Integrating GIS with utility Information management Systems
Geographic Information System Implementation
GIS Project Goals
During the Master Plan scope preparation, OES staff realized that important data, a pipe’s diameter for
instance, was being stored and maintained in three separate locations including paper maps, hydraulic
models, and the OES infrastructure inventory database, CASS WORKS (RJN Group, Inc., Wheaton, IL).
Staff also realized that there was no formal system in place to assure the same value for a data item in
each of the three locations. The hydraulic modeling and GIS development portions of the Master Plan
project will link two of the three data sources. OES strongly felt that there should be a “master” source of
data that “feeds” all OES operations and computer applications. With this in mind, OES set the following
goals for its GIS and integrated database system:
- Mapping, hydraulic modeling, and the CASS WORKS infrastructure inventory database will be
maintained in an integrated manner;
- CASS WORKS will be the “master” storage location for all data it is configured to store;
- Additional information required to support hydraulic modeling and other applications will be
stored in supplemental (to CASS WORKS) database tables in various locations throughout the
OES LAN and computer system;
- Applications will be developed to automate data exchange between CASS WORKS and the
mapping and modeling operations. Maps and hydraulic models will be updatable from the master
database with the least amount of manual intervention;
- GIS-generated maps will fully replace and automate the OES paper system maps;
- GIS technology will allow for easy creation of CADD drawings to support engineering efforts;
and
- Many OES functions that currently require paper maps will be converted to direct data access
using GIS software, therefore the GIS “viewing” software must be easy to use and customize.
GIS implementation will be accomplished using County standard software products including ESRI GM
software; Oracle relational database management software and dBASE for database maintenance;
Hydroworks for wastewater collection system modeling, and H20NET for water system modeling.
GIS Database Desian
The GIS database design evolved over the course of several months from an initial design as specified in
the Master Plan project scope to a more detailed, and revised, final database design. OES and its
consultant, Montgomery Watson, conducted numerous meetings and workshops to identifi the best
approach to meet the identified GIS goals. Emphasis was placed on the need to cartographically
reproduce OES paper maps, store map data in the master CASS WORKS database, and to organize data
in such a manner to efficiently prepare hydraulic model input files. One major constraint was that no
modification was to be made to the existing CASS WORKS inventory database structure during the GIS
database design phase. This decision was made not because of limitations of the infrastructure inventory
database and related software application (both of which can be customized), but rather as a preference
of OES management.
The result of several months effort, a database dictionary document defining all GIS layers, valid
database attribute values and codes, and cartographic standards was developed. This document will guide
the GIS conversion and all custom application development efforts. The GIS database dictionary acts as
a living document which must be updated as new facilities are represented in or changes made to the
current GIS structure.
Each of the three OES retail service districts are stored separately on the GIS file server and include the
three major utility layers (potable water, raw water, and the wastewater collection system), each
including system facility location, cartographic symbology, and map annotation (text). Map features are
not broken at map sheet borders, allowing the “seamless” GIS database to be easily downloaded to the
hydraulic models with no artificial model nodes at map sheet boundaries.
As an illustration, the potable water distribution system is represented as follows:
Figure 1. GIS Representation of Broward County OES Potable Water Distribution System.
The map conversion effort, now underway, was designed in such a way to preserve existing data in the
CASS WORKS database. GIS features are being linked to existing infrastructure inventory database
records when available, with several database fields updated in the process, and new records are being
added to the infrastructure inventory database when no record existed at the time of GIS database
conversion. Extensive quality control programs were developed by the consultant and OES using Oracle
SQL, C++, Arcview Avenue, and Arc/Info AML to ensure that existing information in CASS WORKS is
not compromised, and that new information conforms to the rules defined in the GIS database dictionary.
Information Flow
Once in place, the integrated system allows sharing of data between the master infrastructure inventory
database, the hydraulic models, and the GIS and mapping environment. OES is developing procedures to
control how and when data will be transferred between the information systems. In general, data are
moved from the master infrastructure inventory database to the modeling and GIS applications, but not
from the GIS and models back to the master infrastructure inventory database. Figure 2 on the next page
illustrates the movement of data between the major information systems within OES.
