Vallejo Sanitation and Flood Control District – Using Asset Management for Better Infrastructure Decision Making

The objective of the Vallejo Sanitation and Flood Control District (District) Asset Management Program is to implement asset management best practices for investment and management decision making, appropriate for the District. The ultimate goal is to optimize reinvesting in the life cycle of the District’s infrastructure by understanding and continuously delivering levels of service to customers and stake holders while balancing the tradeoffs between cost of service and risk of asset failure.The approach is based on the US EPA’s Sustainable Asset Management Framework which uses a 10 step process to answer five core questions all infrastructure managers should be able to answer:What is the current state of our assets?What are our performance requirements and levels of service?Which assets are critical to sustaining performance and pose the greatest risk to the District?What are our best capital and O&M investment strategies?What is our best long term funding plan?Phase 1 of the work is focused on developing an asset management framework and implementation plan. The initial phase also includes the development of a pilot asset management plan around the solids processing facility at the District’s wastewater treatment plant. Subsequent phases will use the framework and experience from the pilot, which will be applied to the rest of the plant, pump stations, and sewer and stormwater infrastructure.It is important to note that the approach is focused on implementing a strategy that will be sustainable within the District. To achieve this, the District will use the following three guiding principles:“Fit-for-Purpose” - Make sure that approach for the District is appropriate and does not implement a “one size fits all” infrastructure management framework.GHD and District Staff will work collaboratively in developing the best appropriate implementation strategy to efficiently leverage existing work and knowledge.Develop the program so that asset management knowledge is transferred from GHD’s experienced asset management implementors to the District staff throughout the project.This manuscript presents the results of Phase 1, including the following:Development of an asset management strategy and implementation plan.Asset inventory and register development considerations.How the District is using condition assessment protocols to estimate remaining life.How risk is being used to prioritize needs and how tolerable risk is being considered in the decision making framework.How Management Strategy Groups are being used as a basis to model “what-if” scenarios for different capital, operational and maintenance management strategies.Content and structure of the Pilot Asset Management Plan that has been developed as “fit-for-purpose” for the District.Needs and associated future investment requirements identified using Decision Support System (DSS) analysis; and,Lessons learned (business improvement projects) and next steps.