Water Supply Resilience Preparedness Assessment • Optimatics

The Supply Resilience Self-Assessment

Twelve questions, about four minutes. You get a score out of 100, your maturity band, and a peer benchmark showing where comparable utilities sit.

This assessment covers source complexity, planning maturity, constraint visibility, and commercial and growth exposure. Four dimensions, 25 points each.

We ask for your email on the final page, before your score is released, so we can send your benchmark. We do not use it for anything else.

Step 1 of 7

14%

Demand Forecasting & Understanding

1. How does your utility forecast water demand for the next 6–24 months?(Required)

Please select one.

No formal forecast

Primarily based on historical demand

Statistical/model-based forecast

Forecast incorporates weather, population, events, and other demand drivers

2. How frequently is the demand forecast updated?(Required)

Please select one.

Rarely

Annually

Seasonally

Monthly

Continuously/automatically

Supply & Demand Balancing

3. How far into the future does your utility actively plan its water production?(Required)

Please select one.

N/A

<1 month

1–3 months

3–6 months

6–12 months

12–24+ months

4. How many different water sources must be considered when developing the production plan?(Required)

Please select one.

One

2–3

4–5

More than 5

5. How many different pressure zones is your utility responsible for supplying?(Required)

Please select one.

One

2–3

4–5

More than 5

6. When forecasted demand conditions or available supply expectations change, how much manual effort is involved in re-evaluating the production plan?(Required)

Please select one.

1–2 hrs

3–5 hrs

5–10 hrs

Greater than 10 hrs

Water Resources & Water Rights

7. Does your utility produce 100% of its treated water resources or does it also rely on purchased water resources?(Required)

Please select one.

100% Self-Reliant

100% Purchased

Mixture

8. How much withdrawal limit variability do your different water sources have over the course of the year due to water rights or source restrictions?(Required)

Please select one.

Each source has a static annual withdrawal limit

All sources have a variable withdrawal schedule

Mixture

9. How effective is your current planning process in identifying when projected demand could conflict with water-right or source restrictions?(Required)

Please select one (1 – 5 scale).

1 – Not at all effective

2 – Slightly effective

3 – Moderately effective

4 – Very effective

5 – Extremely effective

10. How effective is your current planning process at evaluating the operational consequences of potential changes to certain water rights conditions on the rest of the system?(Required)

Please select one (1 – 5 scale).

1 – Not at all effective

2 – Slightly effective

3 – Moderately effective

4 – Very effective

5 – Extremely effective

Storage & Production Operations

11. How effective is your current planning process at determining the optimal production schedule across multiple treatment plants, sources, and storages?(Required)

Please select one (1 – 5 scale).

1 – Not at all effective

2 – Slightly effective

3 – Moderately effective

4 – Very effective

5 – Extremely effective

12. How effective is your current planning process at evaluating the operational consequences of changing production at one facility on the rest of the system?(Required)

Please select one (1 – 5 scale).

1 – Not at all effective

2 – Slightly effective

3 – Moderately effective

4 – Very effective

5 – Extremely effective

Cost & Energy Optimization

13. When developing production plans, what variables do you consider associated with each water source or treatment facility?(Required)

Please select all that apply.

Cost of Production

Energy Usage

Treatment Costs

Other

14. How effective is your planning process at identifying opportunities to shift production to lower-cost periods?(Required)

Please select one (1 – 5 scale).

1 – Not at all effective

2 – Slightly effective

3 – Moderately effective

4 – Very effective

5 – Extremely effective

15. How effective is your planning process at actively balancing water production requirements against energy, chemical, labor, and other operating costs?(Required)

Please select one (1 – 5 scale).

1 – Not at all effective

2 – Slightly effective

3 – Moderately effective

4 – Very effective

5 – Extremely effective

Scenario Planning & Resilience

16. How effective is your planning process at evaluating the impact of drought on future water availability?(Required)

Please select one (1 – 5 scale).

1 – Not at all effective

2 – Slightly effective

3 – Moderately effective

4 – Very effective

5 – Extremely effective

17. How effective is your planning process at modeling different demand scenarios to understand their impact on future supply?(Required)

Please select one (1 – 5 scale).

1 – Not at all effective

2 – Slightly effective

3 – Moderately effective

4 – Very effective

5 – Extremely effective

18. How quickly can your team answer questions such as: “What happens if demand is 10% higher than forecasted?”(Required)

Please select one (1 – 5 scale).

1 – Days to weeks

2 – Within a few days

3 – Within a day

4 – Within a few hours

5 – In real time/minutes

19. How quickly can your team evaluate alternative operating strategies before a significant planned outage occurs?(Required)

Please select one (1 – 5 scale).

1 – Days to weeks

2 – Within a few days

3 – Within a day

4 – Within a few hours

5 – In real time/minutes

20. Does your planning process incorporate historical weather or hydrological conditions?(Required)

Please select one.

Yes

21. How frequently does your utility conduct formal “what-if” planning exercises?(Required)

Please select one (1 – 5 scale).

1 – Never

2 – Rarely (less than annually)

3 – Annually

4 – Quarterly

5 – Monthly or more often

22. How effective is your planning process at identifying the point at which additional infrastructure, water transfers, or other investments may be required?(Required)

Please select one (1 – 5 scale).

1 – Not at all effective

2 – Slightly effective

3 – Moderately effective

4 – Very effective

5 – Extremely effective

Data, Process & Organizational Maturity

23. Where does the data required for water production planning reside?(Required)

Please select one.

Primarily in individual spreadsheets

Multiple disconnected systems

Centralized database/data platform

Integrated operational data environment

24. How well resourced is the planning department at your organization?(Required)

Please select one (1 – 5 scale).

1 – Severely under-resourced

2 – Under-resourced

3 – Adequately resourced

4 – Well resourced

5 – Fully resourced

25. How important is the documentation and defense of production planning decisions at your utility?(Required)

Please select one (1 – 5 scale).

1 – Not important

2 – Slightly important

3 – Moderately important

4 – Very important

5 – Extremely important

Email(Required)

We ask for your email before your score is released so we can send your benchmark. We do not use it for anything else.

Consent(Required)

By submitting this form, you are consenting to email communications.

Preparedness Assessment

The Supply Resilience Self-Assessment

Demand Forecasting & Understanding

Supply & Demand Balancing

Water Resources & Water Rights

Storage & Production Operations

Cost & Energy Optimization

Scenario Planning & Resilience

Data, Process & Organizational Maturity

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