California’s San Diego County Water Authority is launching the fourth and final phase of its $1-billion Emergency Storage Project, which will provide a six-month supply of locally stored water to protect against disruption of its supply by earthquake or drought. Up to 90% of the county’s supply travels hundreds of miles from northern California and the Colorado River. MWH, Broomfield, Colo., is designing the $500-million project to raise San Vicente Dam from 220 ft to 337 ft with roller-compacted concrete. Another joint venture of Parsons Corp. and Black & Veatch has won a contract for design and constructibility reviews and construction management. Construction will begin in late 2009. The owner says it is the largest RCC dam raise in the world.