Effective Utility

Management
A Primer for Water and Wostewoter Utilities
June 2008
        NACWA
    American Water Works
    Association

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                                                    Foreword  Effective Utility Management
Foreword
Water and wastewater utilities across the country are facing many common chal-
lenges, including rising costs, aging infrastructure, increasingly stringent regulatory
requirements, population changes, and a rapidly changing workforce. Effective util-
ity management can help utilities respond to both current and future challenges and
support utilities in their  common mission of being successful 21st century service
providers.

Based on these challenges,  EPA and six national water and wastewater associations
signed an historic agreement in 2007 to jointly promote effective utility management
based on the Ten Attributes of Effectively Managed Water Sector Utilities and five Keys to
Management Success.

This Primer is an outgrowth of that agreement and distills the experience of a group
of leaders in water and wastewater utility  management into a framework intended
to help utility managers  identify and address their most pressing needs through a
customized, incremental  approach that is relevant to the day-to-day challenges utili-
ties face. In the future, the Collaborating Organizations will continue to work col-
lectively and individually to implement a range  of short-term and long-term actions
designed to promote and recognize excellence in  utility management based on the
principles and practices described in the Primer throughout the water sector.

We, the Utility Advisors and Collaborating Organization representatives who par-
ticipated in this ground-breaking effort, believe that this Primer will be helpful  to
both individual utilities and the water utility sector on the whole.  Based on our own
experience, as well as the experience of others across the country, it is clear that  ef-
fective utility management is critical to helping  utilities address challenges, improve
performance, and be successful in the long run.  We strongly encourage all utility
managers, regardless of their utility's size, budget, and unique circumstances, to read,
consider, and implement the strategies and approaches outlined in this Primer.
Sincerely,

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A Primer for Water and Wastewater Utilities   Foreword
 tility Advisory  Group
Cheryl Fair
East Bay Municipal Utility District

JC Goldman, Jr.
United Water

Dan Hartman
City of Golden Public Works

Mary Lappin
Kansas City Water Services Department

Ed  McCormick
East Bay Municipal Utility District

Howard Neukrug
Philadelphia Water

Kanwal Oberoi
Charleston Water System

Tyler Richards
Cwinnett County Department of Water
Resources
Thomas Sigmund
Green Bay Metropolitan Sewerage District

Mary Snyder
Sacramento Regional County Sanitation
District

Joseph Superneau
Springfield Water and Sewer Commission

Todd Swingle
St. Cloud, Florida Environmental Utilities

Diane Taniguchi-Dennis
City of Albany Department of Public Works

Billy Turner
Columbus Water Works

Donna Wies
Union Sanitary District

John Young
American Water
Effective Utility Management Collaborating Organizations
Julia Anastasio
American Public Works Association

John Anderson
American Water Works Association

Peter Cook
National Association of Water Companies

Chris Hornback
National Association of Clean Water Agencies
Jim Home
Office of Water
U.S. Environmental Protection Agency

Eileen O'Neill
Water Environment Federation

Carolyn Peterson
Association of Metropolitan Water
Agencies

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                                                                 Foreword   Effective Utility Management
Reference herein to any specific commercial products, process,  or service by trade name, trademark,
manufacturer, or otherwise does not necessarily constitute or imply its endorsement, recommendation, or
favoring by the United States Government.  The views and opinions of authors expressed herein do not
necessarily state or reflect those of the United States Government, and shall not be used for advertising
or product endorsement purposes.

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A Primer for Water and Wastewater Utilities  Table of Contents
Table  of Contents
I.      Effective Utility Management	1
II.     Ten Attributes of Effectively Managed Water Sector Utilities	3
       Ten Attributes of Effectively Managed Water Sector Utilities	4
III.    Keys to Management Success	6
       1. Leadership	6
       2. Strategic Business Planning	6
       3. Organizational Approaches	7
       4. Measurement	7
       5. Continual Improvement Management Framework	8
IV.    Where to Begin	10
       Step 1: Assess Current Conditions	10
       Step 2: Rank Importance of Attributes	11
       Step 3: Graph Results	13
       Step 4: Choose Attributes	14
       Step 5: Develop and Implement an Improvement Plan	15
V.     Utility Measures	16
       Approaching Measurement	16
       Attribute-Related Measures	17
       List of Attribute-Related Utility Measures	18
VI.    Utility Management Resources	19
VII.   For More Information	20
VIII.   Appendix A: Definitions	21
IX.    Appendix B: Self Assessment	23
       Step 1: Assess Current Conditions	23
       Step 2: Rank Importance of Attributes	23
       Step 3: Graph Results	24
X.     Appendix C: Attribute-Related Water Utility Measures	25

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Table of Contents   Effective Utility Management

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A Primer for Water and Wastewater Utilities  Page
   Effective Utility Management
Water and wastewater utilities across the country face common challenges.  These
include  rising costs, aging infrastructure, increasingly stringent regulatory require-
ments, population changes,  and a rapidly changing workforce. While many utility
managers find themselves turning from one urgent priority to the next, others have
systematically applied effective utility management approaches that
have helped them improve their products and services, increase com-
munity support, and ensure  a strong and viable utility long into the
future.

Effective utility management can help water and wastewater utili-
ties enhance the stewardship of their infrastructure, improve per-
formance in many critical areas, and respond to current and future
challenges. Addressing these challenges also requires ongoing col-
laboration between government, industry, elected officials, and oth-
er stakeholders.

In May, 2007,  six major water and wastewater associations and the U.S. Environ-
mental Protection Agency (EPA) signed an historic agreement pledging to support
effective utility management collectively and individually throughout the water sec-
tor and to develop a joint strategy to identify, encourage, and recognize excellence in
water and wastewater utility management.  This Effective Utility Management Primer
(Primer) is the result of the agreement among the following organizations:
O Association of Metropolitan Water Agencies (AMWA)
   American Public Works Association (APWA)
   American Water Works Association (AWWA)
   National Association of Clean Water Agencies (NACWA)
3 National Association of Water Companies (NAWC)
O United States Environmental Protection Agency (EPA)
3 Water Environment Federation (WEF)
This Primer is designed to help water and wastewater utility manag-
ers make practical, systematic changes to achieve excellence in utility
performance.  It was produced by water and wastewater utility leaders   	
who are committed to helping utility managers improve water and
wastewater management.  The Primer distills the expertise and experience of these
utility leaders into a framework intended to help a utility manager identify and ad-
dress their most pressing needs through a customized, incremental approach that is
relevant to the day-to-day challenges utilities face.
    Effective, utility
    management is
essential to sustaining
  our nation's water
    and wastewater
     infrastructure.

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                                                       Page 2   Effective Utility Management
Rather than focusing on just financial or operational goals, this Primer considers all
significant aspects of water and wastewater utility management. The Primer has three
primary components:

    The Ten Attributes of Effectively Managed Water Sector Utilities (Attributes). These At-
    tributes provide a clear set of reference points and are intended to help utilities
    maintain a balanced focus on all important operational areas rather than quickly
    moving from one problem to the next (Section II).
    Keys to Management Success.  These proven approaches help utilities maximize
    their resources and improve performance (Section III).
3  Where to Begin—A Self-Assessment Tool. A utility-tailored self assessment tool helps
    utility managers identify where to begin improvement efforts. By assessing how
    a utility performs relative to the Attributes, utility managers can gain a more bal-
    anced and comprehensive picture of their organization (Section IV).
                           In addition, the Primer provides a set of sample mea-
                           sures to help utility managers gauge performance and as-
                           sess improvement progress (Section V). It also provides
                           links to a web-based "resource toolbox" which offers ad-
                           ditional information  and guidance on effective utility
                           management (Section VI).

                           Utility managers and stakeholders can use this Primer in
                           a variety of ways. At one end of the spectrum, the Prim-
                           er can educate utility staff and stakeholders regarding
                           the range of responsibilities faced by water and wastewa-
                           ter managers.  At the other end of the spectrum, it can
                           provide a framework for a  utility's long-term strategic
                           planning efforts.  Regardless of where a utility is in the
                           spectrum, this Primer can help integrate the Attributes
                           of effective utility management with existing strategic,
                           business, and/or asset management plans.

                           All water and wastewater utilities  can benefit from ap-
                           plying this Primer. Each utility has unique management
                           opportunities  and challenges, and this Primer provides
                           guidelines and tools that are relevant to  any utility, re-
                           gardless of size, budget,  or circumstance.  This Primer's
                           aim is to support all water and wastewater  utilities in
                           their common mission of being successful 21st century
                           service providers.
Effective utility management is applicable to all utilities,
       regardless of size or circumstance

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A Primer for Water and Wastewater Utilities  Page 3
II. Ten  Attributes  of  Effectively Managed
Water Sector Utilities
The Ten Attributes of Effectively Managed Water
Sector Utilities provide useful and concise reference
points for utility managers seeking to improve  orga-
nization-wide performance. The Attributes describe
desired outcomes that are applicable to all water and
wastewater utilities. They  comprise a comprehensive
framework related to operations, infrastructure, cus-
tomer satisfaction, community welfare, natural  re-
source stewardship, and financial performance.

