A GIS-based Application to Manage Your Utility's Capacity Assurance Plan

In February 2005, the Knoxville Utilities Board (KUB) entered a Consent Decree with the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. KUB was required to develop a program that manages new development against the available sewer capacity in the system. As part of the Consent Decree, KUB developed a Capacity Assurance Program (CAP) that describes a process for managing their capacity issues while at the same time ensuring that new development is not precluded from occurring. The proposed program includes a system of credits that are applied and consumed as repairs are made to the system and building permits are approved.To help KUB staff understand how permitted and/or proposed development will impact their system capacity and/or available credits, they developed a geographic information system (GIS)-based program to help with their analyses. The system allows users to develop scenarios with assumed or probable increases in the flow to the system and visually determine how the approved or proposed development will impact capacity. When capacity is not available, the system helps the user determine how credits could be applied in lieu of existing capacity. By tracking available capacity and credits anticipated, KUB can better plan for new development and meet the criteria of the Consent Decree.