Do Water Departments Face Negligence Claims Over Aging Infrastructure?

An interesting case to aggressively pursue asset management practices and condition assessments is to reduce the risk of LA Water/UCLA type water main ruptures.  Proper risk management practice is one of the cornerstones of effective asset management that water departments should be focused on.  With GIS + big data + water risk analytics, it seems very straightforward and practical to map out "risk corridors" associated with high risk water transmission lines (i.e., mapping out a damage flood way associated with the 100-year old line on the UCLA campus - - a major leak or break probably would have shown a potential liability of $200 million).  Two things seem important - (1.) the ability to combine and manage multiple data bases from numerous sources, i.e., property appraisal data + transmission main condition assessment data, and (2.) the ability to manage and think along infrastructure connectedness, i.e., when a major transmission main ruptures it impacts everything from transportation to telecommunications to educational resources.

The other side of effective asset asset management is managerial and political action.  Preventative, proactive, and predictability are the points you want to get to, but if you identify high risk lines and don't take action, and a court can show you should have taken action, you are probably at risk for negligence claims. From a story by Fox News:

"DWP spokesman Joe Ramallo said people who suffered damage from the flooding can file claims with the agency, which will work with UCLA on settling losses.

If a claim ends up in court, a plaintiff would have to show negligence on the part of the agency to establish liability, said Loyola Law School law professor John Nockleby. For example, if someone could show the aging steel pipe should have been replaced long ago "that could be an indicator something should have been done about it."

The 30-inch steel main that burst Tuesday on Sunset Boulevard shot a 30-foot geyser into the air that sent water down storm drains and onto campus.

The nearly century-old pipe was still gushing 1,000 gallons a minute Wednesday before it was shut off completely in the evening. Repairs were expected to take until Friday night or Saturday morning.

At its peak, water was streaming out of the break at a rate of 75,000 gallons a minute. The amount of water spilled could serve more than 100,000 Los Angeles Department of Water and Power customers for a day.

The rupture points to the risks and expense many cities face with miles of water lines installed generations ago. And it occurred in the midst of California's worst drought in decades and as tough new state fines took effect for residents who waste water by hosing down driveways or using a hose without a nozzle to wash their car."