Managing Construction and Infrastructure in the 21st Century Bureau of Reclamation (2006) / Chapter Skim
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2 Requirements for the Twenty-First Century
2 Requirements for the Twenty-First Century
Pages 22-47
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From page 22... ...
Delivering water and power today includes negotiating American Indian water rights, working with environmental groups to agree on reasonable ways to protect the environment and endangered species, and finding ways to promote water conservation. The second mission statement better portrays what Reclamation actually does.
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From page 23... ...
FACILITY AND INFRASTRUCTURE ASSETS Ownership of Assets Since the creation of the Bureau of Reclamation in 1902, the organization has designed and constructed a wide variety of physical facilities to manage water resources and generate electric power in 17 western states. Reclamation's inventory of facilities and infrastructure is large and diverse in both size and type.
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From page 24... ...
However, two regional offices are responsible for the operation of the facilities in some basins, such as the Colorado River, Canadian River, and Rio Grande River basins, necessitating an additional level of coordination. The committee discussed the advantages and disadvantages of watershed management and project management.
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From page 25... ...
. Identification of Needs Since the assets managed by Reclamation have an average age of more than 50 years and require almost constant review and upgrading, the area and regional offices have ongoing procedures for identifying needs.
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WORKLOAD Reclamation's facility inventory drives its technical workload, which includes the planning, design, and construction of dams, hydroelectric plants, and related infrastructure. The tasks involve O&M, replacement and modernization, modification to improve dam safety and meet environmental requirements, and new construction.
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From page 27... ...
is the overall process for 2Follow-up communication with Brit Story indicated that the total of 178 projects is based on several assumptions as to what constitutes a "Reclamation project." For example, it does not include several projects that were not appropriated funds for completion, four dams designed and built for the Bureau of Indian Affairs, the design of one dam at the Panama Canal, and participation in the design of several Tennessee Valley Authority dams. Some projects are consolidations of earlier separate projects.
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From page 28... ...
In power facilities, Maximo-based computerized 3Larry Todd, director, Security Safety and Law Enforcement, and Bruce Muller, chief, Dam Safety Office, Briefing to the committee on April 6, 2005. 4"Safety of Dams modifications completed," Spreadsheet provided by Dam Safety Office, July 2005.
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From page 29... ...
Budget proposals are generated by the area offices and consolidated at the regional and headquarters levels. Technical Workload and the Technical Service Center The technical workload is distributed among the various project, area, and regional offices, and the Technical Service Center (TSC)
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From page 30... ...
, would likely find that only a limited number of the technical activities performed by TSC are inherently governmental functions. (A process for identifying essentially governmental functions is discussed in Chapter 3.)
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The challenge today is different from that faced after World War II, when major water resource projects were being developed. In that era, much of the expertise in dams and hydraulic structures resided within federal agencies.
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From page 32... ...
Maintenance activities will grow in complexity and costs as the facilities age, so the depth and breadth of expertise in the areas of project design, cost estimating, and project management will need to be maintained even with increased outsourcing of many activities. However, there will also be an increasing need for expertise in stakeholder engagement, communications, endangered species and environmental requirements, and data collection, as well as for expertise in conducting negotiations among stakeholders with divergent expectations associated with the facilities and the services that Reclamation provides.
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From page 33... ...
He noted that Reclamation was moving forward with the exciting challenges awaiting its water resource managers.7 The Commissioner's Program and Organization Review Team (CPORT) report was cited as critical in identifying "changes 6This paragraph is adapted from Feldman and Khademian, 2000, p.
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From page 34... ...
User associations such as the National Water Resources Association (NWRA) and the Family Farm Alliance told the committee that Reclamation stakeholders communicate with one another and compare Reclamation policy decisions, and 8Letter from Commissioner Daniel P
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From page 35... ...
identified were due to unclear roles and responsibilities, the lack of a defined decision-making process, or a combination of both. Interviewees were concerned that fail ure to acknowledge and correct these problems could result in signifi cant consequences to Reclamation, including loss of agency credibility; increased employee frustrations and a decline in morale; poor account 11National Water Resources Association, "Role of the U.S.
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From page 36... ...
It noted that the best managers profited from the flexibility offered by the new organization; others, however, experienced procedural problems and were challenged by the absence of a formal structure and decision processes. Reclamation personnel interviewed by the committee generally rated the bureau as having a high level of technical skills, but they were more critical of the bureau's managerial abilities.
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From page 37... ...
The internal culture and history of the organization play a significant role in determining the appropriate 14Based on information provided to the committee through August 2005. Subsequent to the committee's last meeting and development of this report, Reclamation undertook a reorganization that included a change in the organization of the Policy, Management, and Technical Services; Security, Safety, and Law Enforcement; and the Dam Safety Office.
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From page 38... ...
The issue at the center of Reclamation's potential organizational changes involves centralization versus decentralization of authority, responsibility, and resources. As mentioned above, in the mid-1990s, Reclamation undertook a major reorganization to create a more decentralized structure (USBR, 1993)
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From page 39... ...
The pattern best suited to administrative support may not be best for customer relations in the field. Close and continuing contact between local water users and Reclamation representatives in the field is essential to cooperative relations and in some instances to an adaptive-management approach to decision making.
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· Assume principal responsibility for the construction processes and support to area and project offices on contract administration. · Represent the bureau to state and local government officials, regional directors of other federal agencies, local media representatives, and user group officials, as appropriate.
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From page 41... ...
Technical Service Center TSC, the largest element within the PMTS directorate, is somewhat analogous to a large engineering firm performing facility and infrastructure engineering design. A centralized Reclamation design organization that has a worldwide reputation for excellence in the water resources field has existed in Denver for many years, albeit in different forms.
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From page 42... ...
Also, it is the only unit in Reclamation able to provide independent and consistent technical oversight of work done at the area and regional offices. However, unless there is clearer direction and support from senior management and closer coordination with the regions, TSC risks being considered irrelevant.
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From page 43... ...
The research at the WQIC is focused on desalinization and water treatment. Reclamation conducts research in the following areas: · Water and power infrastructure reliability and safety, · Water delivery reliability, · Reservoir and river operations decision support, · Water supply technologies, and · Related environmental topics.
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From page 44... ...
This is due in part to competition for limited resources, but there also appears to be a policy of disengagement. The committee believes that Reclamation's participation in international organizations dedicated to water resources and hydropower should be continued and that technical exchange with water resource managers in other countries should be encouraged.
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From page 45... ...
Delegations of committee members met with personnel in the regional offices as well as with area managers and with user groups and other stakeholders. (Appendix B contains a list of these meetings and the issues discussed.)
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From page 46... ...
2004. Adaptive Management for Water Resources: Project Planning.
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From page 47... ...
2004. Decision Process Team Report: Review of Decision Making in Reclamation.
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