Rancho California
Water District, Temecula, CA
Start: 1998 End: 1999
Contact: Mr. Pete Muserelli
Rancho California Water District
42135 Winchester Road
Temecula, CA 92589
Phone: (909) 296-6900

The Rancho California Water District (District) awarded two successive
contracts to Nobel Systems to provide GIS data conversion services
for their water, sewer and reclaimed water network. The projects
included modifications to the existing database design, correction
on an existing GIS database, conversion of the existing VMS/Oracle
database to a Microsoft Access database, and update of the GIS database
by converting new as-built construction plans. As a follow on to
the initial contract, Nobel Systems received another contract in
1999 to further enhance the Districts GIS database for the
water system.

Project 1: Database Design Analysis and Modification
The existing ArcInfo coverages and database structures were analyzed.
Since they did not totally conform to the Districts requirements,
Nobel Systems recommended the best-suited architecture. Microsoft
Access was used as the DBMS of choice in the District. Nobel Systems
reviewed and implemented the database design after conducting a
user-needs assessment, to determine the GIS requirements and standards
for the project.
Project 2: Water & Reclaimed Water
GIS Conversion
Prior to Nobel Systems work, the District contracted with
an engineering firm to create a GIS database. This work was also
done before the District standardized on ArcInfo software. The origingal
water database lacked node topology and did not have pipeline connectivity
or continuity. Nobel Systems edited the data and attempted to create
a complete and correct ArcInfo database. During this work it became
evident that it was taking longer to find and correct errors, since
the construction as-built maps had to be reviewed to make the repairs.
Nobel Systems completed the edits so that the District would have
a provisional database to use for ongoing projects, but the original
database also lacked critical attribute data. Nobel Systems was
then contracted to rebuild the water and reclaimed water systems
using construction as-built maps. The existing water database was
used as a reference during the conversion.
Project 3: Sewer GIS Conversion
This was a new project, and the database was created from the as-built
construction plans. Nobel Systems digitized the pipes and features
from the as-built construction plans. Since sewer flows by gravity
(in 90% of the network), the pipes were always digitized in the
direction of flow. This insured adaptibility to the sewer flow models.
The initial data capture process involved placement of nodes such
as manholes, cleanouts, stubouts or pumpstations. The source information
(asbuilt plans) allowed for accurate placement of data. Using a
set of sophisticated programs, Nobel Systems employed a "connect-the-dots"
technique, whereby each node was connected by a pipeline, depending
on the invert elevations. Nobel Systems ran QCview (an automated
QC program in ArcView) to check data integrity and consistency.
Project 4: Integration and Coordination
with County Landbase
The District used the Riverside County GIS landbase as the base
of its GIS system. The county provided access to the landbase via
FTP, and posted updates on a regular basis. The problem was that
the data did not conform to the Districts needs. The county
GIS layers, layer names, database design and tiling structure all
differed from the Districts specifications. Nobel Systems
developed ArcInfo AMLs that made it fast and easy for the District
to download and reformat the county landbase. This insured that
the District always has the most current and up-to-date version
of the landbase in its GIS.
Project 5: GIS Updates
The District contracted with Nobel Systems to update the sewer and
water GIS databases from new construction asbuilt maps. Nobel Systems
captured facilities according to the standards and merged the resulting
data into existing ArcInfo coverages.

Final database design
Water & Sewer system ArcInfo database
Checkplots for review
Scans of Asbuilts
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