Water and wastewater utilities can use the Attributes
to select priorities for improvement, based on each or-
ganization's strategic objectives and the needs of the
community it serves. The Attributes are not present-
ed in a particular order, but rather can be viewed as a
set of opportunities for improving utility management
and operations.  Section  IV  (Where to Begin), pro-
vides a basic self-assessment tool to help utilities  easily
identify  needs and opportunities. However, utilities
will be able to deliver increasingly efficient, high-qual-
ity service by addressing more, and eventually all, of
the Attributes. Section V provides several sample per-
formance measures for each of the Attributes.

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                                                          Page 4  Effective Utility Management
                     Ten Attributes of Effectively Managed Water Sector Utilities
Ten Attributes  of  Effectively Managed Water Sector Utilities
Product Quality
Produces potable water; treated effluent,
and process residuals in full compliance
with regulatory and reliability requirements
and consistent with  customer, public health,
and ecological needs.

Customer Satisfaction
Provides reliable, responsive, and affordable
services in line with explicit, customer-
accepted service levels.  Receives
timely customer feedback to maintain
responsiveness to customer needs and
emergencies.
Employee and Leadership
Development
Recruits and retains a workforce that
is competent, motivated, adaptive, and
safe-working. Establishes a participatory,
collaborative organization dedicated to
continual learning and improvement.
Ensures employee institutional knowledge
is retained and improved upon over
time.  Provides a focus on and emphasizes
opportunities for professional and
leadership development and strives to
create an integrated and well-coordinated
senior leadership team.

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A Primer for Water and Wastewater Utilities  Page 5
Operational Optimization
Ensures ongoing, timely, cost-effective,
reliable, and sustainable performance
improvements in all facets of its operations.
Minimizes resource use, loss, and impacts
from day-to-day operations.  Maintains
awareness of information and operational
technology developments to anticipate and
support timely adoption of improvements.

Financial Viability
Understands the full life-cycle cost of the
utility and establishes and maintains an
effective balance between long-term debt,
asset values, operations and maintenance
expenditures, and operating revenues.
Establishes predictable rates—consistent
with community expectations and
acceptability—adequate to recover costs,
provide for reserves, maintain support
from bond rating agencies, and plan and
invest for future needs.

Infrastructure Stability
Understands the condition of and costs
associated with  critical infrastructure assets.
Maintains and enhances the condition of
all assets over the long-term at the lowest
possible life-cycle cost and acceptable risk
consistent with customer, community, and
regulator-supported service levels, and
consistent with anticipated growth and
system reliability goals. Assures asset repair,
rehabilitation, and replacement efforts
are coordinated within the community to
minimize disruptions and  other negative
consequences.

Operational Resiliency
Ensures utility leadership and staff work
together to anticipate and avoid problems.
Proactively identifies, assesses, establishes
tolerance levels for, and effectively manages
a full range of business risks (including legal,
regulatory, financial, environmental, safety,
security, and natural disaster-related) in
a proactive way consistent with industry
trends and  system  reliability goals.

Community Sustainability
Is explicitly  cognizant of and attentive to
the impacts its decisions have on  current
and long-term future community and
watershed  health and welfare. Manages
operations, infrastructure, and investments
to protect,  restore, and enhance the
natural environment; efficiently uses water
and energy resources; promotes economic
vitality; and  engenders overall community
improvement. Explicitly considers a variety
of pollution prevention, watershed, and
source water protection approaches as
part of an overall strategy to maintain
and enhance  ecological and community
sustainability.

Water Resource Adequacy
Ensures water availability consistent
with current and future customer needs
through long-term  resource supply
and demand analysis, conservation, and
public education. Explicitly considers its
role in water availability and manages
operations  to provide for long-term
aquifer and surface water sustainability and
replenishment.

Stakeholder Understanding and
Support
Engenders  understanding and support
from oversight bodies, community and
watershed  interests, and regulatory bodies
for service  levels, rate structures,  operating
budgets, capital improvement programs,
and risk management decisions. Actively
involves stakeholders in the decisions that
will affect them.

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                                                                    Page 6  Effective Utility Management
                     Keys  to  Management  Success
                The Keys to Management Success are comprised of frequently used management
                approaches and systems that experience indicates help water and wastewater utilities
                manage more effectively. They create a supportive climate for a utility as it works
                towards the outcomes  outlined in the Attributes, and they can help integrate the
                utility's improvement efforts across the Attributes. The Keys to Management Success
                are listed below.
                                           I. Leadership
Effective leadership produces organizational alignment
           and dear direction
Leadership is critical to effective utility management,
particularly in the context  of driving and inspiring
change within an organization.   "Leadership" refers
both to individuals who can be effective champions
for improvement, and to teams that provide resilient,
day-to-day management continuity  and  direction.
Effective leadership ensures that the utility's direction
is understood, embraced, and followed on an ongoing
basis throughout the management cycle.  Leadership
has an important responsibility to communicate with
the utility's stakeholders and customers.   It further
reflects  a commitment to  organizational excellence,
leading  by example to  establish and reinforce  an
organizational culture that embraces positive change
and strives for continual improvement. Organizational
improvement efforts require commitment  from the
utility's leadership.
                2. Strategic Business Planning
                Strategic business planning is an important tool for achieving balance and cohesion
                across the Attributes.  A strategic plan provides a framework for decision making by:

                3  Assessing current conditions, strengths and weaknesses;
                3  Assessing underlying causes and effects; and
                   Establishing vision, objectives, and strategies.

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A Primer for Water and Wastewater Utilities  Page 7
                                It establishes specific implementation steps that
                                will move a utility from its current level of perfor-
                                mance to achieving its vision.

                                Preparation of a strategic business plan  involves
                                taking  a long-term  view of utility goals and
                                operations and establishing a clear vision and
                                mission. When developed, the strategic business
                                plan  will  drive and  guide utility  objectives,
                                measurement efforts, investments, and operations.
A strategic plan can help explain the utility's conditions, goals, and plans to staff and
stakeholders, stimulate change, and increase engagement in improvement efforts.

After developing a strategic business plan, it is important that the utility integrates
tracking of progress into its management framework.


3. Organizational Approaches

There are a variety of organizational approaches that contribute to overall effective
utility management and that are critical to the success of management improvement
efforts. These include:

   Actively engaging employees in improvement efforts (helping to identify improve-
   ment opportunities, participating in cross-functional improvement teams, etc.);
   Deploying an explicit change management process that anticipates and plans for
   change and encourages staff at all levels to embrace change;  and
3 Utilizing implementation strategies that seek, identify, and celebrate early, step-
   by-step victories.
4. Measurement
Measurement is critical to management improvement efforts associ-
ated with the Attributes and is the backbone of successful continual
improvement management and strategic business planning. A mea-
surement system serves many vital purposes, including focusing atten-
tion on key issues, clarifying expectations, facilitating decision mak-
ing,  and, most  importantly, learning and improving. As one utility
manager put it, "You can't improve what you don't measure."  Suc-
cessful measurement efforts often are:
"You can't improve
  what you don't
      measure."

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                                                     Page 8  Effective Utility Management
3  Viewed as a continuum starting with basic internal tracking, and, as needed and
   appropriate, moving to more sophisticated baselining and trend analysis, devel-
   opment of key performance indicators, and inclusion of externally oriented mea-
   sures which address community sustainability interests;
3  Driven by and focused on answering questions critical to effective internal man-
   agement and external stakeholder needs (e.g.,  information needed to allow gov-
   erning bodies to comfortably support large capital investments); and
3  Supported by a well-defined decision framework assuring results are evaluated,
   communicated, and responded to in a timely manner.

Deciding where to start and what to measure can be challenging.  Measures can also
be taken out of context. Therefore, while an essential tool in the self-improvement
process, measurement is not the only tool and should be approached, structured,
and used thoughtfully. Section V includes sample performance measures that can be
used in conjunction with utility-specific  baselines and targets.


                             5. Continual  Improvement Management Framework


                             A continual improvement management framework
                             is usually implemented through a complete, start-to-
                             finish management system, frequently referred to as
                             a "Plan-Do-Check-Act" framework.  This framework
                             plays a central role in effective utility management
                             and is critical to making progress on the Attributes.
                             Continual improvement management includes:

                             3  Conducting an honest and comprehensive self-
                                assessment to identify management strengths,
                                areas for improvement, priority needs, etc.;
                             3  Conducting frequent sessions among interested
                                parties to identify improvement opportunities;
    Following up on improvement projects underway;
    Establishing and implementing performance measures and specific internal tar-
    gets associated with those measures;
    Defining and implementing related operational requirements, practices, and pro-
    cedures;
    Establishing supporting roles and responsibilities;
    Implementing measurement activities such as regular evaluation through opera-
    tional and procedural audits; and
    Responding to evaluations through the  use of an explicit change management
    process.

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A Primer for Water and Wastewater Utilities  Page 9
This "Plan-Do-Check-Act" continual improvement framework is quite effective when
applied internally. It can also be enhanced by using gap analysis, establishment of
standard operating procedures, internal trend analysis and external benchmarking,
best practice review,  and other continual improvement tools.  The framework can
help utilities understand improvement opportunities and establish explicit service
levels, guide investment and operational decisions, form the basis for ongoing mea-
surement, and provide the ability to communicate clearly with customers and key
stakeholders.

The Resource Toolbox described in Section VI, Utility Management Resources, pro-
vides links to resources that support utilization of the Keys to Management Success.

