Annual WEF Board Retreat Comes to Florida!

Sondra W. Lee, P.E. President, FWEA

After rescheduling due to Hurricane Nicole, the annual Water Environment Federation (WEF) Board of Trustees Retreat was nearly affected a second time by massive flight delays when a winter storm seriously impacted flights across the East Coast in early January. With great luck all of the board members were able to make their flights down to south Florida just in time to kick off the two-day event the morning of January 5 in Miami Beach.

Each year, the new president of WEF selects the location of the annual retreat, so this year Ifetayo Venner brought the retreat to Florida. She selected the Miami area for its unique culture and proximity to Jamaica and Barbados, where she had grown up. Miami was a place she and her family would visit years before becoming a Florida resident and WEF president.

As FWEA president, I was able to attend the first morning session of the retreat to welcome the board to Florida, providing some general information about the geography of the state, the setup of the FWEA chapters, and the FWEA strategic business plan goals.

The focus on Florida continued for the remainder of the morning with two panel discussions with local water leaders.

Miami Area Utility Leaders Panel Discussion

The first panel, moderated by Joan Fernandez, FWEA treasurer, consisted of three local utility leaders:

S Marisela Aranguiz, capital improvements program deputy director, Miami-Dade Water and Sewer Department

S Andrea Suarez Abastida, director, North Miami Beach Water

S Christina Ortega Castinerias, city engineer, City of Miami Beach

Each panel member provided an overview of their utility and what challenges they’re facing. Some of the issues these water utility leaders addressed include the following:

Public Advocacy of the Water Industry

A key area for a water utility to improve on is to better utilize public outreach and advocacy. Water industry projects are invisible necessities and local officials and citizens don’t always understand their importance, especially since these projects do not spark a lot of publicity campaigns that could generate excitement. Educating local officials would prevent important water infrastructure projects from being sidelined by campaign promises that often receive priority in local funding efforts. Unfortunately, it may take a sunny-day flooding event to finally catch the attention of the individuals in charge of setting funding priorities.

Workforce

Utilities are facing a lot of vacancies, and filling positions has been extra challenging due to the low wages that are being offered, along with the requirement to work atypical hours, including the requirement to work during storm events. Many utilities have had to rehire retired employees to fill in position gaps. Officially declaring water industry workers at an “essential” status might help with wages. Members of management need to stay engaged with their staff by meeting them in their workspace. Offering an intern program could help bring in employees and career progression programs may help retain them.

Supply Issues

As supply issues continue to plague project schedules and budgets, it’s important for managers to keep commissioners and board members up to date with issues, so they don’t become surprised. Utilities could network and make connections with other utilities to seek assistance in obtaining parts and equipment to help ease some of the pressure.

South Florida Water Industry Panel Discussion

The second panel consisted of individuals in the South and Southeast Chapter areas, from three different workforce areas:

S Private consulting - Abnery Pincon, Gannet Fleming

S Government/utilities - Raghavender Joshi, Miami-Dade County

S Manufacturing industry - Alexander Kraemer, Thermal Process Systems

Melody Gonzalez, FWEA Member Relations Committee chair, moderated the group, starting off by asking each panel member to share the story of how they ended up in the water industry. This was followed by questions about what water challenges they see in the south Florida area, which can be summarized in three general topics:

Water Issues

Improvements are needed to an aging water supply distribution system, and saltwater intrusion is becoming a larger problem with water supplies. A “One Water” concept is the path for the future, but public outreach is critical to its success. It was also suggested that virus monitoring in wastewater should be implemented across more utilities.

Attracting and Retaining Water Workers

This panel stressed that there is a need to make environmental engineering more appealing to younger generations. At the same time there is a need to keep the existing workforce engaged, interested, and invested in working in the water industry. Some suggestions, like rotating new employees through different departments or implementing an internship program similar to that in Hillsborough County, would be beneficial.

Professional associations also have a role to play. Reaching out to students in high school and at universities could help attract people to the industry. Associations can help with retaining workers by continuing to keep workers engaged with the industry. Onboarding programs currently used by FWEA provide a personal touch that can really go far in engagement. Cross-sector networking would also enhance engagement by getting those who work in consulting, manufacturing, and construction (and with other utilities) talking to each other on a routine basis.

Outreach Programs

Public education on how water resources are managed can provide a positive image of the water industry and has the potential to attract workers. Outreach efforts and programs need to be done by all sectors of the water industry. Utilities should have a dedicated position to reach out to schools and the general public to highlight the importance of water resources and workers. Likewise, private industry should also contribute resources to help outreach efforts, which could be considered an investment in their future workforce and possibly strengthen relationships with utilities and other clients. Both groups, as well as individuals, may need to look into modern outreach methods.

Are you up to becoming an influencer for the cause?

During the panel discussions it was noted that each of the six panelists, and the two moderators, were born outside of the United States. The panelists were selected based on their working roles, and it was only coincidence that they were such a diverse group of panelists. This is just a perfect example of how diverse this part of Florida is, where more than half of the residents in Miami-Dade County are foreign born.

These morning panel discussions provided an opportunity for the WEF board of trustees to hear firsthand some of the issues facing south Florida, many of which are issues across the U.S., and a few that appeared unique. Several of the WEF board members followed up with questions and were genuinely interested and intrigued by these discussions.

One board member from an interior state, far from any water body, commented on how fascinating it was to hear directly from a utility dealing with rising sea levels, something they have not had to address.

It was also a great opportunity for FWEA members to meet the WEF board in a smallgroup setting, outside of the WEF Technical Exhibition and Conference (WEFTEC), as we all work together toward WEF’s vision of a “Life Free of Water Challenges.”S