https://www.americancityandcounty.com/wp-content/themes/acc_child/assets/images/logo/footer-logo.png
  • Home
  • Co-op Solutions
  • Hybrid Work
  • Commentaries
  • News
  • In-Depth
  • Multimedia
    • Back
    • Podcast
  • Resources & Events
    • Back
    • Resources
    • Webinars
    • White Papers
    • IWCE 2022
    • How to Contribute
    • Municipal Cost Index – Archive
    • Equipment Watch Page
    • American City & County Awards
  • About Us
    • Back
    • About Us
    • Contact Us
    • Advertise
    • Privacy Statement
    • Terms of Service
American City and County
  • NEWSLETTER
  • Home
  • Co-op Solutions
  • Hybrid Work
  • Commentaries
  • News
  • In-Depth
  • Multimedia
    • Back
    • Podcasts
    • Latest videos
  • Resources/Events
    • Back
    • Webinars
    • White Papers/eBooks
    • IWCE 2022
    • How to Contribute
    • American City & County Awards
    • Municipal Cost Index
    • Equipment Watch Page
  • About Us
    • Back
    • About Us
    • Contact Us
    • Advertise
    • Cookie Policy
    • Privacy Stament
    • Terms of Service
  • newsletter
  • Administration
  • Economy & Finance
  • Procurement
  • Public Safety
  • Public Works & Utilities
  • Smart Cities & Technology
  • Magazine
acc.com

Commentaries


Commentary

How diet and exercise can help curb those infrastructure spending cravings

How diet and exercise can help curb those infrastructure spending cravings

Dan McConville, president of business solutions for MWH Global, encourages local governments to "exercise more" and "eat less" to save on infrastructure spending.
  • Written by contributor
  • 9th July 2014

By Dan McConville

It is common knowledge that diet and exercise are the keys to maintaining a healthy personal lifestyle, and those same principles can help local governments maintain a healthy bank account. For years, American cities and counties spent billions on planning, designing and building infrastructure to address growth, regulatory requirements and maintenance issues. But as the nation fell into a recession, cities and counties across the country are finding healthier approaches to address long-term needs.

Exercise more

In order to achieve better infrastructure health, leaders need to exercise their current assets to become more fit and efficient. This requires a good asset management plan based on addressing your system as a whole. If we look at water and wastewater systems, many leaders ask the utility departments to increase the efficiency of the treatment plants. But it is not enough to focus on making the treatment plant better. This is like going on an exercise program that only focuses on your arms. You need to take a fresh look at the whole system.

One mid-sized East Coast city is taking a new approach to asset management by developing implementable plans for each asset base to show a higher return on investment that ultimately benefits the whole system. Similar to an exercise program, the city is focusing on different aspects of their utility system in order to strengthen each asset base and, as a result, strengthen the whole system. For example, traditionally leaders stretch their water meters to their full life potential, believing they are saving money on replacement costs; however, over time the meters begin to provide lower usage readings leading to a lower revenue stream. City leaders implemented an asset management program to understand the meter readings and recalibrate the meters to avoid losing revenue. The city kept maintenance costs low by stretching the most out of their assets while increasing revenue by making the assets work harder.

Making better choices and eating less

So, once we have a clear exercise plan through better operations, then we have to look at how we can reduce calories by making better choices and eating less. Many of the best leaders across the country are looking to spend more effectively by wringing maximum benefit out of every dollar spent. Using an integrated planning framework (IPF) approach is one way to make sure you are making good choices. The approach is one that can be applied across a range of planning activities and ultimately aims to enhance the environmental, social and financial benefits for communities.

In 2011, one large Midwestern city pioneered the use of IPF to renegotiate a growing consent decree program totaling more than $1.8 billion. Using an IPF approach to review different system impacts and benefits, the city became the first in the U.S. to successfully modify an agreement to increase the environmental benefits of its long-term control plan for less money – ultimately saving $740 million. Following reviews of the existing long-term control plan and evaluating other infrastructure options, the city incorporated various green-for-gray infrastructure solutions, such as rain gardens and wetlands. It is well-known that green solutions provide greater environmental benefits, but by reducing the overall flow of water entering the sewer system, the city reduced the need for new gray infrastructure and ultimately lowered costs and reduced the impact to the community.

Another objective is to eat more slowly and take in fewer immediate calories. An IPF approach allows leaders to stretch spending out over a longer period of time. When IPF is done well, it lowers the costs and allows them to be structured over longer periods of time.

Recently, a large East Coast city accomplished this goal using the formal IPF process and renegotiating its $1 billion consent decree. The IPF process allowed the city to reprioritize needs and balance infrastructure investments across all systems – water, wastewater and stormwater. Through the IPF process, the city identified the immediate investment needs to address regulatory compliance issues and successfully tabled other projects until later in the schedule, ultimately reducing rate impacts for citizens. By elongating the schedule, the city could defer between $200 million and $300 million of compliance investments over the next seven years.

