With the world’s deepest submersible pumps, the Low Lake Level Pumping Station can deliver up to 900 million gallons of water per day to Southern Nevada’s 2.2 million residents and 33 million annual visitors.

The pumping station, which draws water from Lake Mead's deepest intake, is part of SNWA's response to a persistent, decades-long drought in the Colorado River Basin. Barnard, as the CMAR, joined the project at the 50% design stage to provide insights on constructability, value engineering, cost estimating, and schedule. When the project moved into construction, Barnard self-performed the drill and blast excavation of the forebay, access shaft, and riser shaft. Upon completing the underground works, Barnard worked with a specialty subcontractor to drill the 34 pump shafts to precise tolerances. We subsequently installed the custom pumps, each weighing between 68-79 tons. Under separate contracts, Barnard constructed the large-diameter discharge aqueducts that deliver water from the pumping station to SNWA's existing water conveyance infrastructure and an electrical substation that powers the pumping station. All work was completed on time and below budget, with SNWA activating the pumps for the first time in April 2020.