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                                                                     Page 10  Effective Utility Management
                 IV.   Where  to  Begin
     Step I
  Candidly Assess
     Current
   Conditions
     Step 2
Rank Importance of
 Each Attribute to
   Your Utility
     Step 3
 Graph Attributes
  to Determine
  Importance and
     Level of
  Achievement
Choose Attributes
Step 4


Step 5
   Develop and
   Implement an
 Improvement Plan
There are many ways to improve utility performance and each utility is unique.
Many utilities may choose to start small and make improvements step by step,
perhaps by working on projects that will yield early successes. Other utili-
ties may  choose to take on several ambitious change efforts simultaneously.
Some may prefer to enhance their strengths, while others will prefer to focus
on addressing weaknesses.  Each utility should determine for itself the most
important issue to address, based on its own strategic objectives, priorities,
and the needs of the community it serves.

A candid assessment of current performance is often a useful first step in
identifying options for improvement.  It also establishes a quantifiable base-
line from which to measure progress. As conditions change, future reassess-
ments will reveal new opportunities and new priorities.

The following self assessment tool can help water and wastewater managers
evaluate  their utility's current performance against internal goals  or specific
needs and  determine  where to focus improvement efforts. It can be com-
pleted by an individual manager,  but would also be useful as a vehicle for
conversation and consensus building among the utility's management team
and other appropriate stakeholders, such as oversight bodies, community and
watershed interests, and regulatory authorities.

The assessment tool has five steps: 1) Assess current conditions; 2) Rank the
importance of each Attribute for your utility; 3) Chart the results;  4) Choose
one or more Attributes to focus on; and 5) Develop and implement an im-
provement plan.

The Self Assessment can also be found in Appendix B.
                Step  I: Assess  Current Conditions
                 On a l-to-5 scale, assess current conditions by rating your utility's systems and ap-
                 proaches and current level of achievement for each Attribute.  Consider the degree
                 to which your current management systems effectively support each of the Attributes
                 and their component parts. Consider all components  of each Attribute and gauge
                 your rating accordingly. Use these descriptions to guide your rating.

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A Primer for Water and Wastewater Utilities  Page
Rating
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.






Description
Effective, systematic approach and implementation; consistently achieve
?oals.
Workable systems in place; mostly achieve goals.
Partial systems in place with moderate achievement, but could improve.
Occasionally address this when specific need arises.
No system for addressing this.
Step 2: Rank Importance of Attributes
Rank the importance of each Attribute to your utility, based on your utility's vision,
goals, and specific needs. The ranking should reflect the interests and considerations
of all stakeholders (managers, staff, customers, regulators, elected officials, commu-
nity and watershed interests, shareholders, and others).

There are ten Attributes; considering long-term importance to your utility, rank the
most important Attribute 1, the second most important 2, and so on. The least im-
portant Attribute would be ranked 10.  Your ranking of each Attribute's importance
might be influenced by current or expected challenges in that particular area, recent
accomplishments in  addressing these issues, or other factors.  Importance ranking is
likely to change over time as internal and external conditions change.

As you fill in numbers on the table below, please note that your analysis for Step 1
(rating achievement) should be separate and independent from your analysis for Step
2 (ranking importance).
Attribute
Product Quality
(PQ)
Customer
Satisfaction (CS)
Attribute Components
3 Complies with regulatory and
reliability requirements.
Consistent with customer, public
health, and ecological needs.
3 Provides reliable, responsive, and
affordable services.
3 Receives timely customer feedback.
3 Responsive to customer needs and
emergencies.


Step 1: Rate
Achievement
(1-5)





Step 2: Rank
Importance
(1-10)



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                                                                          Page 12   Effective Utility Management
Rating and RankingTable, continued
Attribute
Employee and
Leadership
Development
(ED)
Operational
Optimization
(00)
Financial Viability
(FV)
Infrastructure
Stability (IS)
Operational
Resiliency (OR)
Attribute Components
O Recruits and retains competent
workforce.
O Collaborative organization dedicated
to continual learning and improvement.
3 Employee institutional knowledge
retained and improved.
O Opportunities for professional and
leadership development.
Integrated and well-coordinated senior
leadership team.
O Ongoing performance improvements.
O Minimizes resource use and loss from
day-to-day operations.
3 Awareness and timely adoption
of operational and technology
improvements.
O Understands full life-cycle cost of utility.
3 Effective balance between long-
term debt, asset values, operations
and maintenance expenditures, and
operating revenues.
Predictable and adequate rates.
O Understands the condition of
and costs associated with critical
infrastructure assets.
3 Maintains and enhances assets over
the long-term at the lowest possible
life-cycle cost and acceptable risk.
3 Repair efforts are coordinated
within the community to minimize
disruptions.
3 Staff work together to anticipate and
avoid problems.
3 Proactively establishes tolerance
levels and effectively manages risks
(including legal, regulatory, financial,
environmental, safety, security, and
natural disaster-related).






Step 1: Rate
Achievement
(1-5)











Step 2: Rank
Importance
(1-10)






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A Primer for Water and Wastewater Utilities  Page 13
Rating and RankingTable, continued
Attribute
Community
Sustainability (SU)
Water Resource
Adequacy (WA)
Stakeholder
Understanding
and Support (SS)
Attribute Components
3 Attentive to impacts on community
and watershed health and welfare.
O Operations enhance natural
environment.
3 Efficiently use water and energy
resources; promote economic vitality;
and engender overall community
improvement.
3 Maintain and enhance ecological and
community sustainability including
pollution prevention, watershed, and
source water protection.
3 Ensures water availability through long-
term resource supply and demand
analysis, conservation, and public
education.
O Manages operations to provide for
long-term aquifer and surface water
sustainability and replenishment.
Engenders understanding and support
from oversight bodies, community and
watershed interests, and regulatory
bodies for service levels, rate
structures, operating budgets, capital
improvement programs, and risk
management decisions.
3 Actively involves stakeholders in the
decisions that will affect them.




Step 1: Rate
Achievement
(1-5)







Step 2: Rank
Importance
(1-10)



Step 3: Graph  Results
Graph each Attribute based on your rating and ranking. For example, if you rated
Product Quality (PQ) 4 for achievement and ranked it 3 for importance,  you would
place it on the graph as illustrated below.  Similarly, if you rated Customer Satisfac-
tion (CS) 3 for achievement and ranked it 5 for importance, you would place it on
the graph as illustrated below.  A blank graph is provided in Appendix B.

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                                                     Page 14  Effective Utility Management
i
fe
a:

1
OJ
_OJ
LJ
CU
i
OJ
1
b
;§
±
5
4
3
2









1






2

PQ




3






4


CS



5






6






7






8






9






10
More Important Less Important
Ranking
Step 4: Choose Attributes
The goal of effective utility management is to establish high-achieving systems and
approaches for each Attribute.  Ultimately, utilities should strive to improve perfor-
mance for all Attributes until each can be charted in the lower half of the table (high
achieving). Utility managers may wish to focus on one or a few Attributes at a time,
aiming to eventually ensure that all Attributes  have been addressed and improved
upon over time.
                                Examining the results of the charting exercise in
                                Step 3 can help identify Attributes to focus on. At-
                                tributes that graph into the blue quadrant are both
                                very important (ranked 1-5), and under-developed
                                (rated 3-5). These Attributes are strong candidates
                                for  improvement efforts.  Attributes that fall in
                                the  lower left-hand quadrant are both important
                                and well-developed. Some utilities may choose to
                                focus on these areas to continue further improv-
                                ing  upon important and well-developed areas, due
                                to their long-term importance (for example, water
                                resource adequacy). Specifically examining these
                                areas may also help a utility identify success factors
                                which would be helpful in addressing areas need-

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A Primer for Water and Wastewater Utilities  Page 15
ing improvement. Others may choose to focus on Attributes that would lead to early
successes to build confidence in effecting change, Attributes that maximize benefit
relative to the utility's key goals, or Attributes that minimize risks (e.g., fines, penal-
ties, lawsuits, poor public perception).

The choice to embark on improvements in one or more areas is up to the judgment
of utility managers, and may also involve consideration of resources (staff and finan-
cial), leadership support, and other competing activities. Applying strategic business
planning,  measurement, and other Keys to Management Success is very important
for moving each Attribute over time to the "well-developed" quadrants.


Step 5: Develop and Implement an Improvement Plan


Once you choose to improve one or more Attributes, the next step is to develop
and implement a plan for making the desired improvements. Effective improvement
plans commonly include the following features:

3  A "gap" analysis to identify root causes of under-performance.  This analysis
    would describe the utility's performance goals, its current position relative to its
    goals, and the reasons for not achieving its goals;
3  Development of a  utility-specific plan and/or strategy to achieve performance
    goals and address the root causes. The plan should consider how to incorporate
    customer and, as appropriate, broader stakeholder interests;
3  Specific tasks, tactics, or management adjustments necessary to implement the
    utility's strategy;
3  Utility-specific measures to track progress toward achievement of performance
    goals; and
3  A timeframe for follow-up measurement to assess the degree of accomplishment
    and potential need for additional effort.

Utilities may also find it useful to appoint an overall improvement program manager
to oversee individual improvement projects.

The improvement plan should be developed and implemented within the context of
strategic business planning, the "Plan-Do-Check-Act" continual improvement frame-
work, and other components of the Keys to Management Success discussed  in Sec-
tion III.

