Skip to main content

Currently Skimming:

Executive Summary
Pages 1-14

The Chapter Skim interface presents what we've algorithmically identified as the most significant single chunk of text within every page in the chapter.
Select key terms on the right to highlight them within pages of the chapter.


From page 1...
... These facilities and infrastructure systems have provided the water and power that enabled the development and growth of agriculture, industry, commerce, cities, and towns in the West. Reclamation is now the largest water wholesaler in the country, providing municipal and industrial water to more than 31 million people and irrigation water for 10 million acres that produce 60 percent of the nation's vegetables and 25 percent of its nuts and fruits (USBR, 2005)
From page 2...
... Reclamation's tasks will involve water conservation; dam safety; expanding the existing capacity for desalination, water storage, and transmission; enhancing the recovery of endangered species and environmental quality; constructing new facilities to implement American Indian water rights settlements; removing dams; and operating, maintaining, repairing, and improving existing facilities. These changing and expanding requirements will occur at a time when the personnel with the most tech
From page 3...
... appointed the Committee on Organizing to Manage Construction and Infrastructure in the 21st Century Bureau of Reclamation, a group of experts from the public and private sectors and academia to advise Reclamation and the department on the "appropriate organizational, management, and resource configurations to meet its construction, maintenance, and infrastructure requirements for its missions of the 21st century." The full statement of task is presented in Chapter 1. To accomplish its tasks the committee met as a whole four times from February to August 2005 and conducted small-group site visits to offices and projects in each of the five Reclamation regions.
From page 4...
... The committee believes that Reclamation will continue to have a need for centralized technical services, research, and oversight to support the local management of resources but also sees a need to evaluate the size and organization of the central units to ensure that services are delivered efficiently and at a reasonable cost to Reclamation customers. Both the organization and quantity of services provided at the central, regional, and area offices are affected by the current practice of outsourcing services for constructing, operating, and maintaining facilities and infrastructure that are not inherent to the government's roles and responsibilities.
From page 5...
... The design groups in area and project offices should be consolidated in regional offices or regional technical groups to provide a critical mass that will allow optimizing technical competencies and providing efficient service. Technical skills in the area offices should focus on data collection, facility inspection and evaluation, and routine operations and maintenance (O&M)
From page 6...
... In an effort to remain cost competitive, TSC has developed a business plan that provides some services that are not inherently governmental.2 A strategy of cost averaging, which blends the costs of specialized technical services and oversight with those of other services such as collection of field data and development of construction documents, will continue to subject TSC to fire from Reclamation customers and its private sector competitors and is inconsistent with current federal outsourcing initiatives. Finding 2c.
From page 7...
... Recommendation 2c. Alternative means should be developed for funding the staff and operating costs necessary for maintaining core TSC competencies, thereby reducing the proportion of engineering service costs chargeable to customers.
From page 8...
... Decisions often hinge on the availability of federal employees to do the work. There is increasing pressure on Reclamation to allow water districts, American Indian tribes, and other customers to undertake their own planning, design, and construction management functions.
From page 9...
... Reclamation does not have a structured project management process to administer planning, design, and construction activities from inception through completion of construction and the beginning of O&M. Projects are developed in three phases: (1)
From page 10...
... Reclamation needs to recognize project management as a discipline requiring specific knowledge, skills, and abilities and to require project management training and certification for its personnel who are responsible for project performance. The committee observed the appointment of activity managers in the Pacific Northwest region who were responsible for communications and coordination among project participants for all phases of the project.
From page 11...
... Cost estimates that are submitted should be supported by documents for design concept and planning, environmental assessment, and design development that are sufficiently complete to support the estimates. Reclamation should develop a consistent process for evaluating project planning and the accuracy of cost estimates.
From page 12...
... Workforce and Human Resources Finding 9a. Reclamation and other federal agencies recognize that successful outsourcing of technical services requires maintaining technical core competencies to develop contract scope, select contractors, and manage contracts and that it is necessary for agency personnel to execute projects as well as to receive continuing training in order to maintain those competencies.
From page 13...
... The three future scenarios presented in this report -- (1) a centrally located project management organization, (2)
From page 14...
... 14 21ST CENTURY BUREAU OF RECLAMATION Recommendation 10. Reclamation should consider the suggested future scenarios as a basis for analyzing longer-term trends and change.


This material may be derived from roughly machine-read images, and so is provided only to facilitate research.
More information on Chapter Skim is available.