Strategic asset management approach for planning investment in a large-scale irrigation system

Typically, large-scale irrigation systems are built almost entirely in a short time-frame, a significant part of the assets age at the same time and concentrated investment needs for rehabilitation are predictable. This paper focuses on planning these needs in an aggregated way, providing a big picture for the long term investment plan. A methodology for this purpose was developed and applied to a large-scale irrigation utility in Portugal. For such, the following steps were taken: (i) system breakdown by functional areas; (ii) infrastructure components disaggregation; (iii) diagnosis of the reference situation; (iv) evaluation of long-term alternatives for rehabilitation investment planning. The methodology is in line with the IAM approach recommended by IWA and the ISO55000 standards. In this paper, the specificities of this particular application, namely a proposal of irrigation component classes, and the studied alternatives, are presented. As an overall result, it was possible to indicate a path for economic sustainability without committing the infrastructure sustainability: it is based on gradual replacement of the assets reaching their useful life, combined with a constant rehabilitation rate. This paper is a contribution to an AM system for irrigation utilities, so alignment with IAM and the contribution to a broader IAM system is highlighted.