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                                                     Page 16   Effective Utility Management
V.  Utility  Measures
Measuring performance is one of the keys to utility management success. This section
of the Primer provides ideas about how to approach measurement and then offers
measures for each Attribute to help understand a utility's status and progress.
Approaching Measurement
There are two general approaches to performance measurement.  Internal perfor-
mance measurement, which is the focus of this Primer, involves evaluating current
internal utility performance status and trends. It can also include comparison of out-
comes or outputs relative to goals, objectives, baseline status, targets, and standards.
Benchmarking—which, is not this Primer's focus—is the overt comparison of similar mea-
sures or processes across organizations to identify best practices, set improvement tar-
gets, and measure progress within or sometimes across sectors. A utility may decide
to engage in benchmarking for its own internal purposes or in a coordinated fashion
with others.
                     While performance measures should be tailored to the spe-
                     cific needs of your utility, the following guidelines can help
                     you identify useful measures and apply them effectively.
                     1.   Select measures that support the organization's strategic
                         objectives,  mission,  and  vision, as  well  as the  ten
                         Attributes.
2.  Select the right number, level, and type of measures for your organization. Con-
    sider how measures can be integrated as a cohesive group (e.g., start with a small
    set of measures across broad categories and increase number and specificity over
    time as needed), and consider measures that can be used by different audiences
    within the organization.
3.  Measuring performance will not necessarily require additional staff, but will re-
    quire resources. Allocate adequate resources to get the effort off to a good start,
    and fine tune over time to balance the level of measurement effort with the ben-
    efit to the organization.
4.  Develop clear, consistent  definitions for each measure.  Identify who is respon-
    sible for collecting the  data, and how the data will be tracked and reported.
5.  Engage the organization at all levels in developing, tracking, and reporting mea-
    sures, but also assign someone in the organization the role of championing and
    coordinating the effort.

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A Primer for Water and Wastewater Utilities  Page 17
6.  Set targets rationally, based on criteria such as customer expectations, improve-
    ment over previous years, industry performance, or other appropriate compari-
    sons. Tie targets to improving performance in the Attributes.
7.  Select and use measures in a positive way to improve decision making, clarify
    expectations, and focus attention, not just to monitor, report, and control.
8.  When selecting measures, consider how they relate to one  another.  Look for
    cause-and-effect relationships; for example, how improvements in product quality
    could result in increased customer satisfaction.
9.  Develop an effective process to evaluate and respond to results.  Identify how,
    when, and to whom you will communicate results.
10. Incorporate  the  "Plan-Do-Check-Act" cycle approach into evaluating both the
    specific measures and the system as a whole.  Regularly review the performance
    measurement system for opportunities to improve.

    .. and remember to celebrate your measured and documented successes!
Attribute-Related Measures
The list below provides a limited list of targeted, Attribute-related measures. Taken as
a whole,  the measures provide a utility with a cohesive, approachable, and generally
applicable starting place for gauging progress relative to the Ten Attributes. The list,
for brevity, contains measure "headlines" for each Attribute; Appendix C provides
further explanation and, where applicable, example calculations.

You can choose and tailor the measures to your own needs and unique, local circum-
stances.  They are intended for your own internal use, even as certain measures (e.g.,
those noted as QualServe  Indicators) can support benchmarking purposes. In these
cases, the measures have been selected because they are relevant to the Attributes,
have been tested and are in use by  utilities,  are supported by reference information
useful for implementation, and generally can act as a good starting point for Attri-
bute-related progress assessment.

As  described in Appendix C, the  measures are both quantitative  and qualitative.
Most are quantitative and include  generally applicable example calculations. The
qualitative "measures"  encourage active assessment of the  management area and
most have a "yes/no" format.

Like the Attributes themselves, certain measures focus on core utility operations.
Several measures reflect emerging utility issues, challenges, or opportunities that have

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                                                            Page 18   Effective Utility Management
received increasing attention from a growing number of utility managers.  Other mea-
sures may reflect broader interests that are worthy of consideration from a broader
community perspective.


List  of Attribute-Related  Utility  Measures

See Appendix C for measure descriptions and details.
Product Quality
I.   Product quality regulatory compliance
2.   Product quality service delivery

Customer Satisfaction
I.   Customer complaints
2.   Customer service delivery
3.   Customer satisfaction

Employee and Leadership Development
I.   Employee retention and satisfaction
2.   Management of core competencies
3.   Workforce succession preparedness

Operational Optimization
I.   Resource optimization
2.   Water management efficiency

Financial Viability
I.   Budget management effectiveness
2.   Financial procedure integrity
3.   Bond  ratings
4.   Rate adequacy

Infrastructure Stability
I.   Asset  inventory
2.   Asset  (system)  renewal/replacement
3.   Water distribution/collection  system
    integrity
4.   Planned maintenance
Operational Resiliency
I.   Recordable incidents of injury or illnesses
2.   Insurance claims
3.   Risk assessment and response
    preparedness
4.   Ongoing operational resiliency
5.   Operational resiliency under emergency
    conditions

Community Sustainability
I.   Watershed-based infrastructure planning
2.   Green infrastructure
3.   Greenhouse gas emissions
4.   Service affordability

Water Resource Adequacy
I.   Water supply adequacy
2.   Supply and demand management

Stakeholder Understanding and
Support
I.   Stakeholder consultation
2.   Stakeholder satisfaction
3.   Internal benefits from stakeholder input
4.   Comparative rate rank
5.   Media/press coverage

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A Primer for Water and Wastewater Utilities  Page 19
VI.  Utility Management Resources
As a companion resource to this Primer, the Collaborating Organizations developed
an online Resource Toolbox which offers additional information and guidance on
effective utility management. The Toolbox provides a compilation of resources from
the seven Collaborating Organizations designed to help the water and wastewater
utility community further improve the management of its infrastructure.

The Resource Toolbox is organized according to the Ten Attributes of Effectively
Managed Water Sector Utilities and five Keys to Management Success, providing a
set of resources relevant to each Attribute and Key. The Toolbox also includes infor-
mation on where to find these resources.

The Resource Toolbox is located at the website for the Effective Utility Management
initiative, at www.watereum.org.

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                                                       Page 20  Effective Utility Management
VI    For More  Information
This Primer was developed through a collaborative partnership with the following
groups. More information about this partnership can be found on their websites or
by contacting specific individuals directly.
American Public Works
Association
Julia Anastasio
Senior Manager of Government Affairs
1401 K Street, NW, 11th Floor
Washington DC 20005
janastasio@apwa.net
202.218.6750
www.apwa.net

American Water Works
Association
Ed Baruth
Director, Volunteer and Technical
Support Group
6666 W. Quincy Ave.
Denver CO 80235
ebaruth@awwa.org
303.347.6176
www.awwa.org

Association of Metropolitan Water
Agencies
Carolyn Peterson
Director of Communications and Public
Affairs
1620 I Street, NW
Washington DC 20006
peterson@amwa.net
202.331.2820
www.amwa.net
National Association of Water
Companies
Peter Cook
Executive Director
2001 L Street, NW, Suite 850
Washington  DC  20036
peter@nawc.com
202.833.2100
www.nawc.org

U.S. Environmental Protection Agency
Jim Home
US EPA, Office of Wastewater Management
1200 Pennsylvania Avenue, NW
Room 7111 -EPA East
Washington  DC 20460
horne.james@epa.gov
202.564.0571
www.epa.gov/waterinfrastructure

Water Environment Federation
Eileen O'Neill
Chief Technical Officer
601  Wythe Street
Alexandria VA 22314
eoneill@wef.org
703.684.2462
www.wef.org/ScienceTechnologyResources/
UtilityManagement
National Association of Clean
Water Agencies
Chris Hornback
Senior Director, Regulatory Affairs
1816 Jefferson Place, NW
Washington DC 20036
chornback@nacwa.org
202.833.9106
www.nacwa.org

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A Primer for Water and Wastewater Utilities  Page 21
      .  Appendix A:  Definitions
The following terms are presented in this Primer.  These definitions provide a brief
overview of their meaning.

3   Attribute: A characteristic or outcome of a utility that indicates effective perfor-
    mance.
3   Benchmarking: The comparison of similar processes or measures across orga-
    nizations and/or sectors to identify best practices, set improvement targets, and
    measure progress.
3   Effective Utility Management: Management that improves products and servic-
    es, increases community support, and ensures a strong and viable utility into the
    future.
3   Gap analysis: Defining the present state of an enterprise's operations, the desired
    or "target" state, and the gap between them.
3   Internal trend analysis: Comparison of outcomes or outputs relative to goals,
    objectives, baselines, targets, and standards.
3   Life-cycle cost: The total of all internal and  external costs associated with  a prod-
    uct, process, or activity throughout its entire life cycle  - from raw materials acqui-
    sition to manufacture/construction/installation, operation and maintenance,
    recycling, and final disposal.
3   Performance measurement: Evaluation of current status and trends; can  also in-
    clude comparison  of outcomes or outputs relative to  goals, objectives, baselines,
    targets, standards,  other organizations' performance or processes (typically called
    benchmarking), etc.
3   Operations and maintenance expenditure: Expenses used for day-to-day opera-
    tion and maintenance of a facility.
3   Operating revenue: Revenue realized from the day-to-day operations  of a  utility.
3   Performance measure: A particular value or characteristic designated to measure
    input, output, outcome, efficiency, or effectiveness.
3   Source water protection: Efforts to prevent water quality degradation in streams,
    rivers, lakes, or underground aquifers used as public drinking water supplies.
3   Standard operating procedure: A prescribed procedure to be followed routinely;
    a  set of instructions having the force of a  directive,  covering those features of
    operations that lend themselves to a definite or standardized procedure without
    loss of effectiveness.

