Water Director

Responsibilities

Directs, administers, and coordinates the construction, maintenance, and operation of water utility facilities within the City and surrounding areas in support of policies, goals, and objectives established with the City Manager, Mayor, and City Council, through overall oversight of subordinate supervisors. Provides water resource management expertise to the City Manager, Mayor, City Council, and other City departments. This list may not include all tasks and/or knowledge which may be expected of the employee, nor does it cover all specific duties which may be required.

Other duties may be assigned.

• Maintains a sound plan of department organization, establishing procedures to ensure adequate management development and to provide for capable management succession.
• Establishes operating policies consistent with the City Manager’s and City Council’s broad policies and objectives and ensures their execution.
• Develops and implements procedures and controls to promote communication and adequate information flow within the organization.
• Directs the preparation of short‑term and long‑term plans and budgets based on broad City goals and growth objectives.
• Oversees collection of water revenues and spending on an annual operating budget of at least 12,000,000 and reports to City Manager any variances from projected revenue and budget. Capital projects and budget of upwards of 100 million+.
• Recommends policies relating to pricing and water supply to ensure availability to all residents as well as commercial operations and new land developments.
• Plans, organizes, directs and administers the continuing orderly, efficient, and economical purification and distribution of water to City customers in line with immediate and long‑range City development projections.
• Assures that City water supply is in compliance with all applicable state and federal standards.
• Leads the City’s efforts to optimize water treatment for superior taste and odor characteristics while meeting all health‑based regulatory standards.
• Recommends changes in City water management and distribution policy, based on capacity of present and readily available facilities, current residential requirements, and other projected future water demands.
• Confers with other City directors to determine impact of new or proposed public projects and land developments on City water resources.
• Represents City in meetings with farmers, developers, representatives of other municipal and regional water systems, government representatives, and the general public to discuss matters such as water delivery schedules, environmental issues, watershed protection, and securing additional water resources.
• Meets with affected businesses to address water connection, usage, and required specifications and initiates actions to obtain compliance with City water use requirements.
• Prepares or oversees public communications, such as water quality reports, temporary outages, and City water agreements for new development areas.
• Directs workers in preparation of reports to state and federal governments.
• Regularly evaluates the results of overall City water operations and systematically reports these results to the City Manager and City Council.

• Supervises water billing, water treatment plant, lake park, and water maintenance crew managers, monitoring and evaluating their performance against both operational and developmental goals.
• Advises and coaches subordinate superintendents and managers on both supervisory and technical issues.
• Interviews and selects department personnel in consultation with subordinate superintendents and Human Resources.
• Makes final decisions involving formal staff discipline within the department, in consultation with subordinate staff and Human Resources Director.
• Monitors contractual obligations between department and other agencies or businesses, including staff bargaining units. Works collaboratively with representatives of bargaining units to maintain positive working relationships between City and staff.
• Oversees compliance with work safety standards and works to minimize human and financial loss resulting from department operations.