A capital improvement plan (CIP) is a five-year plan that details projects and estimated expenditures for necessary improvements that ensure the safety and reliability of EID’s infrastructure. The five-year plan includes projects spread across EID's five categories of work—water, wastewater, recycled water, hydroelectric, and general district.

Each year, EID’s Board of Directors reviews and adopts an updated plan. In addition, throughout the year, the Board approves actual funding expenditures for each specific project included in the plan.

Working closely with the operations department and general manager, EID’s engineering department leads the yearly evaluation to develop the plan. Staff continually monitors operational, engineering, and business requirements to ensure that systems are in good working order.

During the evaluation process, staff assign one of three priority levels to each project. Priority 1a projects are mandatory for health and safety.

Projects identified as Priority 1b are required by law, regulations, or contract. Priority 1c projects are those that are already under construction.

Priority 2a projects are necessary to maintain the reliability of the district’s systems and facilities by replacing existing assets that have exceeded their useful life. Failure to replace the asset would lead to eventual failure of the water or wastewater facilities and cause interruptions in service. Priority 2b projects provide for increased revenues and Priority 2c projects meet demands of increasing growth.

Priority 3a projects increase service levels while Priority 3b projects improve efficiency. Finally, Priority 3c projects provide a community benefit. 

After the evaluation is complete, staff members then bring their recommendations before the EID Board at a public workshop, typically scheduled around September or October. The Board may give direction to staff at the workshop. Then, normally in November, the plan is presented to the Board as an action item for their final approval.

In order for the district to fulfill its mission to provide reliable, high-quality water and wastewater treatment services, and maintain its federally licensed hydroelectric project, EID must maintain, repair and replace its valuable capital assets.

To fund some of the high-cost rehabilitation and replacements, public agencies like EID use tax-free, low-interest bond financing to repair and replace infrastructure that will have a service life of 50 years or more. Other projects may have equal or longer horizons. Bond financing—low-interest debt—helps EID manage costs and spread it equitably across the generations of customers who will benefit from the needed repairs and improvements.

District staff are vigilant in evaluating the CIP to ensure that the projects included in the plan are vital and necessary to maintain reliability and protect public health. Safety, service reliability, and meeting regulatory mandates are three of the vital reasons we aim not to defer important projects.  

2025 – 2029 CIP

Useful Links

          Learn more about District finances (current CIP, Operating Budget, and CAFR)

          Document Library (current and prior CIPs)