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                                                   Page 22  Effective Utility Management
Strategic plan: An organization's process of defining its goals and strategy for
achieving those goals. Often entails identifying an organization's vision, goals,
objectives, and targets over a multi-year period of time, as well as setting priorities
and making decisions on allocating resources, including capital and people, to
pursue the identified strategy.
Stewardship: The careful and responsible management of something entrusted
to a designated person or entity's care;  the responsibility to properly  utilize its
resources, including its people, property, and financial and natural assets.
Sustainability: The use of natural, community, and utility resources in a manner
that satisfies current needs without compromising future needs or options.
Watershed  health: The ability  of ecosystems to provide the functions needed
by plants, wildlife, and humans, including the quality and quantity of land and
aquatic resources.

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A Primer for Water and Wastewater Utilities  Page 23
IX. Appendix B:  Self Assessment
Step  I: Assess Current Conditions
On a l-to-5 scale, assess current conditions by rating your utility's systems and ap-
proaches and current level of achievement for each Attribute. Consider the degree
to which your current management systems effectively support each of the Attributes
and their component parts.  Consider all components of each Attribute and gauge
your rating accordingly. Use these descriptions to guide your rating.
Rating
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.






Description
Effective, systematic approach and implementation; consistently achieve
?oals.
Workable systems in place; mostly achieve goals.
Partial systems in place with moderate achievement, but could improve.
Occasionally address this when specific need arises.
No system for addressing this.
Mark your answers in the Step 1 column of the table on the next page.
Step  2: Rank Importance of Attributes
Rank the importance of each Attribute to your utility, based on your utility's vision,
goals, and specific needs.  The ranking should reflect the interests and considerations
of all stakeholders (managers, staff, customers, regulators, elected officials, commu-
nity and watershed interests, shareholders, and others).

There are ten Attributes; considering long-term importance to your utility, rank the
most important Attribute 1, the second most important 2, and so on.  The least im-
portant Attribute would be ranked 10. Your ranking of each Attribute's importance
might be influenced by current or foreseeable challenges in that particular area, re-
cent accomplishments in addressing these issues, or other factors. Importance rank-
ing is likely to change over time as internal and external conditions change.

Mark your answers in the Step 2 column of the table on the next page.  As you fill
in numbers, please note that your analysis for Step 1 (rating achievement) should be
separate and independent from your analysis for Step 2 (ranking importance).

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                                                         Page 24  Effective Utility Management
Attribute
Product Quality (PQ)
Customer Satisfaction (CS)
Employee and Leadership Development (ED)
Operational Optimization (OO)
Financial Viability (FV)
Infrastructure Stability (IS)
Operational Resiliency (OR)
Community Sustainability (SU)
Water Resource Adequacy (WA)
Stakeholder Understanding and Support (SS)











Step 1: Rate
Achievement (1 -5)





















Step 2: Rank
Importance (1 -10)










Step 3: Graph  Results
Graph each Attribute based on your rating and ranking.
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0)
1
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0)
^=
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_i=
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5
4
3
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2

PQ



3





4


CS


5





6





7





8





9





10
More Important Less Important
Ranking

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A Primer for Water and Wastewater Utilities  Page 25
X.  Appendix C:  Attribute-Related  Water
Utility  Measures
This Appendix provides more detailed information on the measures offered in Sec-
tion V of the Primer, including descriptions and example calculations and ques-
tions.


Product Quality

1. Product quality regulatory compliance
Description: Water product quality compliance, particularly with regards to 40 CFR
Part 141 (the National Primary Drinking Water Regulations), the National Pollutant
Discharge Elimination System, and any other relevant federal (Clean Water Act, Safe
Drinking Water Act, etc.) or state statute/regulations and permit requirements.  The
scope can include the quality of all related products, including  drinking water, fire
suppression water, treated effluent, reused water, and biosolids, as well as quality-
related operating requirements such as pressure and number of sewer overflows.

Example calculations:
3  Drinking water compliance rate (percent): 100 X (number of days in full compliance
    for the year ^365 days). This is a QualServe Indicator.1
3  Wastewater treatment effectiveness rate (percent):  100 X (365 - total number of stan-
    dard noncompliance days -^365 days). This is a QualServe Indicator.2
3  Number, type,  and frequency of "near (compliance)  misses": For example,  reaching
    80-95% of allowable levels of "X" during reporting period, typically per month.
    Tracking this type of measure could be used to improve performance in these
    "near miss" areas before violations occur.

2. Product quality service delivery
Description: This measure assesses  delivery of product quality service based on utility-
established objectives and service level targets. It focuses on non-regulatory perfor-
mance targets.
1 This is one of the 22 Performance Indicators from the Qualserve program, a voluntary quality improvement program designed
for water and Wastewater utilities by the American Water Works Association and the Water Environment Federation. Reference
from the American Water Works Association and the Awwa Research Foundation, Selection and Definition of Performance Indica-
tors for Water and Wastewater Utilities, p. 57. 2004. Note: This material is copyrighted and any reprinting must be by permission
of the American Water Works Association.
2 Ibid., p. 71. 2004.

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                                                      Page 26  Effective Utility Management
Example calculations:
3   Drinking water flow and pressure (percent):  100 X [number of customers with less
    than (flow of "X"  gallons  per minute (gpm) and pressure of "Y" pounds per
    square inch (psi)—levels set by utility) -=- total number of customers] (during re-
    porting period, typically per month).
3   Fire suppression water flow and pressure (percent): 100 X [hours of time when (flow
    of "X" gpm and pressure  of "Y" psi—levels set by utility) is available for fire sup-
    pression at maximum day demand  -=- total number of hours when fire suppres-
    sion water should be available at maximum day demand] (during reporting pe-
    riod, typically per month).
3   Service interruptions  (percent): 100 X (number of active account customers experi-
    encing a service interruption of greater than 1 hour -=- total number of customers
    during reporting period)  (typically per month).  Note:  the utility may elect to
    measure planned and unplanned interruptions separately.
3   Water quality goals met/not met: Number of days in reporting period (typically one
    month) where utility-defined beyond-compliance targets  are met/not met.
3   Sewer backups (if not included in permit requirements) (amount and percent):
    Number of customers experiencing backups each year; 100 X (number of custom-
    ers experiencing backups each year -=- total number  of customers).
3   Sewer overflows (if not included in permit requirements): Number of sewer over-
    flows per 100 miles of collection system piping.
    Water reuse (amount and percent):
    •  Amount: Amount of water supplied that is from reused/recycled sources.
    •  Percent: 100 X (amount of water supplied that is from reused/recycled water
       + total amount of water supplied).
    Then, as desired, these amounts can be broken into recipients/applications (e.g.,
    irrigation, agriculture, industrial processes, etc.).
3   Biosolids put to beneficial use (percent): 100 X (amount of biosolids produced that
    are put to a beneficial use -=- total amount  of biosolids produced) (in wet tons per
    year).

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A Primer for Water and Wastewater Utilities  Page 27
Customer Satisfaction
1. Customer complaints
Description: This measure assesses the complaint rates experienced by the utility, with
individual quantification of customer service and core utility service complaints.3  As
a "passive measure," it will not likely be numerically representative (i.e., a statistically
valid customer sample group) and is a "starting point" measure for understanding
customer service problems.

Example calculations:
3  Number of complaints  per  1,000 customers per reporting period, recorded as
    either customer service  or technical quality complaints. These calculations are
    based on the QualServe Customer Service Complaints/Technical Quality Com-
    plaints Indicator.
    •   Customer service complaint rate:  1,000 X (customer service associated complaints
        -=- number of active customer accounts). This is a QualServe Indicator.4
    •   Technical quality complaint rate: 1,000 X (technical quality associated complaints
        -=- number of active customer accounts). This is a QualServe Indicator.5

For both calculations, utilities  may wish to subcategorize  complaints by type and
aspect (e.g., customer service into billing, problem responsiveness, interruptions, etc.,
and technical quality into service deficiencies such as taste,  odor, appearance, flow/
pressure, etc.) and by type of customer (e.g., residential, industrial, commercial, etc.)

2. Customer service delivery
Description:  This measure requires the utility, based on internal objectives and cus-
tomer input, to set desirable customer service levels, then determine an appropriate
(target) percentage of time to meet the performance levels. Once established, the
utility can track how often it meets the service levels, helping the utility to determine
how well customer needs are being  satisfied (e.g.,  have 95 percent of service calls
received a response within 60 minutes).  A utility can average across individual mea-
sures to determine the overall percentage of service  level commitments met.
3 From AWWA and AwwaRF, Selection and Definition of Performance Indicators for Water and Wastewater Utilities, p. 41. 2004. Note:
This material is copyrighted and any reprinting must be by permission of the American Water Works Association
4 Ibid., p. 41.
5 Ibid., p. 42.

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                                                        Page 28   Effective Utility Management
Example calculations:
3  Call responsiveness (percent): 100 X (number of calls responded to within "X" min-
    utes -=- total number of calls during reporting period) (typically per month).
3  Error-driven billing adjustment rate (percent): 100 X (number of error-driven billing
    adjustments during reporting period -=- number of bills generated during report-
    ing period). This is a QualServe Indicator.6
3  Service start/stop responsiveness (percent): 100 X (number of stop/start service or-
    ders processed within "X" days -=- total number of stop/start service orders during
    reporting period).
3  First call resolution (percent): 100 X (number of calls for which problem was re-
    solved/fixed/scheduled to be fixed at the time of the first call -=- total number of
    calls during reporting period).

