With aging infrastructure and increased needs to improve reliability, the Santa Clara Valley Water District (District) set out to create a comprehensive asset management program (AMP) in 2002. The District has used a computerized maintenance management system since 1994. This system has been useful for generating work orders and tracking preventative and corrective maintenance (PM/CM); however, the District wanted a program that could optimize maintenance over equipment lifecycle. This paper discusses how an appropriate program was put in place and its core components that include: hierarchy development; asset inventory; condition assessment; risk assessment; lifecycle management; and, financial analysis and funding.