The document provides an overview of the 2016 Orange County Infrastructure Report Card produced by the American Society of Civil Engineers. It discusses the importance of the report card in planning for the future and informing the public. Key points include that over 100 volunteers assessed 12 infrastructure categories and gave most a grade of C or D due to historical underfunding. The report highlights billions needed annually to address deficiencies. It emphasizes the importance of local funding and control to best maintain infrastructure.

1. Yazdan (Yaz) Emrani, M.S., P.E.
Co-Chair, OC Infrastructure Report Card Executive Committee
Vice President, Carollo Engineers, Inc. September 15, 2016

2. A Little Bit of Background
Fourth Time Around: 2002, 2005, 2010, & 2016
Professional Association: American Society of Civil
Engineers, OC Branch
Academics: UCI Civil & Environmental Engineering
Affiliates
Volunteer Effort - Over 100 Individuals
Individuals: Engineers, public agency managers,
business leaders, environmentalists

3. Why is a
Report Card
Important?
 Self-Imposed, not mandated by anyone
 The Power of Honest Self-Appraisal
 To Properly Plan for the Future
 Fully Inform the Public & Policy Makers
 Establish Community Expectations
 Embolden Policy Makers
 Have a Uniform & Consistent Message

4. Historical Reluctance to Fund
Infrastructure Renewal
“Out of Sight, Out of Mind”
Attitude Leads to Two Bad Outcomes:
 Unexpected Failures
 Major Rate Increases

5. Because…
Municipalities and Other Public Agencies Cannot
Afford the Problems and Risks Associated with...
High-Cost Emergencies
& Damage Repairs
System Failures
& Liability Claims
Customer Outrage from
Service Outages

6. A damaged 5-foot sewer
pipe collapsed and spilled a
total of about 2.4 million
gallons of untreated waste
into the Los Angeles River
and has forced the closure of
all beaches in Long Beach
and Seal Beach.

7. Impartial Analysis &
Independent Review
 12 Standing Chapter Committees
 12 Review Committees
 Executive Committee for continuity and executive
summary
 Results reported openly and transparently

8. Evaluation Criteria
 General condition of the infrastructure
 Capacity vs. Demand
 Operation and functionality
 Sustainability (Resources & Funding)
 Security
 Estimated Cost

9. “Report Card” as the Paradigm
Good News: simple and familiar
Easy and quick to understand
Useful for Spotting Overall Trends
Sound bites are what we’re used to
Bad News: Lumps too much and misses
details
A grade isn’t enough to tell the story
Read the grade and read the report &
Create your own City Report Card

10. Report Cards
CA-2012 National-
2013
Aviation C+ D
Bridges C- C+
Drinking Water C D
Energy D+
Ports B- C
Roads C- D
Schools D
Transit C- D
Wastewater C+ D
Inland Waterways D-
Solid Waste B C+
Parks D-
Rail C+
Levees D D-
Hazardous Waste D
Dams D
Urban Runoff D+
GPA C D+
Annual Investment Needs: $ 2.3 B
(Does not include Oil, Electric Power, or Natural Gas)

11. $65 Billion
Annual Need

12. “Report Card” as the Paradigm
A grade isn’t enough to tell the story
Read the grade and read the report &
Create your own City Report Card

13. Aviation: A-
 JWA excellent condition. Little repair backlog
 Fee-based income & other sources cover costs
 10.8 million passenger capacity at JWA
 25 million passenger demand by 2020
 Must use other airports
 High speed rail to regional airports is the solution

14. Electric Power: C-
 SCE, SDG&E and Anaheim serve OC
 CPUC regulates them
 Reliability through interties, repairs and standards
 Much better than average reliability
 CPUC-approved rate increases insufficient
 System is aging with inadequate replacement rates
 Condition and reliability will degrade in next 5 years

15. Flood Control: C-
 380 miles of flood control channels, 114 miles of
levees, 34 retarding basins, 15 dams and 13
pump stations
 Available funding is decreasing
 Costs for projects are increasing
 Mitigation costs rival project costs
 $2.7 billion in unmet capital needs
 90 years to address backlog with existing
spending rates

