Title
Drinking Water Utility Infrastructure Renewal and Replacement Cost Forecast
Recommended Action
Receive a briefing on the Drinking Water Utility's evaluation of the renewal and replacement costs for its infrastructure.
Report
Issue:
Receive a briefing on the Drinking Water Utility's evaluation of the renewal and replacement costs for its infrastructure.
Staff Contact:
Eric Christensen, Water Resources Director, Public Works Water Resources, 360.570.3741
Presenters:
Eric Christensen
Background and Analysis:
Water utility assets are critical to public health, safety, and the vitality of our community. According to a 2012 report by the American Water Works Association (AWWA), the United States alone must spend $1 trillion over the next 25 years to keep pace with updating aging infrastructure and meeting the demands of a growing population. The water, wastewater and stormwater systems that serve the City of Olympia have worked around the clock for over 100 years. The continued vitality and resiliency of our City relies on this infrastructure.
Delivery of high-quality drinking water and fire protection water has become an "invisible service" often taken for granted because, in our community, water is both reliable and affordable. Other public services (education, public safety, road repairs) garner more attention (and therefore funding) from the public due to their more visible nature.
Development of an asset management plan to provide an economic forecast for the renewal and replacement of utility infrastructure is the responsible thing to do. All of the Water Resources utilities have been working toward this goal. One of the first places to start with managing assets is to know what assets are owned by the utility and what condition they are in - their current state.
In approximately 2008, the City began migrating its utility mapping to a Geographic Information System (GIS) framework. GIS allowed us to attach data (installation dates, material t...
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