A community meeting at KID's headquarters.
KENNEWICK IRRIGATION DISTRICT’S CUSTOMER SERVICE STRATEGY
K
18 | IRRIGATION LEADER
Joshua Dill: Would you tell us about your background and how you came to be in your current position? Dana Hernandez: I started out working at the front desk of a hotel. I did that for about 5 years and found that I really enjoyed dealing with people and helping them with whatever issues had come up. After that, I went on to a few different jobs, which were more operations-type work. During this time, I earned my bachelor’s degree in business management. When the position at the irrigation district opened, I applied for it because I saw it as an opportunity to get back into working with the public. When I was hired by KID, I started supervising the customer service department because I was quite well versed in dealing with customers. Then, last year, the opportunity came up to be able to supervise and work closely with
Shelbea Voelker, our public relations coordinator. Joshua Dill: Would you give us a quick overview of KID’s history, its service area, and its services? Dana Hernandez: The district’s roots go back to the late 1800s. The modern KID we know today was formed back in the 1950s, when this area was mostly agricultural land. Our system was built to bring Yakima River water to the Tri-Cities via open canals. As the Tri-Cities have grown, our services have shifted from mainly agricultural to mainly residential services. The district now serves about 25,000 accounts representing over 65,000 people and has 74 miles of canals and over 300 miles of pipeline. Our system is over 60 years old now, and aging infrastructure poses a challenge. Many of our existing canals
PHOTO COURTESY OF KID.
ennewick Irrigation District (KID), nestled in the Tri-Cities area of Washington State, was started in the 1950s. The canal system that KID was formed to build is still in operation today, serving more than 65,000 people. The district has shifted from primarily agricultural land usage to more urban land usage as the Tri-Cities— Kennewick, Pasco, and Richland—have grown. To make that shift successful, the district employs various methods of outreach to engage the public about how their water is used. In this interview, Dana Hernandez, the customer service supervisor at KID, speaks with Irrigation Leader Managing Editor Joshua Dill about the district’s history, its current public outreach strategy, and the challenges of maintaining a safe and effective district to serve to the community.
