Building a GIS - a fist full of Dollars,or,a few Dollars more
C. Eugene Talmadge, R.A.
Planning Administrator and GIS Program Manager
Las Virgenes Municipal Water District
Background:
This paper discusses some of the numerous aspects of GIS Program
implementation – The Good, The Bad, and The Ugly. Each GIS Program
implementation goes through all these steps to one degree or another. The start
is typically the infatuation of the magic of a GIS and defining what you think you
want from your GIS Program - The GOOD. Then come a long series of many
decisions on the GIS Program; deciding where and when to use a consultant for
work and assistance, deciding the GIS software platform to be used, making the
conversion (or creation) of data to populate the GIS database, conducting the
inventory of existing data sources (tabular data, drawings, etc.), developing the
many “applications” to be used for the GIS to assist in management decisions,
staff training and familiarization with the GIS, and numerous other requirements
to be satisfied – The BAD. Finally, there is the realization of the actual costs in
time, dollars and “sweat equity” needed for the organization to implement the GIS
Program to reach success – The UGLY. But none of these aspects need be
“show-stoppers “. Rather, they form the framework for the implementation of the
overall GIS vision for an organization. They show incremental project
accomplishments (victories) for the organization to see, feel and use in the
normal course of events. Recognizing and overcoming these potential pitfalls
allows the GIS Program to become a major part of the information systems used
by the organization’s management to make better-informed decisions regarding
its core business and support to its customers.
Las Virgenes Municipal Water District (LVMWD) began developing the concept
of an enterprise-wide GIS program in 1994 with an initial Feasibility Study of GIS
Needs and Requirements. Since then the district has moved from the task of
winning approval from their Board of Directors to implementing their GIS
Program and a wide variety of GIS applications. It was key to receive not only
the endorsement of the concept of a GIS Program but the commitment to long-term
funding of the program as well. This move from dream to reality was a long
road of many action steps fraught with setbacks, cost escalations, and many
other unknowns. However, with a good strategic vision and plan in mind, the GIS
dream can become reality.
LVMWD is a small to medium sized water/wastewater utility the serving a 122
square mile area in the western portion of Los Angeles County in California. It
provides potable water, recycled water, and wastewater treatment services to a
population of approximately 70,000 persons (behind 19,500 metered
connections) in the unincorporated County area and the incorporated cities of
Calabasas, Hidden Hills, Agoura Hills and Westlake Village. The wastewater
service area also includes portions of eastern Ventura County (refer to Figure 1).
Figure 1: Las Virgenes Municipal Water District Location
LVMWD is a member agency of the Metropolitan Water District of Southern
California (MWD). LVMWD has no local water supply of its own (surface runoff
or wells) and is 100% reliant on MWD for all its potable water supply. LVMWD
has over 250 miles of potable water transmission and distribution piping, 60 miles
of recycled water distribution piping, and 50 miles of trunk sewer mains. The
overall setting of the district’s area is in the Santa Monica Mountains with
services provided at a wide variety of elevations (700 to 2600 feet above sea
level). Accordingly, there are numerous pump stations, tanks and other facilities
for the many pressure zones of service. LVMWD owns and operates its own
10,000 acre-foot seasonal storage reservoir and water treatment filtration plant.
(This storage is used for seasonal “peaking” requirements as well as emergency
supply in the event of natural disaster, like earthquakes, that would interrupt
normal water deliveries from MWD.) The district operates and maintains its own
wastewater treatment plant, and it provides recycled water for irrigation within its
service area. The district’s service area in Los Angeles County is shown in
Figure 2.
Figure 2: LVMWD in Los Angeles County