3. Customer satisfaction
Description: This is an overarching customer satisfaction measure based on requested
customer feedback (surveys), not calls received or internal customer satisfaction ser-
vice level commitments.  A  utility can  measure  customer satisfaction immediately
after service provision or use a periodically performed, more comprehensive custom-
er satisfaction survey.  After-service surveys are simpler and easier for the utility to
develop and implement without professional advice, but they tend to over represent
the most satisfied (e.g., those who just received service) and the most dissatisfied
(e.g., those who just called with complaints) customers. Comprehensive surveys can
provide statistical validity enabling extrapolation to the population served. A utility
can verify survey  information through customer conversations, either as  follow up
to a survey, during public meetings or focus groups, or by some other method (e.g.,
individual telephone calls).

Example calculation:
3  Overall customer satisfaction: Percent of positive or negative customer satisfaction
    survey responses based on a statistically valid survey or on an immediately af-
    ter-service survey.  Satisfaction responses can be divided into categories such as:
    highly  satisfied/satisfied/moderately satisfied/unsatisfactory; exceeding expec-
    tations/meeting expectations/not meeting  expectations; numerical scales  (e.g.,
    1-5); or other divisions. Customer satisfaction information is often also gathered
    and assessed by topic areas such as product quality, service reliability,  billing ac-
    curacy,  customer service, costs/rates/value, crew courtesy, notification  around
    street construction/service interruptions, etc.
5 From AWWA and AwwaRF, Selection and Definition of Performance Indicators for Water and Wastewater Utilities, p. 49. 2004.
Note: This material is copyrighted and any reprinting must be by permission of the American Water Works Association.

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A Primer for Water and Wastewater Utilities   Page 29
Employee and  Leadership Development
1. Employee retention and satisfaction
Description: This measure gauges a utility's progress toward developing and maintain-
ing a competent and stable workforce, including utility leadership.

Example calculations:
3  Employee turnover rate (percent): 100 X (number of employee departures -=- total
    number of authorized positions per year).  Can be divided into categories such
    as:
    •   Voluntary turnover (percent): 100 X (number of voluntary departures -=- total
       number of authorized positions  per year). (Perhaps the best indicator of re-
       tention problems.)
    •   Retirement turnover (percent): 100 X (number of retirement departures ^ au-
       thorized positions per year). (Measures loss/retention of institutional knowl-
       edge.)
    •   Experience turnover (percent): 100 X (number of years of experience represent-
       ed by all departures -=- total years of experience with the organization) (at the
       beginning of the year). (These are harder data to collect but provide a good
       assessment of institutional knowledge loss potential and therefore the need
       to retain/capture institutional knowledge.)
3  Employee job satisfaction (percent): 100 X (number of employees with "X" job satis-
    faction level -=- total number of employees) (based on implementation and moni-
    toring over time of a comprehensive employee survey). Can be divided into work
    type or job classification categories, etc., and cover overall satisfaction and topics
    deemed relevant to longer-term employee satisfaction and retention, such as:
    •   Compensation and benefits
    •   Management
    •   Professional development and long-term advancement opportunities
    •   Work and teamwork
    •   Procedures
    •   Fairness and respect
    •   Communication

2. Management of core competencies
Description: This measure assesses the utility's  investment in  and progress toward
strengthening and maintaining employee core competencies.

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                                                        Page 30  Effective Utility Management
Example calculations and assessment areas:
3  Presence of job descriptions and performance expectations:  Does your organization
    have and maintain  current job  descriptions and related performance expecta-
    tions (yes/no)?
3  Training hours per employee: Total of qualified formal training hours for all em-
    ployees -=- total FTEs worked by employees during the reporting period. This is a
    QualServe Indicator.7
3  Certification coverage  (percent): 100 X (number of certifications achieved or main-
    tained -=- number of  needed certifications per year) (across the utility).
3  Employee evaluation results (assumes utility evaluates  employee performance in a
    routine way and documents results): Results of employee evaluations (e.g., em-
    ployee growth not clearly demonstrated, employee growth only demonstrated  in
    certain areas or for certain labor categories, etc.).
3  Presence of employee-focused objectives and  targets:  Do you have employee-focused or-
    ganizational objectives and targets and a related professional management system
    in place? Are you meeting your targets (yes/no)? (Targets could be, for instance,
    related to quantity,  quality, timeliness, or cost.  A  timeliness target could, for
    example, relate to the number of hours it takes on average to complete a routine
    task.)

3. Workforce succession preparedness
Description: This measure assesses utility long-term workforce succession planning  ef-
forts to ensure critical skills and knowledge are retained and enhanced over  time,
particularly in light of anticipated retirement volume in coming years.  Focus  is on
preparing entire groups  or cohorts for needed workforce succession, including con-
tinued training and leadership development.

Example calculations:
3  Key position vacancies: Average time that critical-skill positions are vacant due  to
    staff departures per vacancy per year.
3  Key position internal/external recruitment (percent): 100 X (number of critical-skill
    positions that are filled internally (through promotion, transfer, etc. rather than
    outside recruitment) versus filled through outside recruitment -=- total number
    of positions filled per year).  (This will help the utility to understand if internal
    workforce development is covering long-term succession needs.)
7 From AWWA and AwwaRF, Selection and Definition of Performance Indicators for Water and Wastewater Utilities, p. 38. 2004.
Note: This material is copyrighted and any reprinting must be by permission of the American Water Works Association.

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A Primer for Water and Wastewater Utilities  Page 31
3  Long-term succession plan coverage (percent): 100 X (number of employees (or co-
    horts, work units,  etc.) covered by a long-term workforce succession plan that
    accounts for projected retirements and other vacancies in each skill and manage-
    ment area -=- total number of employees) (or cohorts, work units, etc.).


Operational Optimization


1. Resource optimization
Description: This measure examines resource use efficiency, including labor and mate-
rial per unit of output or mile of collection/distribution system.

Example calculations:
3  Customer accounts per employee: Number of accounts ^ number of FTEs. (FTE =
    2,080 hours per year of employee time equivalent.) This  is a QualServe Indica-
    tor.8
3  MGD water delivered/processed per employee:  Average MGD delivered/processed +
    FTEs per year.  This is a QualServe Indicator.9
3  Chemical use per volume delivered/processed: Amount of chemicals used ^  MG de-
    livered/processed during reporting period.  (Alternatively can use dollar  amount
    spent on chemicals -=- MG delivered/processed; in this case a rolling average for
    amount spent would account for periodic bulk purchases.)
3  Energy use per volume delivered/processed: KWH -=- MG delivered/processed during
    reporting period.  (Alternatively can use dollar amount spent on energy -=- MG
    delivered/processed.)
3  O&M cost per volume delivered/processed: Total O&M  cost ^  MG delivered/pro-
    cessed during reporting period.

A utility can also apply the above resource use per volume delivered/processed calcu-
lations to resource use per mile (or 100 miles) of collection/distribution system, (i.e.,
chemical use per mile, energy use per mile, or O&M cost  per mile).

2. Water management efficiency
Description: This measure assesses drinking water production and delivery efficiency
by considering resources as they enter and exit the utility system.
8 Part of the same Indicator (set) as MGD water delivered/MGD waste water processed per FTE. From AWWA and AwwaRF,
Selection and Definition of Performance Indicators for Water and Wastewater Utilities, p. 40. 2004. Note: This material is copyrighted
and any reprinting must be by permission of the American Water Works Association.
9 Ibid., p. 40.

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                                                         Page 32  Effective Utility Management
Example calculations:
3  Production efficiency: Ratio of raw water volume taken into the treatment system
    to treated water produced.
3  Distribution system water loss (a.k.a. non-revenue water) (percent): 100 X [volume
    of water distributed -  (volume of water billed + volume of unbilled authorized
    water) -=- total volume of water distributed].  (Quantifies the percentage of pro-
    duced water that fails to reach customers and cannot otherwise be accounted for
    through authorized usage.) This is a QualServe Indicator.10
3  Meter function  (percent): 100 X (total number of active billable meters minus
    stopped or malfunctioning meters -=- total number of active billable meters).


Financial Viability

1. Budget management effectiveness
Description: This measure has short-term and long-term aspects.  The short-term calcu-
lations are commonly used financial performance indicators, and the long-term con-
sideration is a more comprehensive analytical approach  to assessing budget health
over the course of several decades.

Example calculations:
Short-term (typically per year):
O  Revenue to expenditure ratio: Total revenue -=- total expenditures.
3  O&M expenditures (percent): 100 X (O&M expenditures ^ total operating bud-
    get).
3  Capital expenditures (percent): 100 X (capital expenditures -=- total capital budget).
3  Debt ratio: Total liabilities -=- total assets. Total liabilities  are the entire obligations
    of the utility under law or equity. Total assets are the entire resource of the utility,
    both tangible and intangible. Utilities often have different debt-risk acceptability
    levels, thus the ratio itself should be considered within each utility's unique cir-
    cumstances.  This is a QualServe Indicator.11
10 From AWWA and AwwaRF, Selection and Definition of Performance Indicators for Water and Wastewater Utilities, p. 59. 2004.
Note: This material is copyrighted and any reprinting must be by permission of the American Water Works Association.
11 Ibid., p. 51. 2004.

