Background
In 2014, the Hawaii Department of Transportation entered a Consent Decree with the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and the State of Hawaii Department of Health agreeing to create a stormwater management plan. Part of the plan included the adoption of an asset management system (AMS) to ensure HDOT had visibility of its municipal separate stormwater sewer system (MS4) and its permittees effects on the system.
In 2015, with the help of Woolpert and the US Army Corps of Engineers, HDOT Harbors implemented Cityworks AMS to help manage their stormwater program and develop a concerted plan to improve their environmental responsibility.
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Implementing an asset management system was going to be a monumental task, as all infrastructure relating to stormwater had to be mapped into GIS. Utilizing Cityworks, which offers full asset lifecycle management through their AMS, was essential to creating a program that could navigate the Consent Decree and allow HDOT Harbors to successfully fulfill its requirements.
The Solution
The Hawaii DOT Harbors division leaned heavily on the Army Corps of Engineers for the initial stage of the project. The Army Corps mapped all the stormwater assets that fell under the Consent Decree; including all their leases, permits, and active construction projects; to ensure the program would be successful as it moved forward.
It took over a year to complete the mapping of HDOT Harbor’s stormwater infrastructure, which was then shared with the EPA via ArcGIS Online to demonstrate the fulfillment of that stage in the compliance process.
Once all the storm drain, tenant, and construction BMP assets were fully mapped, HDOT Harbors hired Woolpert to help them configure and implement Cityworks AMS. In Cityworks, they created a schedule for their assets’ inspection, cleaning, stenciling, maintenance, and repair. Work orders to generate these tasks were created within Cityworks, ensuring complete asset lifecycle management for each storm drain asset.
This complete picture of HDOT Harbors’ assets helps to ensure continued compliance with EPA regulations. It has an added benefit of creating preventative, rather than reactive, maintenance cycles that have helped to expand the longevity of assets and prevent failures.
BMPs, best management practices established by the EPA under the Clean Water Act’s National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System (NPDES), included proper maintenance of silt fencing, maintenance of vegetative buffers, stabilization of construction sites and entrances, management of dirt stockpiles, and storm drain inlet protection, including filters.
HDOT Harbors established annual stormwater awareness and pollution prevention training for all lease and permit stakeholders to help drive the message of individual responsibility as part of their overall stormwater management program.
The enhanced program management and efficiency has also improved relationships with permit stakeholders and strengthened community relationships by increasing regular communication, training, and response to service requests. This holistic approach to program management proved essential for successful completion of the Consent Decree.
The Consent Decree was terminated in February 2022, with HDOT Harbors fully satisfying all requirements set forth by the EPA. Since then, they have expanded their use of Cityworks AMS into other workflows and have implemented Cityworks Respond and Cityworks Mobile Apps to further leverage Cityworks and ensure that they remain in compliance going forward. HDOT Harbors also expanded Cityworks’ service request functionality throughout their organization, creating a centralized communication of service needs.
Cityworks provided HDOT Harbors with the resources it needed to satisfy the Consent Decree; it continues to be an essential component of the department’s stormwater management program. Using Cityworks, the compiling of annual reports for their NPDES permit with the Department of Health is a straightforward process. With less time spent generating reports to show compliance, they can focus on maintaining their infrastructure and ensuring their harbor environments are safe, healthy, and sustainable.
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