Dear Friend:

Orange County in some respects is a microcosm of our nation. We are a culturally diverse, and rapidly growing county which are getting close to being totally developed and built out. As such, our infrastructure is beginning to show its age especially in the northern and central portion of the County. Additionally, Orange County is still recovering from its financial troubles of mid 1990’s and therefore needs to plan all of its infrastructure investments very carefully.

Three years ago, through the efforts of the UC Irvine CEE Affiliates and ASCE, Orange County became the first County in California to release a comprehensive Infrastructure Report Card. The report received local and national media coverage and helped focus needed attention on the condition of our infrastructure. One of the main reasons for garnering this attention was that the overall GPA for Orange County’s infrastructure was a “C”. This was not consistent with the overall image and high quality of life we associate with Orange County. But it conveyed a powerful message that even one of the richest and most desirable places to live in this country is not immune to the effects of deteriorating infrastructure.

Last September, we started the process of reviewing and updating the work that was done on the first Orange County Infrastructure Report Card. We were fortunate to be able to gather the same dedicated individuals whom had worked on the 2002 Report Card as well as adding new members that brought a fresh and insightful perspective to the task. The result of their hard work and dedication is the new and updated 2005 edition which was released on October 21, 2005. Our work, however, is not done. Developing the report card was the first step in highlighting the importance of infrastructure maintenance. And as you will see in this report the grades are not all good. Much work needs to be done on the local and county-wide level to improve the grades.

Over the next 20 years, Orange County is expected to grow at a rapid pace. The Orange County Business Council estimates about half a million additional residents and more than half a million new jobs will be added to the County. Orange County is also transitioning from a suburban county to an urban county. With a population of 2,846,289 (2000 census), Orange County is the second most populous county in the state of California and the fifth most populous in the United States, which makes it one of the most sought after places to work and live in the world.

In the mean time our task is to educate our public on the importance of infrastructure maintenance, encourage our colleagues in the public sector to continue the fight for infrastructure funding and maintenance, and to actively communicate to our elected officials the important role that infrastructure maintenance plays in our every day lives.

Yazdan T. Emrani, P.E.
President
UC Irvine Civil & Environmental Engineering Affiliates