Creating a Sustainable Utility - A Glimpse into MDWASD’s CMOM Program

The Miami-Dade Water and Sewer Department (MDWASD) is the largest water and sewer utility in US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Region 4 and serves nearly 2.3 million residents and tens of thousands of visitors on a daily basis. The collection system totals nearly 6,300 miles of pipelines, 1,038 pump stations and three regional wastewater treatment plants.MDWASD has been under enforcement action by the EPA and the Florida Department of Environmental Protection (FDEP) since 1994 with the recording of a series of Consent Decrees. The earliest actions required replacement of a 72-inch raw sewage force main under Biscayne Bay immediately followed by requirements to implement measures to control sanitary sewer overflows (SSOs) including Capacity, Management, Operations and Maintenance (CMOM) Programs and projects providing additional capacity to manage wastewater flows. The latest Consent Decree recorded in April 2014 contains a 15-year compliance period including preparation of new CMOM Programs to more effectively address sanitary sewer overflows (SSOs), improve systems performance and supplement the existing CMOM Programs. Compliance with these Consent Decree provisions will put MDWASD on track for establishing a sustainable wastewater utility.All required CMOM Programs have been submitted to EPA/FDEP, to date, for comment and approval; none have been approved as of the date of publication of this presentation. Each Program includes ambitious performance indicators that are designed to better control SSOs with their achievement.Retirement of a number of staff members will be faced within the next 5 years which coincides with the period of implementation of the respective CMOM Programs. These employees possess the majority of leadership positions, experience, and institutional knowledge within the organization. The staffing and funding plans within the CMOM Programs address work force succession and development. Implementation of the CMOM Programs will provide for capture, communication, and memorializing of institutional knowledge regarding operations and maintenance of the wastewater collection, transmission and treatment through a series of standard operating procedures, standard management procedures and standard maintenance procedures vital to creating a sustainable utility.This presentation will not only discuss how the new CMOM Programs will fulfill requirements of the latest Consent Decree, but how they provide the framework of a sustainable utility.