Wildrose, North Dakota

Written by Julie Hein, EFC Region 8 Category 2 Specialist

Wildrose is a city of 115 residents in Williams County, North Dakota. It was founded in 1910. The name Wildrose, was chosen in honor of the lovely wild roses that grew so profusely over the prairies.

After hearing about the high cost of mapping by engineers, Wildrose public works director Keith Rossmiller, requested the North Dakota Rural Water Systems Association to GIS map the water and wastewater systems.

Once a system knows what assets are managed, it is essential to know where they are located. This activity involves mapping the field assets and recording the location in the asset inventory. The assets' locations are recorded in GPS and with the physical address. A map must provide a visual picture of all of a system's asset locations, particularly the buried assets. The inventory map helps staff conceptualize the system and can aid spatial analysis to improve capital improvement and operations and maintenance decisions.

Project & Funding Specialist Julie Hein ventured to Wildrose and GIS-mapped their water and wastewater assets. She also assisted them with purchasing a license with Esri to use the Field Map app to manage their assets after the initial mapping.

Anytime the city of Wildrose needs assistance with its asset management and basic management practices, it will call the North Dakota Rural Water Systems Association.

A one-time of $5,000 was saved by having NDRWSA GIS map their system instead of hiring an engineering firm to conduct the same service.

Savings $5,000.00