ERMUSR Misc 05-10-2007 - Laserfiche WebLink

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Impediments to Local Action -~ on Water Infrastructure -Views from local elected officials, "Water. is out of sight, so political-payback is low ...other public works projects have more visibility'and therefore get more support." .~; "Even though water utilities are enterprise~fands, they still compete 'with general fund activities inthe public's mind-it all looks the same ...~ ,. -: to them; all payments are coming out of the same pocket ultimately." "'Quality-of-Irfe projects tike recreation programs, parks, and libraries have higher priority; and the public fails to make the linkage .between safe water and hovv it supports other quality-of-life projects..; . ° _. ` "Schools, streets, and public safety always come first." "The greatest impedimentto action on infrastructure issues is the invisibility of the system." "We have to educate people and combat the perception that water system improvements will promote sprawl." "The greatest impedimentto action on our part is fear that rates will exceed the public's willingness to pay. The greatest impedimentto action [and] support in the community is water's low profile." Source: Water Infrastructure at a Turning Point: The Road to Sustainable Asset Mahagement, AWWA, 2006. The wear-out/service deterioration process can be actively managed to extend pipe life by efficiently respond- ing to main breaks and by intervening with maintenance actions to arrest structural decay. In some instances, rehabilitation investment can be sub- stituted for replacement investment to extend pipe life by remediating nonstructural performance issues such as adequate pressure and acceptable taste, odor, color; and microbial safety. THE VALUE OF ASSET LIFE Pipes are not a "simple" asset because of the complex way in which they wear out at varying rates over time. This complexity is coupled with the inherent difficulty of assessing and tracking this wear-out process when the assets are buried from view. The importance of these complexi- ties becomes magnified because pipes constitute such a high proportion of the replacement value of a water sys- tem's assets. A utility that falls behind in pipe reinvestment will find it very diffi- cult to catch up. On the other hand, a utility that replaces pipes too early may lose an enormous amount of the remaining value of these expensive assets. There is a lot at stake in deter- mining the right rate of reinvestment. Consequently, it is critical ro have an asset management process that seeks to understand and proactively man- age the rate at which pipes wear out in concert with a logical, rargeted reinvestment program. Originally, water utility pipe net- works were financed through the repeated waves of population and resultant economic growth, reflect- ing atremendous store of value. In a city with half a million people, the cost to replace the water pipes might amount to $1 billion. Today, some cities have lost as much as a third of the population they had at their peak. Apile-up of replacement needs, as implied in Figure 2, can present significant financial risk to a utility if these previously stag- gered investments must be repeated simultaneously, without correlation to the current economic conditions for that community. There is a potential catastrophe in the making if this large wave of invest- mentneeds is not recognized and acted on in advance. A community that allows this wave to overtake its water utility without a proactive strategy will be inundated by it. Another essential message re- garding the ramp-up phase is that with few exceptions ramping up can extend over decades. This allows time to build knowledge of asset life ex- pectancy and an ability to increase asset life through maintenance, tar- geted rehabilitation, and develop- ment of new and/or less expensive technologies. Fortunately, there is time to reduce the uncertainty, flatten the ramp, and ensure that commu- nities derive maximum value from these essential public assets. RESOLVING THE CRISIS Utilities face a real infrastructure crisis-a turning point that requires decisive action. The crisis is the result of subtle phenomena and involves many invisible assets. Consequently, the opportunity to take timely action could be missed. This risk is amplified