SPR-696: Preliminary Study of Climate Adaptation for the Statewide ...

and how they apply the money for use (for instance, their budget requests may beas short as two pages, with no backup). Figuring out what is spent is a challengein and of itself.o Routine maintenance is still deferred by the districts; and although maintenancecrews had intended to do these tasks, the work often is sidelined due toemergency response needs. Emergency response funding is usually moreattractive for legislators.o Once costs are isolated, there is still a lot of guesswork. Each maintenance districtmanages its own funding. ADOT has a decentralized system, and there is littleresource sharing at the district level.o PErformance COntrolled System (PeCoS) is the maintenance databasemanagement system. There are many issues. Right now, it collects a lot ofinformation, but one typically needs Structured Query Language (SQL) datacoding to extract the data. It keeps track of use (data and equipment), but does notreally help with needs.o For instance, the database records the cubic yards of mix used, but does not saywhether it is used to fill 20 small potholes or one large pothole. It is hard to getfeedback on the activities (for instance, Globe might need a certain type ofsnowplow for its hilly terrain whereas Holbrook needs plows for a flatter terrain).o It is particularly important to collect data from field managers, and to aim forusability of the project.Correlating Extreme Weather Trends with Maintenance Budgetso The budget office is trying to correlate extreme weather trends with the futureneeds of the maintenance organizations. Each maintenance organization has adifferent need based on its own geography and roadway characteristics.o One effort of interest will be to categorize vehicle accidents according to whetherthey are “typical” accidents or weather-related incidents. There are costsassociated with weather events; upon initial assessment of data (from at least sixyears prior), the peaks are much greater than the troughs. The budget office isworking with the risk management office to deal with the risks of naturaldisasters. There can be “reserves” built in, depending on the funding system, if thedistrict or department is so lucky to have additional resources that are not depletedby the end of the year.GIS and Spatial Mapping Capabilitieso The budget office is working with the GIS department to develop district profilesand a spatial mapping environment for analysis. This will enable the visualizationof equipment and road needs with existing weather trends, such as snowfallinformation.o Currently, this data is focused on past trends, although there may be interest inconsidering future climate projections. The technical side of spatial mapping isstraightforward, but there may be barriers at the leadership level when integratingclimate change into the model. For example, ADOT would have to agree on astatewide projection or future climate scenario (and an ADOT-approvedprojection is unlikely to happen without state guidance).o Currently, ADOT’s budget analysis can only change the confidence level forfuture climate projections (from an actuarial point of view). For instance, the risk46