Effective Utility Management Webinar Held This Week to Get Feedback on Planned Revisions
EPA held a webinar this week to get stakeholder input on possible revisions for the, ”Effective Utility Management: A Primer for Water and Wastewater Utilities.” The EUM framework was published in 2008 and is based on Ten Attributes and Five Keys to Management Success that were developed by EPA and six water and wastewater utility associations. ASDWA and the Association of Clean Water Administrators (ACWA) joined this group for a meeting in July 2015 that was aimed at updating the EUM through a variety of possible revisions to address changing utility needs and further promoting the use of the EUM. During this webinar, EPA’s facilitator highlighted the group’s proposed revisions to each section of the document and asked for input from participants. The participants on the webinar indicated that they were generally comfortable with most of the proposed revisions, some of which are as follows:
- More clearly describe the Community Sustainability attribute using watershed based approaches; triple-bottom line principles; and conveying the value of water.
- Incorporate business concepts to enhance customer satisfaction and community engagement.
- Enhance training, safety, and leadership development aimed at engaging younger generations of employees.
- Promote new business models and capacity development and asset management objectives to increase long-term financial viability.
- Address risk from a product quality standpoint.
- Discuss considerations for climate variability and the use of reclaimed and recycled water.
- Change the framework from a checklist format to a more “systems-based” approach.
- Include the concept of a utility roadmap for long-term strategic planning that involves key stakeholders.
More information on EUM can also be found at http://www.watereum.org. EPA will conduct a second webinar next week on the same topic, if you did not have a chance to participate and would still like to.
2nd Webinar on October 20th from 12:00-1:30pm (eastern): You may register for the webinar HERE.
