RMC’s innovative yet practical plans ensure project success; we have completed more than 220 planning studies over the past 12 years.
Strategic Planning
Agency Business Plans
The complexities of California’s water resources and management issues require agencies to juggle a multitude of economic, regulatory, and logistical issues such as reduced revenues, a maturing work force, aging infrastructure, and increasing environmental regulations. RMC is experienced at working with public agencies in California to define operational and financial strategies for meeting agency goals, developing a business plan framework, facilitating workshops with managers and others, and drafting the business plan. RMC is currently working with the San Francisco Public Utilities Commission to develop separate business plans tailored for the Wastewater Enterprise and Water Enterprise agencies.
Strategic Planning
Regional Watershed Plans
RMC’s regional watershed approach reflects the complexities of each watershed itself, successfully balancing competing interests to provide multiple overlapping benefits such as original watershed management ideas, strategic stakeholder involvement, and securing grants and other external funds for our clients’ projects. And, we help develop specific plans—such as salt and nutrient management plans—to guide for the sustainable, long-term management of water resources. RMC’s senior engineers specializing in watershed management projects have an average experience of 23 years. Our Watershed Management Technical Committee consolidates RMCs company-wide management expertise and gives clients and project team’s quick access to the latest developments in the field.
Strategic Planning
Integrated Regional Water Management Plans
RMC began collaborating with DWR and local agencies in 2003 to develop and foster the IRWM concept. Since that time, RMC has worked with 22 regions across California on all aspects of IRWM program funding, development, and implementation. RMC’s IRWMP experience represents planning for rural and highly urbanized areas in both Northern and Southern California, including some of the state’s most populous regions. These include: San Francisco Bay Area, Amador County, the Salinas Valley, East Contra Costa County, Los Angeles County, and the San Diego Region among others.
RMC has prepared and updated Urban Water Management Plans (UWMPs) in 2000, 2005 and 2010 for cities and special districts throughout California. While state requirements for UWMPs are generally standard each year, the UWMPs prepared by RMC are stand-alone documents that reflect the unique objectives of each city or agency. RMC has provided basic UWMP updates, combined UWMP development with broader water supply management strategy planning, and provided multiple agency coordination for regional water supplier UWMPs.
Strategic Planning
Water, Wastewater, and Stormwater Management Plans
RMC provides services to cities, counties, and utility agencies in the planning and assessment of water, wastewater, and stormwater management. We prepare management plans, conduct audits, assess O&M programs, analyze facility replacement rates, and support compliance with regulatory enforcement orders. In addition , RMC develops innovative ideas to provide additional benefits such as developing formal specifications for cleaning and maintenance programs; developing standardized decision processes for repair, rehabilitation, and replacement decisions; and developing risk-based prioritization models.
Modeling
Integrated Hydrologic Modeling
Surface water and groundwater resources are effectively a single resource due to their interdependencies in comprehensive water resources planning. As a result, integrated groundwater and surface water models are often used in evaluating the impacts of water decisions.
RMC offers expert services in integrated modeling of surface water systems and groundwater systems. Two of our principals are the authors of an Integrated Groundwater and Surface Water Model (IGSM), which has been widely used in California by federal, state, and local agencies. Our professional staff has expertise in IGSM, IWFM, FEMFLOW3D, MODFLOW-SURFACT, and various model components.
Facilities Planning
Asset Management
RMC’s streamlined approach to asset management provides practical, implementation-oriented solutions that quickly result in tangible benefits. We can help develop asset databases, optimize operations and maintenance strategies, select and implement computerized maintenance management software, and conduct inspection and condition assessment programs. RMC is leading a number of projects critical to development of a comprehensive asset management approach for the City of San Francisco’s sewer collection system. For example, we developed a risk-based model for asset inspection and renewal prioritization and GIS-based software tools to support prioritization and repair/renewal decision-making.
Facilities Planning
Recycled Water Systems
As recycled water has become an integral part of the solution to California’s water resource needs, RMC has become a statewide leader in water recycling planning, design, and implementation—from evaluation of treatment technologies and pilot testing, to system master planning, to system reliability analysis. And, we have specific expertise in working directly with customers in their conversion from potable to recycled water supply systems. RMC is also an industry leader in the planning and regulatory permitting of potable reuse projects, including groundwater replenishment and surface water augmentation.
Facilities Planning
Water Treatment and Delivery
RMC’s leaders bring wide experience in water facilities planning, hydraulic modeling, water quality analysis, and system operations. And, we are adept at planning for sequencing and facility upgrade projects that will keep existing facilities operational during construction. Whether it’s identifying and evaluating treatment technologies—as we did for Irvine Ranch Water District’s Manning Water Treatment Plant—or analyzing facility placement—like the work we completed for the Freeport Regional Water Project’s intake pump station—RMC can help plan the water treatment and transmission facilities that meet the needs of our clients and the communities they serve.
Facilities Planning
Wastewater Collection and Treatment
RMC is comprised of some of California’s top specialists in wastewater collection system master planning, sewer capacity and condition assessment, hydraulic modeling, operations and maintenance program assessments, and financial planning. And, we are adept at helping agencies meet regulatory needs such as NPDES permitting and compliance and Environmental Protection Agency compliance orders. RMC’s wastewater treatment planning expertise addresses big picture issues—process selection, operations and maintenance, expandability, and sustainability to meet future regulations—and more focused planning for biosolids management, plant rehabilitation and improvements, and energy efficiency.
Facilities Planning
Flood and Stormwater Protection
RMC specializes in management, planning, and design of multidisciplinary flood protection and stormwater management projects. Our approach goes beyond typical engineering design – we consider other relevant issues such as water supply and groundwater management, local redevelopment goals, community outreach, wildlife preservation and habitat enhancement, long-term channel sustainability, life cycle costs, funding opportunities, and “permitability.” RMC is also experienced in low impact development (LID) design for urban environments to address flood control, water quality, and increased storm volume. Our team of engineers includes statewide leaders in flood protection design, and our extensive experience includes projects constructed in sensitive urban and commercial areas and in alignments with significant utility conflicts. We are also well versed in using different modeling software tools, such as HEC-RAS, HEC-HMS, and EPA SWMM.
