water and sewer authority of cabarrus ......the ghd team was contracted to develop a new master plan...

Water and Sewer Authority of Cabarrus County-Integrating Asset Management and Master Planning to Assess Future Investment Needs

WATER AND SEWER AUTHORITY OF CABARRUS COUNTY – INTEGRATING ASSET MANAGEMENT AND MASTER PLANNING TO

ASSESS FUTURE INVESTMENT NEEDS

Crystal McNeely, MPA1, John McLaughlin, P.E.1*, Tim Kiser, P.E2,

1 GHD Inc., Charlotte, North Carolina

2 Water and Sewer Authority of Cabarrus County (WSACC), Concord, North Carolina

*Email: [email protected]

ABSTRACT

Integrating the traditional master plan with that of asset management was the approach chosen by Water and Sewer Authority of Cabarrus County (WSACC) to assess future investment needs. The Master Plan provides understanding of capacity, regulatory and demand issues faced by an organization, while looking for improvements and understanding long-range impacts. WSACC’s plan illustrates a 20 year horizon, incorporating changes for water and wastewater services provided to the growing region, not only in the transmission and treatment areas but raw/finished water management and water reuse areas.

Asset Management is a strategic and systematic application of management practices applied to infrastructure assets. This project allowed for an introduction of alternative, or new techniques to assist in sustaining infrastructure at all levels managed while allowing for reliable and effective delivery of services to WSACC’s customers.

This paper will discuss approaches taken to complete both the asset management and master plan, while keeping the focus of planning for capital improvement programs and future investment needs.

KEY WORDS: Master planning, asset management, strategic planning, WSACC, infrastructure, capital

improvement, future investment needs

INTRODUCTION

Ever been pulled in multiple directions while trying to focus on the priorities of operating a utility system? Notification that infrastructure assets are failing, customers are complaining because of the lack of service received, while needing to focus on future growth demands all at the same time. STOP!...THINK!… and … PLAN! for the future of the utility system while considering the long term investment needs.

Budget constraints are hampering the efforts of service providers across the US who must be able to do more with less. In addition, there is a need to demonstrate more prudent use of taxpayer dollars. The cost associated with operations and maintenance of existing utility systems and the creation of new facilities to serve new areas demand a new approach to system planning and identification of priorities.

This paper will explain how the methodologies of traditional engineer master plan and asset management were brought together in one project to assist the Water and Sewer Authority of Cabarrus County (WSACC) with planning for capital improvement program and future investment needs.


BACKGROUND

Water and Sewer Authority of Cabarrus County (WSACC) was formed in 1992 as a wholesale provider of wastewater, and some water services to Cabarrus County. Cabarrus County, NC is located approximately 25 minutes east of Charlotte, NC along interstate 85. This area is also known for great shopping and its love for NASCAR. WSACC is governed by a nine member board, with appointed members from five separate municipal jurisdictions, which consist of the City of Concord, City of Kannapolis, Town of Harrisburg, Town of Mount Pleasant and Cabarrus County; and Town of Midland by extension through the City of Concord. WSACC provides services to these five jurisdictions, as well as to the Charlotte-Mecklenburg Utility Department.

WSACC has undertaken two previous system wide master planning efforts, the most recent being approximately ten years old. The GHD team was contracted to develop a new master plan with a 20-year planning horizon, which will incorporate needed changes to WSACC’s wholesale water and wastewater services for Cabarrus County and the overall region, not only in the transmission/treatment areas, but also in the overall raw/finished water management and water reuse areas.

METHODOLOGY

The Water and Sewer Authority of Cabarrus County (WSACC) developed the FY 2012-2013 Master Plan (Master Plan) to guide future investment in regionally significant water and sewer infrastructure. The team of consultants was led by GHD and included LandDesign, Noell Consulting Group, and Willis Engineers (Project Team). The Master Plan was meant to determine major utility infrastructure needs in Cabarrus County and a portion of Rowan County between 2013 and the plan horizon year of 2040. The project team was responsible for –

Forecasted water and sewer demand for the service area; which was based on an analysis of existing conditions;

Development of growth forecasting model;

Development of future water demand forecast;

Developing an understanding of capacity upgrades for WSACC Plants; and

Develop Asset Management Plan and Capital Improvement List that incorporated Project Summaries.

Each of the task listed above were carried out with various worksessions, site visits and meetings amongst the jurisdictions and WSACC staff. Many of the meetings were with the jurisdictions to discuss land use plans, zoning, annexation policies, and to obtain buy in from staff on the work that was developed and being used within the master plan. Other meetings included one-on-one discussions with WSACC staff to understand the assets that they owned, maintained and operated on a daily basis. Additional meetings with WSACC staff were held to acquire an understanding of their future needs and issues that they face.

