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City of Socorro, New Mexico water and wastewater utilities
Environmental Project Highlight
Where: City of Socorro, New Mexico Water and Wastewater Utilities
Problem: The water and wastewater utility has a limited budget and lacked technical skills to develop an asset management plan.
Solution: RCAC provided technical expertise to start asset inventory, along with inventory software and system mapping. RCAC developed recommendations for hardware, software and staff training.
The city of Socorro is located in Socorro County in central New Mexico. The city has an estimated population just under 9,000. The Socorro Water and Wastewater Utilities serve almost 4,000 connections. In the past, one utility manager began asset mapping, but because the utility did not have the proper equipment, the results were inaccurate. Faced with budget constraints, the city looked to RCAC for assistance.
RCAC helped the utility develop asset management plans, which are essential for water and wastewater utilities to provide quality service and to maintain the system and budget appropriately. The foundation for an asset management plan is the asset inventory.
RCAC developed the first phase of the asset management plan. RCAC technical assistance providers worked with utility staff to configure an accurate GPS map of the area and collect the information needed on each utility asset.
RCAC provided the utility with a free database to manage the asset inventory and developed an interface to load the
GPS data into the inventory database. RCAC is developing an initial GIS using the asset data collected by the utility
and training the utility staff on how to keep the data updated. The utility will maintain the data going forward.
RCAC also introduced the utility staff to the New Mexico Environmental Finance Center’s educational programs, which promote asset planning.
Aware of the current budget situation, RCAC provided low-cost, short-term recommendations for hardware, software and staff training, and offered suggestions for longer-term investments as the plan matures.
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