Tools and Resources

The Clean Water and Drinking Water Gap Analysis documents the funding shortfall in water and sewer systems. We talk as if this "gap" is going to hit us some time in the future and we need to start getting prepared someday.

The funding shortfall is hitting us now.

That is why, as a result of nearly every rate analysis I do, systems discover they need to raise their rates 20 to 45 percent and then begin inflationary increases each year after that. That sounds tough and systems are proceeding as if it is tough, but it's really not if you do it right. This article describes important aspects of good rate setting.

Systems that serve you, that you work for or that are members of your organization need to get their rates analyzed and raised quickly to avoid serious hardships soon. This issue of On-Tap magazine http://www.nesc.wvu.edu/ndwc/articles/OT/SU06/OT_06_SU_web.pdf has a nice article on asset management. On page 38 is an article I wrote that describes why we are NOT getting our rates analyzed.  Visit http://www.epa.gov/safewater/gapreport.pdf for EPA's funding gap report.

Small utilities should adopt advanced asset management strategies like these.

Use this equipment replacement scheduling template to figure out what, when and at what cost your equipment needs to be replaced. If I'm doing your rate analysis, simply e-mail the completed schedule to me and I will plug it into your analysis quickly and accurately.

Asset Management Goes Country is an article about how small and rural systems can adopt advanced asset management strategies. Underground Infrastructure Management magazine allowed me to make it accessible here.

This financial statement template includes calculations for operating ratio, coverage ratio and affordability index. You may want to use it as the model for your future income and expense statements because these ratios will help your decision-makers protect the financial health of your system. As long as you place incomes and expenses in the correct sections of the template the ratios will calculate correctly for you. To use it as a rate setting tool you need to have done a comprehensive rate analysis that is still fairly accurate.

View the Bonne Terre, MO analysis to see my typical analysis report. Also look at the Hill City, SD analysis and  the Pine Haven, WY analysis to learn more about the process and its effects on communities.

I do risk-adjusted return on investment (RAROI) calculations and decision assistance as a service. That helps systems decide if they should get their rates analyzed, if they should replace old electric motors with energy efficient motors and the like. You may want to use this example RAROI as a guide. More on this methodology is available in my article Deciding Who Should do What.

A Guide to Asset Management for Small Water Systems is produced by the National Environmental Services Center. Visit http://www.nesc.wvu.edu/netcsc/netcsc_tresource.htm.

For a more thorough and technical treatment of AAM get the manual Managing Public Infrastructure Assets ($45) from the National Association of Clean Water Agencies at  http://www.amsa-cleanwater.org/pubs/publist.cfm.

For the Cadilac of AAM manuals, get the International Infrastructure Management Manual ($360) from the Association of Local Government Engineering NZ Inc. http://www.ingenium.org.nz/publications.htm.

This methodology will help you get the right help in developing an asset management program, doing rate analysis and similar specialized tasks.

EPA has many guides. Visit http://www.epa.gov/owm/ and do a search for “asset management.” In addition, visit http://www.epa.gov/water/infrastructure/pdf/final_ratesetting_guide.pdf for a basic rate setting guide.

Total Electronic Asset Management System (TEAMS), is a public domain asset management spreadsheet program produced by the Maryland Center for Environmental Training. It is rather complex to load but it could be useful to medium and large systems. Visit http://www.mcet.org/

There are two Show-me Ratemaker programs, one for water and one for sewer. They are public domain and distributed by the National Drinking Water Clearinghouse. In addition, Missouri DNR has rate setting tools that Missouri systems probably should use if they received or soon hope to get funding from that agency. Visit http://www.dnr.mo.gov/env/wpp/srf/srf-app_guid.htm for those tools.

Plan2Fund, RateCheckup and other asset management and rate analysis programs are produced by the Boise Environmental Finance Center. Visit http://sspa.boisestate.edu/efc/

The Environmental Training Institute is conducted at the end of July each year. Last year the Institute included an asset management track of 3 1/2 days. Visit http://www.nesc.wvu.edu/nesc/institute.htm to learn more.

Visit the Drinking Water Clearinghouse at http://www.nesc.wvu.edu/ndwc/ndwc_index.htm for thousands of helpful technical bulletins, guides, magazines and more. Most are free.

Underground Infrastructure Management magazine http://www.freetrademagazinesource.com/166-2048825299/description.aspx is a very good source for asset management information.

Visit the Asset Management Source for North America (AMSNA) at http://www.amsna.org/ for resources, Webcasts and more.

Sustainability is described and techniques and tools provided on the Sustainable Infrastructure for the 21st Century Website at http://www.epa.gov/water/infrastructure/.

These workshop overhead slides for a Missouri rate setting workshop and for the AMSNA Asset Management Webcast will show you some of the key notions I teach in these two types of workshops.

Best regards,

Carl