The overall project was an innovative approach to get both WSACC and jurisdictional members working together to plan for the future of their system and services provided/received.

Municipal Utility Service Area Demographic Projections

Lead by LandDesign and assisted by Noell Consulting Group, the project team began to look at future population and employment growth amongst the seven jurisdictional members of the area serviced by WSACC, the project team was tasked with providing long-term demand projections for commercial and industrial space and various residential products for each of the seven service districts in the service area. The projections were provided through 2040 in five year increments and placed within the growth model discussed below. The projections were used to identify near and long term needs for new water and sewer service in each district, as well as the overall county.

The demographic projections take into consideration future analysis of employment and housing growth data and trends.


Employment Growth

LandDesign and Noell Consulting Group began its projections process with an analysis of employment growth, which drives household and housing growth in Cabarrus County and in the Charlotte, North Carolina region. The list below identifies the steps taken to determine project growth by type and district within the study area and identify the housing demand by residential product type that this employment growth is projected to generate. The bullets below are the specific steps taken to get data needed:

Obtain historic and projected employment growth type for Cabarrus county and the larger Charlotte Metro Area from Mood’s Analytics/Economy.com

Cabarrus county employment growth trends were compared to the larger region’s to understand which industries fueled the greatest growth in the county and which job types located elsewhere in the region.

o Growth trends were examined to understand trends and growth captures in the county; o Investigated long term growth projections for both areas, understanding which industries are

anticipated to provide the greatest growth in the county and how those trends compare to historic trends;

o Investigate planned public and private investments in the county, including those that could influence employment growth overall as well as a particular type of employment.

Project team examined historic growth trends in the county by each of the seven districts utilizing the US Census Map;

Examined detailed components of industry growth at the county level;

Projected employment growth for each of the seven districts, utilizing historic growth factors, and known planned investments in the coming years that may influence growth trends;

Square feet per employee ratios were utilized for each industry type based on the national standards and team experience; and

Finally, the team factored in vacancy rates by land use type using regional norms and assumptions for relatively healthy real estate markets.

These factors led the team to obtaining the following employment projections through 2040, which are located in Table 1.

Table 1 – Summary of Employee Projections (Through 2040)

Figure 1 illustrates the percentage of jobs that came within the area during 2010 and provides a projection of what type of employment growth could come to the county during 2012-2040.


Figure 1 – Locations of Jobs and Key Industry Job Growth in Cabarrus County

The project team also took into consideration the future housing growth demands and how this would play a role into future system needs.

Housing Growth

It is known that both the demographic and housing growth in the Charlotte region and Cabarrus County are largely driven by employment growth, thus Noell Consulting and LandDesign used the employment growth projections in both areas to project housing demand in the county. The list below identifies the steps taken to complete the housing growth assessment of the project –

Examined historic relationships between household growth in the county and employment growth in the county, and compare those trends to those occurring in the larger region.

Specific employment growth events were understood that could influence these relationships and were factored into our analyses;

Established employment to household ratios for the county going forward between 2012 and 2040, measuring this household growth by five year increments;

US Census data from 2000 to 2010 was then utilized to understand the types of household growth occurring in the county and the types of housing unit growth;

Utilized internal household growth model that incorporates household growth totals as identified in the third bullet above as well as household characteristics to estimate long term household growth

Proprietary consumer research was combined with historic demonstrated demand to estimate housing demand by product type through 2040;

Utilized US Census data by Census Tract and aggregated this data up to each of the districts involved in the project

Employment growth projects, vacant land supply, historic growth trends, and planned public and private investments were then utilized to provide growth estimates by district by time period by product type for the time period examined.

Examined growth in bordering areas to understand compositions of that growth and the likely changes to impact area of study; and

Finally, the team factored in reasonable vacancy rates by using housing unit type to estimate projected housing demand by product type, by district and by time period.

Based on the steps taken to complete the housing analysis, the project team obtained the following projections for housing growth through 2040, table 2 illustrates our results.

Table 2 – Summary of Housing Unit Projections (Through 2040)


Figure 2 below illustrates a percentage of housing growth that could be considered through 2040 for each jurisdiction that participated in the WSACC project.

Figure 2 – All Residential Units by District (2012-2040)

Growth Model Documentation

The WSACC Growth model was developed by LandDesign once the current usage trends were determined and understood. The WSACC Growth Model is a parcel-based forecasting model developed with Geographic Information System (GIS) datasets and software. The Model creates disaggregate dwelling unit and employment forecasts by determining the probable distribution of future housing units and employment locations based on currently adopted land use policy regulations and suitability of available land.

