Tools and techniques for involving the public in critical projects

摘要

As communities develop and urbanize, core water system facilities often are located in older, established neighborhoods. Expanding needed capacity in phases is beneficial for economic and hydraulic reasons. However, these projects can pose significant community and environmental challenges, requiring that the project team be sensitive to affected communities' concerns. A comprehensive public education, information, and involvement program to communicate the need for the project and convey this sensitivity can promote project approval and even endorsement. Beginning in the mid-1980s, the Washington Suburban Sanitary Commission, located in Maryland, prepared facility plans for its four major water service zones - the Montgomery County high zone, and the Prince George's County high zone, and the combined Montgomery and Prince George's Counties main zones. Major system improvements were identified that could be phased in over time. In the combined main zones, the need was identified for additional distribution and pumping capacity to convey water from the Potomac Water Filtration Plant into Montgomery and Prince George's Counties. A series of major transmission improvements encircling the Beltway transportation artery was placed into service in the 1980s and 1990s. Only a six-mile segment of pipeline remained to be constructed near some of the most established neighborhoods in the Kensington area of southern Montgomery County. Involving the public in the process of evaluating potential alignments and different construction techniques was paramount to the success of the project. Equally important was presenting information in a manner that did not pit neighborhoods against each other, but that objectively identified major factors that should be considered in the evaluation and decision-making process. In support of these objectives, a series of public involvement activities was held. Those began with public information sessions in the study area, followed by formation of a Citizen's Advisory Committee made up of interested parties. This paper will describe and illustrate a number of visual, graphic, and interactive tools and approaches that were developed for this project to inform the public, to obtain input from interested parties, and to respond to their concerns while factoring their input into the project evaluation process.