Water Resources Group

What Water Resources Group does

Water Resources Group is a privately held holding company headquartered in Deerwood, Minnesota that provides leadership and resources to a family of self-performing water and wastewater infrastructure construction companies. Through its two primary subsidiaries, Rice Lake Construction Group (30+ years of experience, 80+ water treatment plants and 200+ wastewater treatment plants completed, over $892 million in project value across the upper Midwest and West Coast) and Rice Lake West (founded 1997, safety/quality/schedule/budget-driven delivery), the group delivers water and wastewater treatment plant construction for municipal utilities, government entities, and industrial and commercial clients.

The core technology is physical civil/mechanical construction of water and wastewater treatment infrastructure using a self-performing labor model with collaborative project delivery methods (e.g., construction manager at risk, design-build). Revenue is generated on a project-by-project basis via competitive bidding and negotiated contracts awarded by public-sector owners and enterprise clients; pricing is not publicly disclosed and reflects project scope, complexity, and specifications. The distribution model is direct enterprise field sales to municipal water utilities, government agencies, and industrial/commercial customers, with no third-party resellers or channel intermediaries.

Ownership and governance are concentrated in CEO/Chairman Luke T. Spalj, a registered Professional Engineer and Michigan Tech civil engineering graduate who previously led the telecommunications and specialty services division at Quanta Services (NYSE: PWR) and chaired Rice Lake Construction Group from 2004 to 2017 before assuming the CEO role at Water Resources Group in 2017. The company has 101-250 employees, no disclosed funding rounds, no institutional investors, and no public-market listing; its primary operating geographies are the upper Midwest and West Coast of the United States.

Name

Water Resources Group

Legal name

Water Resources Group

Website

https://wrgroup.us

Company type

Private

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

101–250 employees

Short description

Water Resources Group is a Deerwood, Minnesota-based holding company that provides leadership and resources to a family of self-performing water and wastewater infrastructure construction subsidiaries, including Rice Lake Construction Group and Rice Lake West, serving municipal utilities, government agencies, and industrial and commercial clients across the upper Midwest and West Coast United States.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Water and Wastewater Infrastructure Construction

NAICS

Water, Sewage and Other Systems (2213)

SIC

Water, Sewer, Pipeline, Comm & Power Line Construction (1623)

akta.pro primary industry

Water Treatment Plant Construction (Drinking Water) (IMAFAGAA)

akta.pro secondary industries

Water & Wastewater Infrastructure Asset Management (EUAEAMAH), Water Supply & Wastewater Utilities Administration (BPAIACAG)

Keywords

• Water infrastructure construction
• Wastewater treatment construction
• Underground utility construction
• Municipal water services
• Water well drilling

Headquarters

HQ city

Deerwood

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Operations, Supply Chain, Infrastructure, Marketing or Sales

Revenue model

1. Infrastructure Construction Services: Revenue is generated through construction project delivery for water treatment and wastewater treatment facilities. Projects are delivered through self-performing construction methods, with the company serving as the primary contractor executing water infrastructure projects. Revenue is project-based and one-time per contract, with potential for follow-on maintenance or new project awards from satisfied clients.

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels1 record

Marketing channels1 record

Core offering

Water Resources Group is a holding company that provides leadership and resources to construction subsidiaries performing underground utility and treatment plant construction for the water and wastewater sector. Through its operating companies, it self-performs water wells, water and wastewater treatment plants, pumping stations, water mains, sanitary and storm sewers, lift stations, pond liners, directional boring, and hydro excavation for municipalities, government agencies, and commercial/industrial clients.

