Asset Management

Water Conveyance Program

The Bureau of Reclamation owns over 10,000 miles of canals. Many of Reclamation's conveyance features are operated and maintained in partnership with irrigation and water districts. Achieving safe and reliable water delivery requires collaboration across federal, state, and local governments, as well as private operators and the public. To keep water flowing, Reclamation and its associated canal managers, inspectors and operators are experts at the operation and maintenance of conveyance features. The Water Conveyance Program conducts Reclamation-wide asset management activities. This includes maintaining a comprehensive asset inventory, providing policy guidance, planning activities, and ongoing condition assessments. To provide effective and transparent solutions we strive to foster collaboration among Reclamation offices, operating entities, and stakeholders.   

All American Canal, Arizona / California

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Resources:

• Urban Canals: Reclamation has been delivering water for over 100 years and owns more than 10,000 miles of canals of which over 800 miles have been identified as crossing through or in the vicinity of a populated area. These 800 miles of sections, classified as urbanized, are assigned a unique number which is referred to as a canal reach identification number (CRID) and given a condition rating following an inspection.  Reclamation is in its second phase of a Bureau-wide canal condition analysis. This ongoing process uses monitoring to prioritize action and enables informed decision making while balancing the cost and benefit of capital improvement projects.

• Prestressed Concrete Cylinder Pipe (PCCP). Reclamation's inventory of large diameter PCCP has been in service for 25-60 years, with over 40 installations totaling approximately 140 miles of pipe.  The effects of corrosion on this material has led to recent sudden failures. Reclamation is taking proactive measures to assess the condition of its inventory of PCCP and plan scenarios for anticipated repairs and replacements.  Evaluating the condition of prestressed reinforcement requires electromagnetic inspection from within the pipe. Reclamation is currently in the process of inspecting its full inventory of PCCP using this method and conducting an associated risk analysis. Similar to the urban canal effort the objective is to ensure safe and reliable operation, and to target maintenance and rehabilitation efforts where necessary.

Publications:

• See FAC 01-04, “Review of Operation and Maintenance (RO&M) Program Examination of Associated Facilities”, for review.

• See FAC 01-09, “Reporting Deferred Maintenance and Repairs (DM) of the Bureau of Reclamation’s Reserved Works Assets”, for review.
• See FAC 01-12, “Review of Operations and Maintenance of Urbanized Canals (RO&MUC) Program“, for review.

Training:

• Training and Guidance
• Canal Operation and Maintenance Guidelines

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Contact:

For additional information on the program, to request print copies of training materials, or to request a training class please contact:

Nicholas Casamatta, P.E., NCasamatta@usbr.gov, 303-445-3104