West Yost recently completed the City of Garden Grove’s Water System Master Plan Update. The principal challenges facing the City included aging infrastructure and capacity issues associated with older small-diameter mains. West Yost updated the distribution system hydraulic model, planned and completed a field program to collect hydrant flow test data, calibrated the model pipeline roughness values using the field data, and verified the model comparing model operations to SCADA data. As part of the field program, West Yost piloted the use of ESRI Survey 1-2-3 and iPads to streamline data collection, which is now being implemented for other projects.
West Yost also performed hydraulic evaluations for normal operations, fire flow, and several emergency scenarios, including power outage, earthquake, main break, PFAS contamination, and facilities failure. As part of the Water Master Plan, West Yost completed a SCADA Master Plan update, performed a facilities condition assessment of the City’s wells and pump stations, and prepared an Asset Management Plan. Using the results of the condition assessment, West Yost performed a risk-based analysis to characterize the likelihood of failure, based on the condition ratings for the facilities, and the consequence of failure, based on the facility’s criticality to system operations. The analysis was used to prioritize improvements for the wells and booster pump stations. West Yost developed a $100 million prioritized capital improvement program, identifying improvements for the 2021 – 2040 timeframe.
Team Spotlight
Polly Boissevain, PE
Chief Engineer, Acting Water Resources Practice Area Leader, Engineering Manager II
Polly Boissevain, PE
Chief Engineer, Acting Water Resources Practice Area Leader, Engineering Manager II
“What excites me about coming to work each day is that I really like working with clients and helping them to develop solutions. I also really like mentoring younger staff. I am excited by learning new things and enjoy that our less experienced staff are too.
The project which was the most complicated and challenging was the 2015 Facilities Master Plan for Eastern Municipal Water District for a 550 sq mile area for which they needed a preliminary CIP in under a year. They had a short time frame, and I am proud that I was able to pull together six teams of expert level water modelers to work on it simultaneously. It was a cool project and the district was really happy with it.”
Kambria Tiano, PE
Associate Engineer II
Kambria Tiano, PE
Associate Engineer II
“I originally started my civil engineering career designing stormwater facilities. When I started with West Yost, I had the opportunity to try water resources planning. I realized that helping our clients provide clean water to communities is the impact I want to make in industry. The work is highly motivating, and I’m thankful for the career pivot to potable and recycled water planning and modeling.
One of the projects I am very proud to have worked on is the City of Garden Grove’s 2020 Water Master Plan Update. My involvement in the project started with supporting the proposal team and participating in the winning interview. Once the project kicked off, I served as the Assistant Project Manager/System Analysis Lead and attended client meetings to understand the City’s water system operations and infrastructure needs. A key takeaway from the project was the value in teaming the hydraulic modeling group with the OTCR team to develop a full understanding of the system—something we plan to continue in the future. West Yost’s relationship with the City has progressed to a new project for SCADA implementation, and I look forward to continuing to support the City.”
Amy Kwong, PE
Acting Water Resources Practice Area Leader, Principal Engineer II
Amy Kwong, PE
Acting Water Resources Practice Area Leader, Principal Engineer II
“I enjoy working collaboratively with our clients to develop solutions to water supply and distribution challenges.
I’m proud of supporting the City of Tracy with water master planning and hydraulic modeling services for the past ten years starting with the 2012 Citywide Water System Master Plan project, which began in 2009. It’s been rewarding to see how our planning efforts using the City’s water system hydraulic model have successfully guided development in new pressure zones. Our current work on the 2020 Citywide Water System Master Plan Update will help guide the City’s water system improvements for years to come.”