LABOR RESOURCES FOR UTILITY MANAGERS

• PFAS Funding Is Flowing — But Does The Water Sector Have Enough People To Deliver It?

  For several years, the PFAS conversation has centered on treatment options, testing, and funding. Those factors still matter, but they are no longer the primary constraint. Most utilities already understand the treatment routes available to them; the real challenge now is moving from technical possibility to operational performance, and that depends entirely on people.

• Who Will Replace Your Best Operator?

  Utilities can refill a vacancy. They cannot rehire the judgment that kept a system stable at 2 a.m. The work now is to preserve that judgment without taking the operator out of command.
• Building The Augmented Operator: A Manager's Guide To Training For AI-Powered Utility

  As water and wastewater utilities expand SCADA, advanced analytics, and AI, managers must prepare operators to turn those signals into reliable operational decisions. The goal is not to replace certified professionals but to build an augmented workforce that can supervise automation, question model outputs, and protect treatment performance under changing plant conditions.
• Building A Better Water Workforce Starts With People, Not Positions

  A discovery at ACE26 offers practical ideas for attracting, developing, and retaining the next generation of water professionals.
• Why Engineers Aren't Choosing Water Utilities (And What Utilities Can Do About It)

  Attracting engineering talent remains one of the water industry's biggest workforce challenges. It isn't that there aren't enough engineers; it's that the water sector often undersells careers that already offer exactly what today's engineering candidates are looking for.
• The Water Talent Shortage Is Also A Diversity Problem

  Utilities across the U.S. are facing growing pressure from aging infrastructure, climate resilience demands, regulatory scrutiny, and a workforce approaching retirement. Yet despite the scale of the challenge, much of the industry is still drawing talent from the same narrow pools and approaching hiring the same way it did years ago. That approach is becoming increasingly unsustainable.
• Building AI Readiness In Wastewater Utilities: Lessons From CVWRF

  Many utilities are asking a practical question: How do we move beyond hype and implement AI in a way that delivers measurable, sustainable value? At the Central Valley Water Reclamation Facility (CVWRF), the answer has been to focus less on tools and more on readiness.
• The Water Industry's Talent Crisis Won't Wait

  The water sector has evolved from a mostly mechanical industry into one driven by software and data. What hasn’t kept pace is the workforce.
• The Augmented Operator: Navigating The Intersection Of AI And The Water Sector Workforce

  The water sector is facing a convergence of crises. On one side, an estimated 30–50% of the utility workforce is projected to retire within the next decade, taking with them irreplaceable institutional knowledge. On the other, AI is no longer future technology; it is being deployed today for operations. These two forces are colliding at precisely the moment utilities can least afford disruption.
• How Water Utilities Can Foster Change — And Prioritize People

  Water and wastewater utilities are under pressure. Aging infrastructure, rapid population growth, and a retiring workforce are just a few of the challenges they face. Where do utilities turn for solutions? While technology solutions and new tools take center stage, a critical piece is often overlooked: the people.