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A Primer for Water and Wastewater Utilities  Page 33
Long-term:
3  Life-cycle cost accounting:   Has  the utility conducted a life-cycle cost accounting
    analysis12 that explicitly incorporates accepted service level risks, asset condition,
    budget needs based on the values (net present values) of utility current and future
    assets, etc.,  and made financial and budget management decisions accordingly
    (yes/no)?

2. Financial procedure integrity
Description: Questions that gauge  presence of internal utility processes to ensure a
high level of financial management integrity.

Example calculations:
3  Does the utility have financial accounting policies and procedures (yes/no)?
}  Are financial results and internal controls audited annually (yes/no)?
3  Have the number of control deficiencies and material weaknesses been reduced
    from previous audits (yes/no)?

3. Bond ratings
Description: Bond ratings are a general indicator of financial viability; however, they
are not always within a utility's control and are less important if a utility is not par-
ticipating in capital markets.  Smaller utilities often struggle to obtain  high ratings.
Even though a higher bond rating is desirable and this provides a general indicator
of financial health, the bond rating should not be considered alone.   It should be
considered in light of other factors such as the other measures suggested for this At-
tribute.

Example question:
3  Has your bond rating changed recently? If so, why?  Does the change reflect the
    utility's financial  management in a way that can and should be acknowledged
    and, if need be, addressed?
12 Section 707 of Executive Order 13123 defines life-cycle costs as, "...the sum of present values of investment costs, capital costs,
installation costs, energy costs, operating costs, maintenance costs, and disposal costs over the life-time of the project, product,
or measure." Life-cycle cost analysis (LCCA) is an economic method of project evaluation in which all costs arising from own-
ing, operating, maintaining, and disposing of a [facility/asset] are considered important to the decision. LCCA is particularly
suited to the evaluation of design alternatives that satisfy a required performance level, but that may have differing investment,
operating, maintenance, or repair costs; and possibly different life spans. LCCA can be applied to any capital investment deci-
sion, and is particularly relevant when high initial costs are traded for reduced future cost obligations. See also: http://www.
epa.gov/EMS/position/eol3148.htm, http://www.wbdg.org/resources/lcca.php.

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                                                      Page 34  Effective Utility Management
4. Rate adequacy
Description: This measure helps the utility to consider its rates relative to factors such
as external economic trends, short-term financial management, and long-term finan-
cial health.  It recognizes that a "one size fits all" calculation would not be realistic
due to each utility's unique situation and the number of variables that could reason-
ably be considered. The following three questions prompt assessment of key compo-
nents of rate adequacy.

Example questions:
3  How do your rate changes compare currently and over time with the inflation
    rate and the Consumer Price Index (CPI) or Consumer Price Index for All Urban
    Consumers  (CPI-U)?  (Rate increases below CPI for very long may suggest rates
    are not keeping up with utility costs.) (Using a rolling rate average over time will
    adjust for short-term rate hikes due to capital or O&M spending needs.)
3  Have you established rates that fully consider the full life-cycle cost of service and
    capital funding options? (See the life-cycle cost accounting discussion,  above.)
3  Does your utility maintain a rate stabilization reserve to sustain operations during
    cycles of revenue fluctuation, in  addition to  60- (or 90-) day operating reserves?


Infrastructure Stability


1. Asset inventory
Description: This measure gauges a utility's efforts to assess assets and asset conditions,
as the first steps towards building a comprehensive asset management program.

Example calculations:
3  Inventory coverage (percent): 100 X  (total  number of critical assets inventoried
   within a reasonable period of time (e.g., 5-10 years) -=- total number of critical as-
    sets). A utility will need to first define what  it considers to be a critical asset and
    a complete inventory will involve understanding the following for each:
    •   Age and location;
    •   Asset size and/or capacity;
    •   Valuation data (e.g., original and replacement cost);
    •   Installation date and expected service life;

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A Primer for Water and Wastewater Utilities   Page 35
    •   Maintenance and performance history; and
    •   Construction materials and recommended maintenance practices.13
3  Condition assessment coverage (percent):  100 X (total number of critical assets with
    condition assessed and categorized into condition categories within a reasonable
    period of time (e.g., 5-10 years) -=- total number of critical assets).  Condition cat-
    egories could include: unacceptable, improvement needed, adequate, good, and
    excellent to reflect expected service levels and  accepted risks.

2. Asset (system) renewal/replacement
Description:  This measure assesses  asset renewal/replacement rates over time. The
measure should reflect utility targets, which will vary depending on each utility's
determinations of acceptable risks for different asset classes.  Decisions on asset re-
placement typically factor in internally agreed-upon risks and  objectives, which may
differ by asset  class and other considerations.  For instance, a utility may decide to
run certain assets to failure based on benefit-cost analysis.

Example calculations:
3  Asset renewal/replacement rate (percent): 100 X (total number of assets replaced per
    year for each asset class -=- total number of assets in each asset class). For example,
    a two percent per year replacement target (50-year renewal) for a particular asset
    class could be identified as the basis for performance monitoring.
3  Asset (system) renewal/replacement rate: 100 X (total actual expenditures or total
    amount of funds reserved for renewal and replacement for each asset group -=- to-
    tal present worth for renewal and replacement needs for each asset group). This
    is a QualServe Indicator.14

3. Water distribution/collection system integrity
Description: For drinking water utilities, this measure quantifies the number of pipe-
line leaks and breaks.  Distribution system integrity has importance for health, cus-
tomer service, operational, and asset management reasons. For wastewater utilities,
this measure  examines the frequency of collection system failures.  When tracked
over time, a utility can evaluate whether its failure rate is decreasing, stable, or in-
creasing. When data are maintained to characterize failures by pipe type and age, type
13 From the U.S. General Accounting Office, Water Infrastructure: Comprehensive Asset Management Has Potential to Help Utilities
Better Identify Needs and Plan Future Investments. GAO-04-461. March 2004. Available: http://www.gao.gov/new.items/d04461.
pdf
14 From AWWA and AwwaRF, Selection and Definition of Performance Indicators for Water and Wastewater Utilities, p. 53. 2004.
Note: This material is copyrighted and any reprinting must be by permission of the American Water Works Association.

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                                                         Page 36  Effective Utility Management
of failure, and cost of repairs, decisions regarding routine maintenance and replace-
ment/renewals can be better made.15

Example calculation (drinking water utilities):
3  Leakage and breakage frequency rate (percent): 100 X ((total number of leaks + total
    number of breaks) -=- total miles of distribution piping per year).  (Note: leaks and
    breaks are distinctly different events.) This is a QualServe Indicator.16

Example calculation (wastewater utilities):
3  Collection system failure rate (percent): 100 X (total number of collection system
    failures -=- total miles of collection system piping per year).  This is a  QualServe
    Indicator.17

4. Planned maintenance
Description:  Planned maintenance includes both preventive and predictive mainte-
nance.  Preventive maintenance is performed according to a predetermined schedule
rather than in response to failure.  Predictive maintenance is initiated when signals
indicate that maintenance is due.  All other maintenance is categorized as corrective
or reactive.18

Example calculations:
This measure can be measured in different ways. Calculating costs may be preferable
to encourage business decisions based  on total cost; however, the reliability of costs
is uncertain. Hours are likely to be  less variable than costs, but not all utilities track
hours.  Thus, cost and hours ratios are  desirable, where possible.

3  Planned maintenance ratio by hours (percent): 100 X (hours of planned maintenance
    -=- (hours of planned + corrective maintenance)).  This is a QualServe Indicator.19
3  Planned maintenance  ratio by cost (percent): 100 X (cost of planned maintenance +
    (cost of planned + corrective maintenance)). This is a QualServe Indicator.20
15 From AWWA and AwwaRF, Selection and Definition of Performance Indicators for Water and Wastewater LJtihties, p. 70. 2004.
Note: This material is copyrighted and any reprinting must be by permission of the American Water Works Association.
16 Ibid., p. 61.
17 Ibid., p. 70.
18 Ibid., p. 65.
19 Ibid., p. 66.
20 Ibid., p. 66.

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A Primer for Water and Wastewater Utilities  Page 37
Operational Resiliency
1. Recordable incidents of injury or illnesses
Description: Incidence rates can be used to show the relative level of injuries and ill-
nesses and help determine  problem areas  and progress in preventing work-related
injuries and illnesses.

Example calculations:
The U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics has developed instructions for employers to eval-
uate their firm's injury  and illness record.  The calculation below is based on these
instructions, which can  be accessed at: http://www.bls.gov/iif/osheval.htm.

3  Total recordable incident  rate:  (Number  of work-related  injuries  and  illnesses  X
    200,00021) -=- employee hours worked.

2. Insurance claims
Description: This measure examines the number, type, and severity of insurance claims
to understand insurance coverage strength/vulnerability.

Example calculations:
3  Number of insurance claims: Number of general liability and auto insurance claims
    per 200, OOO22 employee  hours worked.
3  Severity of insurance claims: Total dollar amount of general liability and auto insur-
    ance claims per 200,00023 employee hours worked.

