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The overall goal of Asset Management planning is to help utilities make informed financial decisions about operating, managing, upgrading, and replacing utility assets. When investing in water infrastructure, decision-makers and the community need to be on-board to support those decisions. Asset Management can help with communicating needs, justifying expenses, and educating about the importance of a highly functional utility.
What Makes Sense to You, Makes Cents
You know your utility. You know the ins and outs, the problem assets, which sections of the utility can function effectively for a little longer and which sections need immediate attention. Using that knowledge to identify critical assets and develop prioritization can help to move from reactive to preventative maintenance or justify the expenses associated with immediate replacement.
- If an asset keeps breaking and it costs more money to repair than to replace, it just makes sense to replace the asset, resulting in dollars being saved over time.
- If a critical asset with no redundancy will have catastrophic impacts if it fails, then adding a redundant asset will likely result in ensuring that those high costs will be avoided.
- If it is more cost efficient to let an asset run to failure and replace rather than continue to repair, you will realize savings over time.
Plans for Points
Some states offer additional points on State Revolving Funds (SRF) Loan program applications. Applying for an SRF loan can be a long process and having an Asset Management plan in place may make the process a bit longer; however, increasing the points on your SRF application can help to reach funding goals. Find out if your state offers incentives for Asset Management Planning in the 2024 State Asset Management Initiatives from the Environmental Protection Agency’s Office of Water.
Keep in mind that having an Asset Management plan does not guarantee that you will receive any loans or grants. It will position you to make justifiable financial decisions that may include grants or loans.
From Here to Eternity
Asset Management planning takes initial effort, frequent review and updates, and continued engagement to ensure that the goals and objectives are aligned with the community’s needs and the utility’s capacity. Wastewater infrastructure investments are long-term processes that will likely impact future generations of staff and decision-makers. Laying the foundation today can support continued decisions in the future.
Learn more about various funding mechanisms and at which steps of asset installation and management each funding type is ideal.
Learn about the benefits of Asset Management Planning from a community like yours here: Asset Management: Getting Started
Additional Resources:
EFCN Blog: https://efcnetwork.org/asset-management-why-should-i-implement-a-program/