Advancing vital flood risk management, levee modernization, and community safety initiatives across California’s Central Coast, MGE Engineering Inc. has been awarded a $10,188,308 firm-fixed-price contract. The civil works design award finances engineering services for the levee and floodwall design of Reaches 2 and 3 along the Pajaro River in Watsonville, California, reaching a total cumulative face value of $11,707,286 if all options are exercised.
Contract Details: At A Glance
| Contractor: | MGE Engineering Inc. |
| Award Date: | August 25, 2026 |
| Contract Value: | $10,188,308 ($11,707,286 Cumulative Face Value) |
| Project: | Pajaro River Levee & Floodwall Design (Reaches 2 & 3) |
| Location: | Watsonville, California (Pajaro River Basin) |
| Contract Number: | W912P7-26-C-A023 |
| Awarding District: | U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, San Francisco District |
District Context & Mission Impact
This long-awaited flood protection design project is administered by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers San Francisco District. The San Francisco District manages multi-purpose civil works, navigation maintenance, environmental restoration, and flood damage reduction programs across Northern California coastal watersheds. The Pajaro River Basin, surrounding Watsonville and agricultural communities in Monterey and Santa Cruz counties, has historically suffered severe inundation during extreme Pacific winter storms. Existing legacy earth levees require extensive structural upgrades, height extensions, and reinforced floodwalls to withstand 100-year flood events. Finalizing engineering designs for Reaches 2 and 3 provides the critical technical foundation needed to construct modernized levee embankments, concrete floodwalls, and seepage barriers, protecting disadvantaged agricultural communities and high-value cropland through 2031.
Contractor Spotlight & Industry Context
Headquartered in Sacramento, California, MGE Engineering Inc. is a specialized civil, structural, and geotechnical engineering firm with deep experience in transportation infrastructure, flood control systems, bridge design, and water resources engineering. Bids were solicited via the internet with five competitive proposals received. Designing major riverine floodwalls and levee improvements requires complex hydrologic modeling, geotechnical stability analyses, seepage controls, environmental impact mitigation, and extensive coordination with regional water agencies and local stakeholders. Public-private engineering partnerships remain essential to accelerating flood resilience projects and protecting vulnerable coastal communities against climate-driven flood risks.