Conclusion

By exercising more, making better choices and eating less, leaders can help American cities and counties become healthier. Combining efficient asset management planning with the benefits of IPF sets American cities and counties on a successful course to addressing capital infrastructure needs while focusing on desired outcomes.

Dan McConville is president of business solutions for MWH Global, a strategic consulting, technical engineering and construction services firm leading the wet infrastructure sector. He joined MWH in 1994 and has served in a variety of leadership and client services roles.

_____________

To get connected and stay up-to-date with similar content from American City & County:
Like us on Facebook

Follow us on Twitter
Watch us on Youtube

Tags: Economy Public Works & Utilities Commentaries Commentary

Most Recent


  • When spending federal stimulus dollars, local governments are considering long-term, community impact
    From staffing constraints to budget shortfalls and an unprecedented pivot into the digital realm (driven by the pandemic), local governments have confronted myriad challenges over the last few years. But in this, there’s a bright spot: The federal government is investing an unprecedented amount of money into local governments. “The covid pandemic shuffled the deck […]
  • Reno, NV
    In Nevada county, data underpins efforts to address climate change
    Across the United States, cities and counties are doing their best to confront climate change in myriad ways—from bolstering seawalls to updating electrical grids and everything in between. But in order for communities to best direct their efforts and responsibly spend hard-earned taxpayer dollars, administrators need data. In Washoe County and Reno, Nev., for example, […]
  • How capital improvement project prioritization helps secure infrastructure funding
    Trillions of dollars in federal infrastructure funding have been made available to state and local governments across the U.S. since early 2020. This money has been allocated to address the nation’s aging infrastructure, much of which is at or near the end of its useful life, and to bolster the U.S. economy in the wake […]
  • Climate bill lauded; predicted to reduce nation's carbon footprint by 40% within decade
    Amid yet another punishing heat wave, the sweeping Inflation Reduction Act, which was approved along party lines Sunday by the Senate, represents a historic step in the nation’s fight against climate change by drastically reducing its climate footprint—while injecting billions of dollars into cities and counties. Along with provisions that cap prescription drug costs for […]

Related Content

  • How local governments can get ahead of the infrastructure wave: Strategies to mitigate risk
  • Prioritizing rapid restore leads to stronger ransomware attack recovery
  • Ultrafast electric vehicle charging will propel local governments into the future
  • The Colonial Pipeline attack: What it means for critical infrastructure, and why businesses need to have a plan in place

Twitter


AmerCityCounty

Here are 12 of America’s most walkable cities with vacancies for renters dlvr.it/SWlBkd

16th August 2022
AmerCityCounty

Amid digitization of public infrastructure, cybersecurity is increasingly a challenge dlvr.it/SWh6Ww

15th August 2022
AmerCityCounty

Note to cities: Watch out for security gaps and hidden expenses as you acquire new IT systems dlvr.it/SWgth1

15th August 2022
AmerCityCounty

When spending federal stimulus dollars, local governments should consider long-term, community impact dlvr.it/SWXJWZ

12th August 2022
AmerCityCounty

In Nevada county, data underpins efforts to address climate change dlvr.it/SWTGHy

11th August 2022
AmerCityCounty

$52B semiconductor investment intended to rejuvenate American manufacturing dlvr.it/SWPqHQ

10th August 2022
AmerCityCounty

How capital improvement project prioritization helps secure infrastructure funding dlvr.it/SWLQB7

9th August 2022
AmerCityCounty

Climate bill lauded; predicted to reduce nation’s carbon foot print by 40% within decade dlvr.it/SWHGQL

8th August 2022

Newsletters

Sign up for American City & County’s newsletters to receive regular news and information updates about local governments.

Resale Insights Dashboard

The Resale Insights Dashboard provides model-level data for the entire used equipment market to help you save time and money.

Municipal Cost Index

Updated monthly since 1978, our exclusive Municipal Cost Index shows the effects of inflation on the cost of providing municipal services

Media Kit and Advertising

Want to reach our digital audience? Learn more here.

DISCOVER MORE FROM INFORMA TECH

  • IWCE’s Urgent Communications
  • IWCE Expo

WORKING WITH US

  • About Us
  • Contact Us

FOLLOW American City and County ON SOCIAL

  • Privacy
  • CCPA: “Do Not Sell My Data”
  • Cookies Policy
  • Terms
Copyright © 2022 Informa PLC. Informa PLC is registered in England and Wales with company number 8860726 whose registered and Head office is 5 Howick Place, London, SW1P 1WG.
This website uses cookies, including third party ones, to allow for analysis of how people use our website in order to improve your experience and our services. By continuing to use our website, you agree to the use of such cookies. Click here for more information on our Cookie Policy and Privacy Policy.
X