Integrating Asset Management Principles to Stormwater Management: A Risk-Based Approach to Management of Stormwater Assets

While water and wastewater systems typically have dedicated funding sources to address system issues, identifying and choosing the most cost-effective approach to stormwater management can be a struggle. Risk-based asset management is quickly becoming a preferred business process for municipalities and Departments of Transportation (DOTs). It helps prioritize capital investments throughout a stormwater system and meet service and performance expectations of customers and regulators while protecting the environment and ensuring public safety.This paper reviews asset management evaluations for both transportation and Municipal Separate Storm Sewer System (MS4) related projects, including case studies for risk-based projects performed for Washington DC and Chesterfield County, Virginia. A risk-based approach to stormwater system asset management can help communities and agencies inventory their assets, determine the current physical state and performance capabilities of each asset, establish its probability of failure and its consequence of failure, and lead to a cost-effective prioritization of future capital investments.