The Model is made up of four components: municipal utility service area projections, the available land supply, generalized future land use, and the land use suitability analysis. Each component is made up of a set of assumptions that influence the distribution of future growth.

Figure 3 below illustrates the four components used as part of CommunityViz software. CommunityViz was used during the project to help in developing the growth model that was adopted as part of this project and will continue to be used by WSACC and its member jurisdictions.


Figure 3 – Growth Model Illustration

The Model components were developed over a 10-month period with regular input from a technical team of stakeholders, comprised of representatives of WSACC member jurisdictions (Cabarrus County, City of Concord, Town of Harrisburg, City of Kannapolis, Town of Midland, and Town of Mount Pleasant).

As part of the outcome for the model, the following maps were created to explain future household and employment growth distribution, as well as new water demand forecast.

Figure 4 – Future Household and Employment Growth Distribution


Figure 5 – New Water Demand Forecasted for (2013-2040)

Future Water Demand Forecast

A major component of this Master Plan for WSACC was to obtain an analysis of the water use throughout the County, both in support of wastewater facility planning to better understand the adequacy of the water supplies for residents of the County; this task was completed by Willis Engineers.

Although the area has experienced a significant decline in residential growth over the past decade, bringing into question the previous projections of future demand, growth in Cabarrus County is returning. The evaluation of water supplies was conducted as part of the analysis and included a mass balance type simulation of the reservoirs owned and operated by WSACC and the member jurisdictions. The demand projections used included an evaluation of current water use patterns by land use type and an extensive parcel based growth projection model.

The water system data included a summary of the monthly water production for each jurisdiction in the County. The water production has included treatment of surface water, pumped groundwater and water purchased from others. These flow values were adjusted such that they reflect the actual amount of water sold by the individual jurisdictions for sale to their customers.

Each jurisdiction also provided metered water sales data that included the actual water meter readings from each customer over a period of 10 years if available. The data was analyzed to determine the actual amount of water sold by the jurisdiction in each month. Due to the variable accounting schedules of the jurisdictions, the monthly metered water sales data does not necessarily match the calendar month; therefore, some variation between water production and water sales is expected. The two data sets were then compared to determine how much of the water pumped by the individual jurisdiction was actually accounted for in sales to its customers.

In addition to the water system data, WSACC provided wastewater data for each of its monitoring stations and total wastewater flows received at the treatment plans. A similar analysis was performed by the team whereby it evaluated the wastewater flow data in an effort to determine how much of the water sold by the individual jurisdictions was returned to WSACC as wastewater.


Wastewater Transportation Model

While trying to understand and determine major utility infrastructure needs between 2013-2040, Willis Engineers worked to develop a Wastewater Transportation Model. The data used for the developed model was initially tabulated in an Asset Register, which was used for the development of the model and use in the development of the Capital Improvement Plan. While completing the early steps of the data collection, the team also conducted a condition assessment of the major facilities. A visual assessment was conducted while at the wastewater pumping stations. Any buried infrastructure was limited to interviews and general assessment of the condition was based on the age of the asset. This data was also used in the asset management plan, as well as the wastewater transportation model

Willis Engineers built the model to evaluate the capability to transport this wastewater from its jurisdictional customers to the treatment facilities and the basins and sub-basins. The model is a spreadsheet tool based on hydraulic analysis utilizing simplified steady state energy equations. This model also makes use of the existing flow monitoring network as a way to monitor the condition of the wastewater transportation system using actual flow data throughout the system. The analysis indicates that several infrastructure assets need improvement. Not only did the model pick up buried infrastructure that needed to be considered for future capacity improvements, it also identified infrastructure that could be considered for expanded services as well.

Figure 6 – WSACC Basins used for Sewer Model

Technical Understanding of Plant Upgrades

As other task were transforming for different parts of the project, GHD worked to help WSACC create an understanding and knowledge of future plant upgrades that are needed based on the following criteria:

Flow Projections - based on population projections and wastewater flow modeling. The team incorporated a peaking factor of 2.5 in the calculations that were delivered. The peaking factor was chosen for the future sizing criteria based on focused rehabilitation goals in the collection system to reduce inflow and infiltration in the oldest basins.

Process Analysis – project team completed an initial assessment of current hydraulic capacity and additional unit process required to meet peak flow expansion.

Potential Nutrient Limits – the project team researched and identified two treatment levels of Total Nitrogen and Total Phosphorus for WSACC treatment plants.

o Total Nitrogen – Level 1 Process – would require removal of nitrogen by providing denitrification and nitrification.

o Total Phosphorus – Level 2 Process - would be in addition to the level 1 process. This process works to lower the level of nitrogen. Additional filters are placed throughout the system to help with the overall process.

