Construction projects to improve Fort Bliss water and stormwater infrastructure will soon break ground, thanks to a partnership with El Paso Water. The pact is the result of an Intergovernmental Support Agreement (IGSA) Fort Bliss signed last year that aims to save costs for the military installation.
IGSAs are collaborative partnership agreements that allow the Army to partner with a local or state agency to take advantage of higher-quality services or cost savings by leveraging each other’s strengths. Such agreements often generate considerable savings for military installations.
Infrastructure upgrades
“El Paso Water is proud to be partnering with the Army to offer our services,” EPWater President/CEO John Balliew said. “We see this as a win-win partnership, where we can contribute to the mission readiness of Fort Bliss and save American taxpayer money while generating new revenue for El Paso Water, to the benefit of our ratepayers.”
Fort Bliss will work with the utility to accomplish several important projects in the coming months: a design for a water main replacement project on a training range, a study of stormwater drainage at the installation, and topographical and geotechnical surveys needed for facility or infrastructure projects.
Beneficial partnership
EPWater will utilize its pool of qualified vendors to deliver these services. The total value of these projects is more than $749,000. Because EPWater operates under state rather than federal contracting law, the utility will provide services at a considerable savings to the Army.
Total savings are expected to exceed $200,000. In addition, these projects will contribute to military mission readiness and resilience, supporting national security interests.