Opportunities for Collaboration: Final Report on West Coast Water Utility Workshop on Workforce Development

The West Coast Water Utility Workshop on Workforce Development was provided to jump-start the workforce component of an AwwaRF project entitled Bay Area Water Utilities Operations Collaborative: Model for Inter-Regional Utility Cooperation. In this project, AwwaRF is partnering with Contra Costa Water District, East Bay Municipal Utilities District, and San Francisco Public Utilities Commission to investigate potential models for water utilities to collaborate in addressing strategic issues of common concern. The West Coast Water Utility Workshop on Workforce Development was co-sponsored by Santa Clara Valley Water District, the San Francisco Public Utilities Commission, and the Cal/Nevada American Water Works Association. The purpose of the workshop was to help define and focus on mission-critical classifications at risk in terms of both quantity and work preparedness, and to investigate opportunities for collaboration in the areas (e.g., recruitment/retention, staff training, and knowledge retention) required to build a workforce that is prepared to support reliable operations.