Product overview

Water Resources Group is a holding company that provides leadership and resources to a family of water and wastewater construction companies. The group operates through two primary sub-brands: Rice Lake Construction Group, which has over 30 years of experience building water and wastewater treatment facilities (80+ water treatment plants, 200+ wastewater treatment plants, $892M+ in projects), and Rice Lake West, which focuses on construction delivery emphasizing safety, quality, schedule, and budget. The collective mission is to be a national leading self-performing water contractor serving industrial, commercial, and utility markets through collaborative delivery methods.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• Water and Wastewater Treatment Plant Construction Design-build construction of water and wastewater treatment plants for municipalities, government agencies, and commercial/industrial clients, delivered through self-performed multi-trade crews.
• Underground Utility Construction Installation and replacement of water mains, sanitary sewers, storm sewers, and lift stations for municipal and private-sector clients.
• Water Well Drilling Services Drilling of water wells for municipal and commercial water supply, supported by in-house hydrogeology expertise.
• Pumping Station Construction Construction of pumping stations for water and wastewater conveyance projects serving municipalities and industrial customers.
• Directional Boring and Trenchless Installation Trenchless installation of underground utilities using directional boring to minimize surface disruption for municipal, commercial, and industrial projects.
• Hydro Excavation Services Hydro excavation services for safe, non-destructive digging and exposure of underground utilities in support of construction and maintenance projects.
• Pond Liner Installation Installation of pond liners for water containment, wastewater treatment, and related environmental infrastructure projects.

Named customers3 records

Segments3 records

Ideal customer profiles2 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Partnerships

Two partnerships are on record, tiered core.

• Rice Lake ConstructioncoreOthersRice Lake Construction is a subsidiary of Water Resources Group. For over 30 years, they have built water and wastewater treatment structures and facilities. The company has completed nationally recognized work including more than 80 water treatment plants and 200 wastewater treatment plants, totaling over $892 million in water treatment projects in the upper Midwest and West Coast of the United States.
• Rice Lake WestcoreOthersRice Lake West, founded in 1997, is a subsidiary of Water Resources Group. The company follows the philosophy that commitment to Safety, Quality, Schedule, and Budget establishes them as a preferred contractor. They deliver projects on schedule with quality meeting or exceeding owner expectations.

Scale indicators3 records

Recent moves5 records

Expansion highlights4 records

Broad incumbents

• AECOM: AECOM's construction services division builds large water and wastewater treatment plants as a general contractor with self-perform capabilities, broadly comparable to WRG's specialty contractor model but operating globally across multiple infrastructure end markets.
• MasTec: MasTec is a large publicly traded infrastructure construction firm whose oil and gas, power, and clean water and wastewater segments include water treatment plant construction comparable to WRG's services, though MasTec operates at much greater national scale.
• Quanta Services: Quanta Services is the largest US infrastructure services firm and the company that acquired WRG CEO Luke Spalj's former family business. Its pipeline and infrastructure services unit overlaps with WRG's water/wastewater construction focus, though Quanta operates at national scale across energy and telecom.
• Primoris Services Corporation: Primoris is a publicly traded infrastructure services company with utility-scale water and pipeline construction capabilities overlapping WRG's municipal water/wastewater focus, while also serving energy and civil markets.
• Granite Construction: Granite Construction is a publicly traded heavy civil contractor with significant water resources and treatment plant work in the western US, comparable to WRG's footprint and project types but operating at substantially larger scale.

Direct peers

• Flatiron Construction: Flatiron is a heavy civil contractor with a dedicated water infrastructure group building treatment plants, pipelines, and pump stations across the western US and beyond — directly comparable to WRG's Rice Lake Construction subsidiary.
• Sundt Construction: Sundt is an employee-owned heavy civil and industrial contractor with a dedicated water and wastewater treatment plant practice, making it a directly comparable self-performing water contractor serving similar municipal and industrial clients.
• Garney Construction: Garney is one of the largest privately held US contractors specializing in water and wastewater treatment plant construction, pipeline installation, and collaborative delivery — directly comparable to Water Resources Group's core self-performing water contractor model.

Emerging players

• Sterling Infrastructure: Sterling Infrastructure operates an E-infrastructure and transportation solutions group with water and wastewater treatment plant work that is comparable in scope to WRG's projects, though Sterling is more diversified across foundations and building services.
• Orion Group Holdings: Orion Group Holdings provides heavy civil marine and specialty construction including water and wastewater infrastructure projects, with self-perform delivery similar to WRG, though Orion's marine focus differentiates it from WRG's land-based water treatment specialization.

Market position

Strengths4 records

Weaknesses4 records

Competitive moat4 records

Key risks5 records

Key highlights6 records

Customer concentration

• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/water-resources-group

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles1 record

Subsidiaries2 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about Water Resources Group