Recommendation of Projects – Once these steps were completed, project team recommended a list of projects to WSACC for future updates and improvements. It was communicated to WSACC that they needed to stay closely in touch with state regulators and legislators as to understanding the future of legislation and regulatory issues that may be addressed due to other case studies at hand.

These subtasks assisted the team in making a project list of plant upgrades to be considered by WSACC for future planning purposes.

Asset Management Plan

The asset management planning process allowed the project team to identify the need for investing in replacing WSACC assets, which will also allow for WSACC to sustain their current levels of expected service. The planning process also allows for WSACC to identify the need to invest in treating any identified risks also.


Figure 8 Asset Management Planning Process

The asset management plan was developed as part of this project to undertake a system wide planning effort that included developing updated system models, projecting future needs for services, identifying opportunities within the existing system to service new customers, identifying areas within the system that require augmentation to meet future demand and identifying asset renewal needs to rehabilitate and replace aging infrastructure.

The asset management plan also assisted WSACC in understanding the pattern of deterioration of its assets and facilitate decision making in regard to the best strategy for managing an asset throughout its lifecycle.

The asset management plan takes WSACC through a series of questions to help assess the current status of their system. Figure 7 below list the questions and sub-questions that were used with WSACC.

Figure 7 Five Core Questions of Asset Management

The asset management plan addresses the current state of assets by developing an asset register, explains how the assets were evaluated in terms of their condition and performance, how it was determined what the consequence of failure of an asset would be, and how the level of risk associated with the current condition of an asset was arrived at. Risk was used, in the context, as a driver for investment in the asset.

The plan also helps WSACC to understand levels of service and evaluating the needs to invest in an asset to ensure it remains in an appropriately functioning state, a key driver – other than the risk driver mentioned above.

At the end of the plan, WSACC received guidance on how to plan for long term funding and a list of Capital Improvement projects. In order to build a comprehensive capital improvement list for WSACC, the project team filtered the projects identified based on the criteria of capacity, permitting, operations, conditions and safety to assist with the justification for dollars spent on the operations, maintenance and renewal of their asset. The filters are further defined as follows:


Capacity – Identifies that the asset cannot provide the future level of service with projected flows.

Condition – Identifies that the asset operates sufficiently but aged or deteriorating state, requiring more than routine maintenance to keep the asset working properly.

Operations – Identifies that an asset does not have the proper redundancy for operating at the best efficiency or at a level that matches the staff needs.

Safety – Identifies that the asset is not meeting applicable safety regulations/standards.

Permitting – Identifies that the asset cannot meet future discharge permit requirements.

Figure 8 illustrates how the filters were applied to the different funding buckets that WSACC has.

Figure 8 Funding Filters

The plan does conclude with recommendations for next steps.

Each of the following tasks discussed as part of the methodology for this project assisted in providing a strategy for efficient provision of water and sewer services in the short term but through active maintenance, serve as a decision tool to effectively respond to unforeseen changes when considering the long term planning cycle of its infrastructure assets and land use pattern demands.

RESULTS

After assisting WSACC with their asset management and master plan it was discovered that there is a need to develop additional capacity, and capability, as well as to manage data and information about their systems without ongoing support from external agencies. WSACC is eager to keep this hybrid process ongoing for the future of their organization and the jurisdictions served. WSACC will use this process to tell their story, as well as have a defensible method of explaining the need for future funding to both the board and legislator request as needed.

The board was pleased with the project team’s effort in identifying 47 Capital Improvement projects, as well as providing staff with a new governing style to assist with identifying future needs of buried infrastructure and plant assets. On March 2014, the hybrid master plan and asset management plan was adopted and will continue to be incorporated into the day to day business model that WSACC operates on.

DISCUSSION AND CONCLUSION

A static master plan that addresses needs based on one point in time does not serve a community with fast paced growth; the plan often outdated soon after the plan is adopted. A typical master plan process evaluates a long term planning cycle for the organization, which is typically based on a 20 year phase. Recognizing this issue and how it could affect the future plans of WSACC and its infrastructure, WSACC created a dynamic master plan that gives depth and breathe to the work that is being completed for WSACC and its municipal jurisdictions.

At the end of the day, the hybrid approach taken by the project team allowed for a new governance style to be absorbed by WSACC staff, as well as placing the framework before them of how to take the skills, knowledge and tools used within the project to make this project a day to day living process. The practice that has been discussed here in this paper will assist WSACC staff and municipal jurisdictions understand future investments that are needed for their infrastructure, as well a planning for the development and growth of the county.

water and sewer authority of cabarrus ......the ghd team was contracted to develop a new master plan...

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