WLI 2025 Final Project: Leveraging Best Practices to Build a Robust Water Workforce

Each year the final project is a major part of the Water Leadership Institute. The WLI 2025 cohorts wrote articles on turning challenges into strengths through resilient leadership.

Introduction

The water resource recovery industry must confront many emerging challenges, but arguably none more fundamental than building and maintaining a skilled workforce. With an aging labor pool, the sector is bracing for a "silver tsunami" that could soon vacate up to half of existing positions through retirement (Dickerson, 2018). The U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics projects that this will create over 10,000 annual openings (USBLS, 2025).

To face this pressing challenge, water leaders and their organizations must take strategic action across three critical areas: increasing positive publicity to raise industry recognition, improving recruitment to attract diverse talent, and retaining that talent by creating institutions where people want to build long-term careers.

However, success in these areas requires more than traditional "business-as-usual" policies—it demands a fundamental shift in workplace culture, one that starts with leadership capable of navigating change while maintaining organizational integrity. This type of resilient leadership is exemplified by leaders like Mickey Conway, CEO of Metro Water Recovery in Denver, who explains: "You have got to be adaptable, but still keep your core values. If you show that you can be flexible in your thinking, and you show that you can meet people where they are and bring them along for the change, you build trust."

This leadership mindset—one that balances adaptability with core values and emphasizes authentic engagement—provides the foundation for the workforce development strategies explored in the remainder of this article.

Increase Publicity

A recent survey conducted by the Water Environment Federation found that “lack of awareness” was one of the leading barriers to recruitment. (WEF, 2025) People won’t pursue a career that they don’t know exists, so how do industry leaders overcome this knowledge barrier? The survey’s results suggest efforts could be increased in three key areas:

1. Grow social media presence to reach younger generations.
2. Build working relationships with educational institutions at all levels.
3. Leverage traditional media sources (TV, radio, podcasts, etc.) to engage those with low online presence.

Educational outreach can be especially important for informing young people who are developing their future ambitions, and it can come in a variety of forms – coordination with guidance counselors, hosting field trips at resource recovery facilities, offering job shadowing for high schoolers or vocational students, or sponsoring “science days” for elementary kids. These efforts should emphasize the goals of the industry; protecting human health and infrastructure, providing a sustainable source of important nutrients, and keeping our waterways clean. As an example, DC Water’s series of “Wendy” children’s books instill the value of water stewardship.

Additionally, leaders may consider how their facilities can act as dual-use public resources. This could be the addition of a walking trail in a non-hazardous portion of the plant, a community compost or tree farm program, a renewable energy contribution to the grid (solar, renewable natural gas, cogeneration engines, etc.), or even a dedicated habitat for native wildlife. Ohio’s Delaware County Regional Sewer District has created a vibrant ecosystem by routing a portion of their facility’s treated effluent through a series of naturalized ponds, adjacent to and visible from a City of Columbus Metro Park.

Improve Recruitment

The WEF survey found that pay and benefits were both a top recruitment challenge and a top contributor to retention. Therefore, messaging on this topic is critical. Potential hires should be made aware of the industry’s competitive wage packages, overtime opportunities, and pension programs (if applicable). Furthermore, the wide range of shift structures can provide flexible scheduling to fit a range of lifestyles (e.g. week on/week off, night shifts, etc.). It is important to emphasize that these are secure, recession-resistant jobs – their essential nature means that they will always be in demand. (WEF, 2025)

The WEF survey results also indicate that there is a shortage of skilled workers in the labor market. Internships and paid on-the-job training opportunities can address this challenge by lowering the barrier to entry while building a talent pipeline. (US Water Alliance, 2024) For instance, apprenticeship programs through Colorado’s Red Rocks Community College and local industry partners have found great success. Beyond increasing presence at traditional career-seeking events, leaders should also consider targeting non-traditional recruitment avenues for these programs, such as veteran associations, foster care services, community colleges, juvenile justice systems, and care shelters. (US Water Alliance, 2024)

Where and how openings are posted matters - using a multi-media, multi-platform approach can increase reach and success. Leaders should identify ways to streamline the requisition process, minimize administrative bloat, and get postings in front of candidates as efficiently as possible.

Retain Talent

Once candidates are successfully brought onboard, the focus must switch to development and retention. Over 80% of WEF survey respondents indicated that they have dedicated licensing training, but despite this, 58% said that passing licensing exams is the most challenging barrier to getting their staff certified. Leaders should proactively seek feedback from training participants in their organizations to understand how to tailor training programs. Is this due to deficiencies in the training programs, disconnects between certification requirements and functional requirements, or both? Can the industry accommodate alternative certification pathways for non-traditional learners?

Leaders can institute a variety of best practices to retain top talent, including:

1. Annually comparing pay and benefits to alternative employers and staying in front of industry trends.
2. Hiring and promoting qualified candidates, avoiding nepotism and favoritism, and possibly utilizing an outside hiring committee.
3. Instituting regular employee feedback programs and implementing organizational changes based on the feedback received.
4. Formalizing advancement and bonus structures that are explicitly tied to certification and skills improvement.
5. Pairing job responsibilities with employee strengths and goals, adapting when needed. (WEF, 2025)

Implementing these policies can make employees feel seen, heard, supported, and well-compensated, with clear career progression pathways to provide inspiration and aspirations.

From Theory to Action

The industry and society at-large cannot afford to fall short in addressing the water workforce challenge – passivity is not enough. Fortunately, there is no shortage of robust and actionable resources on this topic available from reputable sources. Resilient and adaptable leaders must seek this information, absorb it, and leverage it to develop an improvement plan that is tailored to their organization’s specific needs. The addition of a full-time staff member for outreach, recruitment, and retention may even be helpful depending on the size of the utility. Like the industry’s primary objectives around human and environmental health, no single entity can face the workforce challenge alone. How can you and your organization rethink your practices to be part of the solution?

Sources

• Dickerson, S. T., & Butler, A. (2018). Resolve workforce challenges to ensure future success at Water and Wastewater Utilities. Opflow, 44(9), 8–9. https://doi.org/10.1002/opfl.1063
• U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. (2025). Water and wastewater treatment plant and system operators. U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. https://www.bls.gov/ooh/production/water-and-wastewater-treatment-plant-and-system-operators.htm
• Water Environment Federation - House of Delegates Workgroup. (2025). Recruitment Practices and Challenges Survey.
• US Water Alliance. (2024). Toward a Strong and Equitable Water Workforce. https://uswateralliance.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/02/Toward-a-Strong-and-EquitableWater-Workforce.pdf</
• US Water Alliance. (2024). Toward a Strong and Equitable Water Workforce. https://uswateralliance.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/02/Toward-a-Strong-and-EquitableWater-Workforce.pdf

Authors:

Demi Ladipo-Obasa, Juan Guzmán, Casey Johnson, Barbara Arnold, Jenna Troppman, Ben Cario, Andy Doerflinger