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Rapid City Utility System Master Plan

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Project Overview

The City of Rapid City is experiencing a high rate of growth that presents challenges related to utility infrastructure planning.  Many of these challenges are related to water supply, water delivery, wastewater collection, changing source water qualities, and maintenance.

 

To aid in the planning of systematic growth, the City has contracted with the experienced team of Burns & McDonnell Engineering and Ferber Engineering  to update the Water Master Plan, and develop a Water System Modeling Program and a Wastewater System Modeling Program.  The City’s current Water Master Plan was adopted in 1985, while the current Wastewater Master Plan was adopted in 1979.  These plans projected the community’s utility requirements for 20 years, and as such, have become outdated.  During the 20-year time frames, interim planning and design documents were developed to determine the utility requirements in localized areas of the community.  The updated master planning documents will incorporate these localized plans and project the City’s utility infrastructure needs for the next 20 to 25 years.

 

The utility system master plan will provide the City with a planning document for the next 20 – 25 years as well as a set of tools and processes to improve efficiency, enhance customer service, and prepare for future growth.  This master plan will not be just a document that sets on a shelf, rather it will be an integrated planning tool to allow the City to grow and adapt to the changing needs of the Rapid City community.

The City is utilizing a two phase process to complete the utility master plan.  Phase I of the master plan was completed in February 2006 and included a detailed look at what the City’s needs and goals are for the master plan.  This resulted in a detailed scope for Phase II of the project.  Phase II of the project includes the development of ‘real-time’ GIS based tools to efficiently manage future expansion and maintenance of the utilities system.  Specific activities include extensive field collection of data related to the physical configuration of the water distribution and wastewater collection systems, development of geodatabases and hydraulic models, and extensive evaluation to determine necessary improvements.  The City’s water treatment and water reclamation facilities will also be evaluated, water rights will be evaluated, and improvements will be implemented for utility billing and maintenance management.  The Utility System Master Plan will be completed in 2008.

Rapid City Water Tower

Field Data Collection

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