Showing posts with label Non-Cost Considerations. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Non-Cost Considerations. Show all posts
Thursday, January 14, 2016
SAC Comes Alive
...during their Non-Cost Considerations (NCCs) at today's meeting.
Greater Vernon Water manager Zee Marcolin touched on the problem when she stated that the NCC list had been produced three years ago by the Master Water Plan technical committee that included politicians, consultants and bureaucrats.
Noteworthy in that process was the absence of stakeholders...water users.
I admit to reservations over the last few months as consultant presentations created little dialogue from SAC members, with few exceptions.
Slowly but surely, it could be said, SAC came alive.
Discussions today evidenced that SAC is--almost to a person--determined to conduct their review independent of the opinions of politicians and bureaucrats.
Thoughtful and considerate and intelligent dialogue ensued on the eight-item list of non-cost considerations.
It wasn't long before the majority of SAC members realized that many issues overlapped with cost considerations. See blog NCC entries: "The Weighting of Non-Cost GVW Issues" dated January 11/16, and "The Bureaucratic Penchant for Editing" dated January 9/16.
Combined with the list of Adopted Motions (included in the link below) from several months ago at a GVAC meeting, it gives an idea of what SAC is faced with.
The link is here.
The table's size makes it impossible to fit into the blog.
The SAC committee's questions today evidenced they've been listening all along.
"I'm thrilled they'll make some sense of the MWP fiasco," offers Kia.
So am I.
All this would never have occurred if chlorinated water wasn't being used on farms, which would have reduced what domestic users had to pay for water.
But bureaucrats and elected officials and consultants chose a system that residents will not support today.
Monday, January 11, 2016
The "Weighting" of Non-Cost GVW Issues
Presumably SAC members are as keen to add their own weighting to Non-Cost Considerations as I was.
For the two (yes, two!) versions of what these descriptions cover, scroll down to "The Bureaucratic Penchant for Editing" blog post dated January 9th, 2016.
Have a look at it now, and then come back to this post.
Despite GVW's "editing" of the descriptions between the original version--and the one they two years later submitted to the SAC process--there's a need to do a further edit before you can make an "informed" decision and produce your own weightings.
Why?
Because your attendance at SAC meetings has taught you some things about the Master Water Plan.
First, I've added my weighting percentages as a third column at right:
|
Non-Cost Consideration
descriptions
|
GVW weighting
|
Stamhuis weighting
|
My weighting
|
|
1.
System operational ease and flexibility
|
15%
|
20%
|
20%
|
|
2.
Governance & Administration variances
|
15%
|
40%
|
60%
|
|
3.
Emergency Preparedness
|
10%
|
3%
|
1%
|
|
4.
Average Finished Water Quality
|
15%
|
5%
|
2%
|
|
5.
Reliability & Availability of Supply
|
15%
|
15%
|
2%
|
|
6.
Ease of Implementation
|
10%
|
5%
|
4%
|
|
7.
Future Expansion
|
10%
|
10%
|
10%
|
|
8.
Environmental
Impacts
|
10%
|
10%
|
1%
|
|
TOTAL
|
100
|
100
|
100
|
My information that helped produce the weightings above:
1.
1. Consider 4-foot diameter pipes DCWTP, narrowing
to 4-inch diameter at NE Vernon. Is this
truly a two-source water design? Has
anyone indicated what pipe sizes are along Okanagan Landing Rd?
2.
2. A totally-separated system is easier to “govern”
as agriculture is then essentially their own utility, but then there’s no-one
to pay for ag infrastructure or consumption. The only “variances” that exist is ag’s
inability/refusal to pay their now-fair share.
Separated ag lines do NOT equate to no fire protection in winter
(potable lines are 6-inch lines=same as those that serve domestic customers on fire hydrant lines).
3.
3. GVW mentioned Earthquake risk. If a large EQ occurs, waterlines would be
affected regardless of location. But no mention of wildfire risk at DCWTP (higher elevation equates to increased lightning risk).
4.
4. GVW promotes balancing.
5.
5. Consultant Brett said: “You have lots of water”. I feel the Okanagan Basin Water Board has to get out of our way politically. (The Black Mountain Water District in
Rutland/Kelowna states they have so much water they could supply our area!) Repeat: We have lots of water, we have lots of water! Yes!
6.
6. If the 40 or 50 year supply is Okanagan Lake,
shouldn’t pipe diameters/sizing have been planned so that the direction of supply
to customers does not continue from East --> NE Vernon direction? What are present pipe diameter sizes, for
example, on Okanagan Landing Road? The argument could be academic as
no-one will locate here if water is 2/3 cheaper in Kelowna and Armstrong.
7.
7. Commercial / industrial businesses are being
directed to the N end of Vernon (where smallest pipe diameter sizes are located!? Sounds like a bad recipe!) Apart from available land, why?
8.
8. Impacts (poison to customers!). THMs
and HAAs more important than environmental (chemical waste, which can be
managed effectively). Duteau Plant’s
disinfection by-products are 40 times higher than those of the Mission Hill plant.
Could the health risk approach that of unchlorinated water????
Mussels are not included; in my opinion should be a Provincial environmental
ministry plan ASAP.
Okay, that's MY non-cost considerations.
Now it's your turn: (Right click to highlight entire table below, Ctrl-S to save, Ctrl-V to place onto a file or email on your computer).
|
Non-Cost Consideration
descriptions
|
GVW weighting
|
Stamhuis weighting
|
Enter your weighting
|
|
1.
System operational ease and flexibility
|
15%
|
20%
|
|
|
2.
Governance & Administration variances
|
15%
|
40%
|
|
|
3.
Emergency Preparedness
|
10%
|
3%
|
|
|
4.
Average Finished Water Quality
|
15%
|
5%
|
|
|
5.
Reliability & Availability of Supply
|
15%
|
15%
|
|
|
6.
Ease of Implementation
|
10%
|
5%
|
|
|
7.
Future Expansion
|
10%
|
10%
|
|
|
8.
Environmental
Impacts
|
10%
|
10%
|
|
|
TOTAL
|
100
|
100
|
|
Add what you've learned from your own thoughts on numbers 1 through 8:
Refer back to the two (yes, two!) versions of what these descriptions entirely cover to produce your own knowledge-based details under each of the 8 descriptions.
Oh...and then consider another thing about Mr. Stamhuis' valuable insight:
Of the 9 options in the Master Water Plan, he states this:
Option 6, Complete Separation. Okanagan Lake Source with Filtration Deferral:
"This option has overvalued the Operations & Maintenance (report by GVW!) cost of the intake by not crediting the savings of mothballing the Kal Lake intake. This would reduce the option's Net Present Value to approximately $142 million. If filtration deferral could be achieved for the life of the analysis, the NPV of this option would be $108 million -- substantially the most cost-effective. It could be argued that this achievement may be more likely if we retained the Kal Lake intake. In this scenario, the Net Present Value of this option would be about $118 million."
The weighting process is a valuable learning tool after adding information you've found valuable through the water review process.
"Thought I was going to get weighed," sighed Kia with relief.
That weighting exercise actually felt good to perform.
I'm satisfied that it expresses my opinion.
What worries me now is how personally unsatisfied SAC members will be when they are reminded of the limitations of their review...non-cost issues and nothing concerning "political decisions", as RDNO boss Sewell indicated in late August.
...basically eliminating the entire Master Water Plan itself.
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