16. Ground Transportation: C
Ground Transportation Components:
Local Streets and Highways
Bridges
Transit & Rail
$4.0 billion since 1990 Measure M gave major
transportation system upgrades
Measure M2 generates about $300 million/year. FAST
provides $155 million/year
30% of pavement is poor or very poor
OC Funding shortfall: $585 million/year

17. Natural Gas: B-
 The natural gas system provides the fuel for home heating, cooking,
manufacturing, generating electricity, powering trucks and buses
throughout Southern California including in Orange County.
 We have the nation’s largest natural gas distribution utility, Southern
California Gas, with 21.6 million consumers through 5.9 million meters
in more than 500 communities.
 The infrastructure is regulated by the California Public Utilities
Commission (CPUC) and follows State and Federal pipeline safety and
other regulations to meet the CPUC’s requirements.

18. Oil: B-
Orange County’s 2.5 million vehicles are consuming about
3 million gallons of transportation fuels a day.
California is an energy “island”.
Orange County receives 100% of its transportation fuel
needs from three transportation fuel manufacturing
centers on the West Coast: Pacific Northwest, San
Francisco, and Los Angeles.

19. Parks, Recreation, and
Environment: C+
 This is the same grade as the 2010 report as the condition and
capacity of parks, recreation and environment facilities have
been relatively steady in the past five year.
 Currently, Orange County operates a total of 22 regional parks.
Additionally, each of the 34 cities within Orange County
operates and maintains local parks within its jurisdiction.
 While some existing facilities have been upgraded in the past
few years, there are still larger challenges for the state’s parks
because of the current California drought, slow recession
recovery, insufficient funding, and growing population.

20. School Facilities: C+
 500,000 students, 600 schools, 28 districts
 Enrollment leveling or shrinking helps overcrowding
 O&M funding is lagging
 $525 million in deferred maintenance and getting
worse
 Condition of school facilities are degrading
 Schools are in financial freefall

21. Solid Waste: B
 Robust disposal and recycling system
 65% recycling rate meets State’s AB 939
 Tipping fees match capital & operating costs
 Capacity meets demand
 Long-term sustainability is likely

22. Surface Water Quality: D+
 Untreated polluted urban runoff drains to streams &
beaches
 Regional Water Quality Control Board regulations require
major improvements
 Stormwater management is not considered a utility. As
such, projects, programs, and services that protect and
improve surface water quality must compete for general
fund dollars.
 New community habits and source control essential to
clean up urban runoff

23. Wastewater: B
 Water conservation=less wastewater
 Less sewage spills since 2010 because of better
maintenance and FOG control (WDR Order)
 1940s & 1950s sewers need replacement
 Wastewater treatment plants in good shape and in
compliance
 Most cities and special districts have dedicated
enterprise funds for sewers and treatment plants
 Continued improvement in future

24. Water Supply: B
 In-County systems in good shape
 Income sufficient to support capital, O&M
 Conservation, recycling and desalination
increasing and essential
 Drought is a major issue. 50% of OC’s water
comes from Colorado River and State Water
Project
 State-wide reliability is degrading.

25. This is not good, is it??
 We must aim to remedy these problems in
the short term.
 Emergency repairs can cost anywhere from 5-
16 times more than on-time and preventive
maintenance
 Repairs get worse over time, not better. We
can’t afford to keep kicking the can down the
road.

26. So, What’s the Solution?
1. The “Self-Help” Model
2. Pay As You Go
3. Public Private Partnership (PPP)
4. Environmental Streamlining
5. Optimized Decision Making Tools/ Principles of
Effective Asset Management

27. An Observation about
OC Infrastructure
Orange County Infrastructure is at
its best with local initiatives, local
ownership, local control, local public
support and local funding.

28. 10 Ways for YOU to make a
difference!
1) Read the Report Card
2) Tell a colleague about this discussion
3) Make this a topic of dinner conversation
4) Subscribe to infrastructure newsletters
5) Add infrastructure topics to your meetings
6) Ask us to speak at your meetings
7) Assign this issue to someone in your office
8) Join our efforts, speak for us
9) Call or visit an elected public official
10) Support local, State and Federal officials who support infrastructure
renewal. Ask them to make infrastructure an election issue.

29. “Just invest in those infrastructure
that you want to keep!!!”

31. yemrani@carollo.com
714-593-5100
www.asceoc.org
Questions?