OUR WORK

Failing infrastructure threatens to degrade the quality of life in our beautiful San Diego. Public agencies can benefit from more voices advocating for maintenance and improvement.

Engineers are part of the infrastructure solution!

Friends of Infrastructure was formed to help public agencies and officials improve our infrastructure. Our priorities are projects/policies that:

Replace and maintain water and sewer systems
Conserve water and recycle wastewater
Construct or widen critical roads and bridges
Protect water quality
Improve maintenance of streets, drainage systems, and parks

Friends of Infrastructure is supporting the following

Calls for Action

Support Desalination

The Regional Water Quality Control Board scheduled Poseidon's proposed Flow, Entrainment, and Impingement Minimization Plan for consideration at their April 9 Public Hearing. The Carlsbad Desalination Project is a critically needed new water supply for the San Diego region that has been 8 years in the making. The Plan has been under review for 12 months and was extensively revised on two occasions in response to comments received from the Regional Board staff and the public.

Accomplishments

Notice to Mayor Sanders

Friends of Infrastructure gave a Top Ten list of infrastructure priority issues to the Mayor of San Diego at the January 2008 ASCE San Diego Section luncheon. These are:
1. Replace and maintain our aging water and sewer systems.
2. Implement reservoir augmentation (indirect potable reuse).
3. Achieve renewal of the advanced primary wastewater treatment permit (the waiver) for the Point Loma Wastewater Treatment Plant.
4. Support the current round of TCIF transportation funding applications, which could mean up to $400 million for the region.
5. Continue to increase budgets for street pavement and maintenance.
6. Support construction of critical transportation facilities, including road widening and bridges.
7. Stop the "brain drain" of experienced project managers from the City, which is delaying project deliveries.
8. Mitigate onerous language in consultant agreements.
9. Champion regional solutions to construction materials shortages (e.g., sand, cement, aggregate).
10. Publish a list of projects and their progress so all San Diegans can track results.

Support for Indirect Potable Reuse

The Mayor reported he would get a 90 percent grade on the list, supporting all of the above except indirect potable reuse.
Friends of Infrastructure supported the San Diego City Council's December 2007 decision to override the Mayor's veto and study indirect potable reuse. We continue to monitor and support all projects that would enhance San Diego's local water supply reliability and sufficiency.

Engineering Day at the Mall

The Younger Member Forum of ASCE San Diego Section, several of whom are members of Friends of Infrastructure, helped organize Engineering Day at the Grossmont Mall in February 2008. Professional engineers as well as student members from UCSD and SDSU led activities with elementary school children. Popular activities were Make Your Own Flashlight, Marshmallow Towers, and Aluminum Foil Boats. Members of the Steel Bridge team from UCSD assembled their bridge, and answered questions from curious attendees. Students from SDSU displayed posters from the construction of their concrete canoe, as well as a scale model of the canoe. Parents and children gained an appreciation for engineering and the difference engineers can make in the quality of life.

Opportunities

We train engineers in effective media relations and government outreach. Click here for more information