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How Desert Water Agency Is Keeping Its Employees and Customers Safe
DWA employees in the field wearing personal protective equipment
D
esert Water Agency (DWA) provides water services to about 90,000 people in Palm Springs, California. As an essential service provider, DWA has had to find creative ways to continue its services during the COVID‑19 pandemic. In this interview, DWA Manager Mark Krause tells Municipal Water Leader about the changes the agency has had to make to overcome the disruptions of the pandemic. Municipal Water Leader: Please tell us about your background.
8 | MUNICIPAL WATER LEADER | JUNE 2020 COVID-19 SPECIAL ISSUE
Municipal Water Leader: How has the COVID‑19 pandemic affected your operations? Mark Krause: It came as a huge surprise, but we reacted quickly. We immediately started to socially distance by changing our work schedule. Almost everyone transferred to telecommuting, so we had to get a lot of electronics and laptops. Our field crews typically don’t work in the office, so telecommuting is not an easy fit for their jobs. We had them come in every other day and to do training on the days they stayed home. We also postponed a lot of work that is not essential to keeping the water system moving, especially tasks that required us to get closer than 6 feet together. We made some changes in the way our field crews work; they maintain social distance out in the field unless it’s absolutely necessary not to. Municipal Water Leader: Are there any other things that you’re doing to keep your customers and employees safe? municipalwaterleader.com
PHOTOS COURTESY OF DWA.
Mark Krause: I am the general manager for DWA. I graduated from Cal Poly San Luis Obispo in 1986 with a bachelor’s in engineering and went to work for Krieger & Stewart in Riverside. I did lots of projects in the water world, including surveying and inspection. I became familiar with many agencies and the different ways they do things. DWA was one of the best of our clients. They did things right. About 9 years into my career at Krieger & Stewart, in 1995, DWA offered me a job, and I decided to make a change. That was 25 years ago. I established an engineering department and a planning department at DWA; we now do a lot of our own design. I worked my way up through operations to become the supervisor of engineering
operations, then assistant general manager, and finally general manager. I’ve been DWA’s general manager for about 5 years now.
