SACRAMENTO, CA—GEI Consultants, Inc., a leading geotechnical, environmental, water resources, and ecological science and engineering firm, says it is providing certain Owner's Engineer services for the proposed Sacramento Municipal Utility District (SMUD) Iowa Hill Pumped-Storage Development project.

GEI will be a member of the Jacobs Associates team for the project. SMUD recently awarded the Jacobs Associates team the Owner's Engineer services contract for preliminary design and construction services on their proposed project. If constructed, Iowa Hill would be a 400 megawatt pumped storage hydroelectric facility.

GEI will lead the design of the 6,400 acre-foot upper reservoir, a lined impoundment that will be formed by an earth- and rock-fill dam with a maximum height of more than 200 feet and a crest length of 5,900 feet. The design of the dam and reservoir will be under the regulatory authority of the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) and the California Division of Safety of Dams (DSOD).
The project would utilize an existing reservoir on the American River, from which water would be pumped up to a new 6,400 acre-foot capacity upper reservoir, where the water would be stored. During peak electrical demand periods, water would flow from the upper reservoir to the lower reservoir via a 1,000-foot-deep (305 m) shaft through 3,500 feet (1,067 m) of water tunnels. The electricity generated would connect the existing transmission line that connects SMUD's existing Upper American River hydroelectric project with the District's customers.
The team consists of Jacobs Associates (prime), GEI Consultants, HDR Engineering, AF-Consult of Switzerland, Carlton Engineering, AMEC, IEC Corporation, Northwest Hydraulic Consultants, Stillwater Sciences, Ascent Environmental, Crux Subsurface, and Foxfire Constructors.