Civiltec Engineering Delivers New Master Plans for Kachina Village Improvement District

Civiltec Engineering recently completed the new Water and Wastewater Master Plans for the Kachina Village Improvement District (KVID), an unincorporated community approximately 10 miles south of Flagstaff. The purpose of the two Master Plans is to establish a realistic and affordable plan of operations for the next 20-year horizon. KVID had requested the Master Plans in order to develop a 20-year investment program where they could reach improvement goals by spreading out expenditures and prioritized projects annually. Engineers in Civiltec’s Peoria office, with survey support from the Prescott office, completed the two plans in April and May 2017, respectively.

Located in Flagstaff, Arizona, KVID was formed in 1965 as a division of the Coconino County Public Works Department. KVID is committed to providing clean, safe drinking water and wastewater collection and treatment services to its 2,600+ residents. The community offers a full range of infrastructure, including water, sewer, and other utilities; public streets; full-service fire protection; community-oriented law enforcement; and park and open space amenities.

Civiltec began working with KVID to prepare new Water and Wastewater Master Plans in the Fall of 2015. The Civiltec team mapped GIS data and constructed and calibrated new hydraulic models for the water and wastewater systems. These models were designed based on as-built drawings and specific field data collected (water valves, equipment information, sewer manholes, etc.)

The findings of the system analyses, facility assessments, operational staff input, and a review of financial information and previous planning documents indicated the need for both short- and long-term system improvements. The water system will require a new groundwater well to improve supply reliability and a new Supervisory, Control, and Data Acquisition (SCADA) system to improve monitoring and remote control. The project scope also includes installing new pressure regulating systems to improve supply from the North Pressure Zone to the South Pressure Zone, while replacing pipelines in a phased program to improve aging infrastructure.

The wastewater system will require short- and long-term improvements as well: Civiltec will replace or reline manholes to increase system life as well as upgrade the wastewater treatment plant, which will render it capable of meeting current, near-term, and ultimate flow conditions while still meeting all regulatory permitting requirements. Lastly, this system will be outfitted with pipeline replacements to improve flow conditions and replacement of the lift stations to improve reliability and energy efficiency.

As of December 2015, the community had 1,387 active utility service connections. Currently, KVID provides water service through a 17-mile network of underground pipelines; the KVID water system consists of wells, distribution mains, pump stations, reservoirs, and disinfection facilities.

The KVID wastewater system consists of gravity mains, force mains, manholes, cleanouts, lift stations, a wastewater treatment plant, and effluent evaporation ponds. A gravity wastewater disposal system collects wastewater for transport to the KVID wastewater treatment plant. Treated wastewater effluent is delivered to a series of evaporation ponds at the northern edge of the community, which provide an ideal habitat for local and migrating wildlife.

Civiltec’s current facility condition assessments indicate an ongoing need to perform regularly scheduled maintenance and capital improvements to maintain the systems’ reliability and long-term value to the citizens. As the maintenance and capital improvement program incurs cost, these costs must be recovered by the utility through its rate structure in order to remain self-supporting.

The high priority system improvements are scheduled to begin in 2017. The overall capital improvement program will be implemented over a 20-year period.