At Your Fingertips

Using GIS to Prioritize Stormwater CIP

Neil Dobler, PE

It’s a common enough pattern. Cities without a stormwater utility struggle to fund badly needed drainage projects. Once a stormwater utility is in place, the challenge becomes identifying and prioritizing projects in a way that satisfies the public and their elected representatives.

The next step typically includes stormwater drainage studies on any number of area basins. The results of these efforts might well fill a shelf with thick three-ring binders packed with data, analysis and reams of detail.

The good news? The city now has money to fund necessary projects. The less-than-good news? Once the big, obvious problems are corrected, how do city administrators identify and prioritize the next level of projects?

To meet this capital improvement program need, many cities are turning to an approach to making—and selling—tough decisions on stormwater capital improvement projects using Geographic Information Systems (GIS).

GIS can put a wealth of important information at city staff’s fingertips. With point-and-click simplicity, staff can correlate engineering analyses with data from citizens’ complaints. Many communities conduct surveys to get citizen input on needed infrastructure improvements. Data from these results can also be incorporated into the GIS. Add to this forecasts for planned development and redevelopment, and cities can have a powerful tool in identifying the most important stormwater projects to tackle—and when.

As more and more cities embrace GIS, they are finding creative ways to maximize the decision-support value of your GIS, thus making the most of their investment in technology.
Public works directors are also finding GIS analysis useful in helping justify recommendations to both the general public and their elected representatives.

GIS technology delivers practical, real-world value to public works departments and their constituents. Many cities are moving toward using GIS to establish 311 one-call capability, where residents can call one number, 311, to inquire or comment on any infrastructure issue, from storm drainage problems to nearby road construction. Operators can call up the location instantly and see which projects are active, what is planned, or a host of other information of value to citizens. Using GIS to Prioritize Stormwater CIP is an important step in that process of making 311 a reality.