Addressing Workforce Issues is Key to
Effective Utility Management Part 2–
COLLABORATIONS
By Jim Ginley, Cindy Goodburn, and Richard Gerstberger, P.E.
IN PART 1 OF THIS THREE-PART SERIES, WE DISCUSSED THE IMPORTANCE OF THE HUMAN
component to effective utility management and balancing competing priorities in an era in which water
utilities are facing increased regulations and water resource scarcity. Here we discuss the effectiveness
and necessity of utility-to-utility collaboration to get water workforce needs met.
20 | ROCKY MOUNTAIN WATER JULY 2019
FEATURE
A Workforce Development Convening
Steering Committee comprised of
members from the U.S. Environmental
Protection Agency (USEPA), WEF, Water
Research Foundation, AWWA, National
Association of Clean Water Agencies,
and the Association of Metropolitan
Water Agencies, organized a National
Water Sector Workforce Convening in
November 2018 in Alexandria, Virginia.
These organizations recognized that
water sector workforce challenges have
been well-characterized and discussed,
and that numerous organizations are
engaged in relevant work to identify
and address these challenges. The focus
of this convening was to build upon
and avoid duplication of existing efforts,
while providing an opportunity to bring
new perspectives to the issues and
collaboratively define a series of actions
that could be taken at the national level
to advance solutions.
The sessions at the convening were orga-nized
around five elements of an effective
water sector utility workforce program
and included strategic workforce plan-ning,
recruitment, retention, competency,
and building community, as well as a
session dedicated to the work being done
in a similar sector, transit, and a session
devoted to identifying next steps.
Utility-to-utility collaboration in all
areas of effective utility management
has become increasingly important as
managers and leaders struggle to meet
the challenges of aging infrastructure
and workforce; water quality, quantity
and availability; stringent regulations and
limited financial resources. Collaborations
allow utilities to share programs and
resources that have already been
developed without reinventing the wheel
or spending unnecessary time developing
and testing a program that may have
already been proven for another utility
and could be easily adapted.
Such a collaboration is found in
BAYWORK. BAYWORK is a consortium
of San Francisco Bay Area water and
wastewater utilities working together
to ensure that we will have the
reliable workforce needed to serve our
customers and protect the environment.
BAYWORK activities, programs, and
events are open to employees of all Bay
Area water and wastewater utilities.
BAYWORK has 27 signatories.