will be proud of.”