Water asset management plan moved forward

Bloomfield Township trustees unanimously approved a draft of a new water asset management plan at their meeting on Monday, November 13, and agreed to put it on the agenda for approval at their meeting on Monday, November 27.

Township engineering and environmental services director Olivia Olsztyn-Budry explained that the Michigan Department of Environmental Quality (MDEQ) now requires an asset management plan (AMP) to be completed by every municipality with public water supply systems serving more than 1,000 by January 1, 2018, as part of the Safe Drinking Water Act.

“The MDEQ's intent of requiring the asset management plan is to ensure the longterm sustainability of the public water supply systems by mandating a long-term capital improvement plan and funding strategy. The township, being proactive, has had this plan in place since 2005. However, Bloomfield Township, including other communities, is now being required to provide an asset management to the MDEQ and meeting their components within the plan,” Olsztyn-Budry said in a memo.

Water asset management plans are required to include five components: asset inventory; level of service; critical assets; revenue structure; and a capital improvement project plan, which the township created in 2005. She said that various township departments have worked with Hubbell, Roth & Clark over the last year to complete all aspects of the plan, and the recommendation is that no action is needed at this time.

Since this was an introduction, the final draft will be presented to trustees for approval at their next meeting.