Your article "San Diego Sets Out Welcome Mat for Job-Hungry Contractors" left the impression that our local contractors are unable to handle the local workload (ENR 02/10 p. 17). Nothing could be further from the truth. You report that the City of San Diego is planning on replacing 60 miles of water pipeline per year. At a recent meeting, one local contractor stated that were he to choose to bid city projects he could complete over 100 miles of pipeline per year. Clearly the problem, since at least partially solved, was not a lack of contractors, but a lack of those willing to bid city work.