3. Risk assessment and  response preparedness
Description: This measure asks whether utilities have assessed their all-hazards (natu-
ral  and human-caused)  vulnerabilities and  risks  and made  corresponding plans for
critical needs.   Risk assessment in this context includes  a  vulnerability  assessment
regarding, for example, power outages, lack of  access to chemicals, curtailed staff
availability, etc.
21 200,000 hours is a standard number used by OSHA to normalize data. It represents the equivalent of 100 employees working
40 hours per week, 50 weeks per year, and provides the standard base for the incidence rates.
22 See the explanation in the footnote above regarding the 200,000 hours standard.
23 See the explanation in the footnote above regarding the 200,000 hours standard.

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                                                     Page 38  Effective Utility Management
Example calculations:
3   Emergency Response Plan (ERP) coverage and preparedness:
    •  Does the utility have an ERP in place (yes/no)?
    •  Number and frequency of ERP trainings per year:  100 X (number of employ-
       ees who participate in ERP trainings -=- total number of employees).
    •  Number and frequency of ERP exercises per year:  100 X (number of employ-
       ees who participate in ERP exercises -=- total number of employees).
    •  Frequency with which the ERP is reviewed and updated.
3   Vulnerability management: Is there a process in place for  identifying and addressing
    system deficiencies (e.g., deficiency reporting with an immediate remedy process)
    (yes/no)?

4. Ongoing operational resiliency
Description: This measure assesses a utility's operational reliability during ongoing/
routine operations.

Example calculations:
3   Uptime for  critical utility components on an ongoing basis  (percent): 100 X (hours of
    critical component uptime -=- hours critical components have the physical poten-
    tial to be operational).  Note: a utility can apply this  measure on an individual
    component basis or summed across all identified critical components.  Also, a
    utility can  make this measure more precise by adjusting for planned maintenance
    periods.

5. Operational resiliency under emergency conditions
Description: This measure assesses the operational preparedness and expected respon-
siveness in critical areas under emergency conditions.

Example calculations (all apply to emergency conditions and, where relevant, factor
in anticipated  downtimes relative to required/high demand times):
3   Power resiliency: Period of time (e.g., hours or days) for which backup power is avail-
    able for critical operations (i.e., those required to meet 100 percent of minimum
    daily demand). (Note: "minimum daily demand" is the average daily demand for
    the lowest  production month of the year.)
3   Treatment chemical resiliency:  Period of time (e.g., hours or days) minimum daily
    demand can  be met with water  treated to meet  SDWA standards for acute
    contaminants (i.e., E.coli, fecal coliform, nitrate, nitrite, total nitrate and nitrite,
    chlorine dioxide, turbidity as referenced in the list of  situations requiring a Tier
    1 Public Notification under 40 CFR  141.202),  without additional treatment

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A Primer for Water and Wastewater Utilities   Page 39
    chemical deliveries. (Note: "minimum daily demand" is the average daily demand
    for the lowest production month of the year.)
3   Critical parts and equipment resiliency:  Current longest lead time  (e.g.,  hours or
    days) for repair or replacement of operationally critical parts or equipment (cal-
    culated by examining repair and replacement lead times for all identified critical
    parts and equipment and taking the longest single identified time).
3   Critical staff resiliency: Average number of response-capable backup staff for criti-
    cal operation and maintenance positions (calculated as the sum of all response-
    capable backup staff -=- total number of critical operation and maintenance posi-
    tions).
3   Treatment operations resiliency (percent): Percent of minimum daily demand met
    with the primary production or treatment plant offline for 24, 48, and 72 hours.
    (Note: "minimum daily demand" is the average daily demand for the lowest pro-
    duction month of the year.)
3   Sourcewater resiliency: Period of time (e.g.,  hours or days) minimum daily demand
    can be met with the  primary raw water  source unavailable.  (Note:  "minimum
    daily demand" is the average daily demand for the lowest production month of
    the year.)


Community Sustainability


1. Watershed-based infrastructure planning
Description: This measure addresses utility efforts to consider watershed-based ap-
proaches when making management decisions affecting infrastructure planning and
investment options.  Watershed protection  strategies can sometimes, for  example,
protect sourcewater quality limiting the need for additional or enhanced water treat-
ment capacity.

Example question:
3   Does the utility employ alternative, watershed-based approaches to  align infra-
    structure decisions with overall watershed goals and potentially reduce future in-
    frastructure costs? Watershed-based approaches include, for example: centralized
    management of decentralized systems; stormwater management; sourcewater pro-
    tection programs; and conjunctive use of groundwater, sourcewater, and recycled
    water to optimize resource use at a basin scale. (See also "green infrastructure"
    below.)

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                                                       Page 40  Effective Utility Management
2. Green infrastructure
Description: "Green infrastructure" includes both the built and natural/unbuilt en-
vironment.  Utilities may promote source water protection and conservation "green
infrastructure" approaches in support of water conservation (e.g., per capita demand
reduction) and water quality protection objectives. Green infrastructure approaches
can include: low-impact development techniques (e.g., minimization of impervious
surfaces, green roofs);  protection of green spaces and wildlife habitat; incentives for
water-efficient  domestic appliance use and landscaping; green building standards
such as those promoted through the Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design
(LEED) program; management of energy, chemical, and material use; etc.24 Utilities
often coordinate these efforts with community planning offices.

Example question:
3  Has the utility explored green infrastructure approaches and opportunities that
    are aligned with the utility's mandate, goals, and objectives and community inter-
    ests (yes/no)?
3  Does the utility have procedures that incorporate green infrastructure approaches
    and performance into new infrastructure investments (yes/no)?

3. Greenhouse gas emissions
Description: This measure will help drinking and wastewater utilities to understand
and reduce their individual contributions to area greenhouse gas emissions. Trends
indicate that water utility emissions of these gases will likely be of interest to stake-
holders. Monitoring of these emissions is becoming more common among water sec-
tor utilities, and some utilities are beginning voluntary efforts  to reduce their emis-
sions (e.g., through production of reusable methane energy by wastewater utilities).

Example calculation:
3  Net (gross  minus  offsets) greenhouse gas  emissions in tons of carbon dioxide
    (CO2), nitrous oxide (N2O),  methane  (CH4), and, as applicable, hydrofluoro-
    carbons (HFCs) and perfluorocarbons (PFCs).  Start by establishing an emis-
    sions baseline and then track  emission  trends in conjunction with minimizing/
    reducing emissions over time, where possible.25 Emissions inventories often in-
    corporate indirect  emissions such as those generated during the production and
    transport of materials and chemicals.
24 For more information about green infrastructure, visit www.epa.gov/npdes/greeninfrastructure.
25 EPA's industry-government "Climate Leaders" partnership involves completing a corporate-wide inventory of their green-
house gas emissions. Information and related guidance is available at http://www.epa.gov/stateply/index.html.

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A Primer for Water and Wastewater Utilities   Page 41
4. Service affordability
Description:  Drinking water and wastewater service affordability centers on commu-
nity members' ability to pay for water services.  The true cost of water/wastewater ser-
vices may be higher than some low-income households can afford, particularly when
rates reflect the full life-cycle cost of water services. Each utility will want to consider
and balance keeping water services affordable while ensuring the rates needed for
long-term infrastructure and financial integrity.

Example calculations and considerations:
3  Bill affordability (households for which rates may represent an unaffordable level)
    (percent):  100 X (number of households  served for which average water bill is
    > "X" percent (often 2-2.5%) of median household income26 -=-  total number of
    households served).

Coupled with:
3  Low-income billing assistance program coverage (percent):  100 X (number of custom-
    ers  enrolled in  low-income billing assistance  program  -=- number of customers
    who are eligible for enrollment in low-income billing assistance program).  (The
    utility can try to increase participation in the program for eligible households
    that are not participating.)


Water  Resource Adequacy

1. Water supply adequacy
Description:  This measure assesses short-term and long-term water supply  adequacy
and explores related long-term supply considerations.

Example calculations and questions:
3  Short-term water  supply adequacy: Period of  time for which existing supply sourc-
    es are adequate. This can be measured as a ratio of projected short-term (e.g.,
    12-month rolling average) monthly supply to  projected short-term monthly de-
    mand.  Often an index or scale is used, for example, short-term supply relative to
    severe drought (assigned a "1") to abundant supply conditions (assigned a "5").
26 This calculation focuses on identifying low-income households based median household incomes (MHI); however, MHI is
not strongly correlated with the incidence of poverty or other measures of economic need. Further, populations served by small
utilities in rural settings tend to have lower MHI and higher poverty rates, but fewer options for diversifying water/wastewater
service rates based on need compared to larger municipal systems.

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                                                     Page 42  Effective Utility Management
3  Long-term water supply adequacy: Projected future annual supply relative to pro-
    jected future annual demand for at least the next 50 years (some utilities project
    out as far as 70-80 years). Statistical forecasting and simulation modeling and
    forecasting techniques are typically used for such long-term projections. Analysis
    variables in addition to historical record (e.g., historical and year-to-date reservoir
    elevation data), forecasted precipitation, and flows can include:
    •  Future normal, wet, dry, and very dry scenarios (including anticipated cli-
       mate change-related scenarios);
    •  Anticipated population changes;
    •  Future service areas;
    •  Availability of new water supplies, including recycled water (plus availability
       of water rights for new supplies, where applicable); and
    •  Levels of uncertainty around the above.

2. Supply and demand management
Description: This metric explores whether the utility has a strategy for proactive supply
and demand management in the short and long terms. Strategy needs will depend
on  community circumstances and priorities, anticipated population growth, future
water supply in relation to anticipated demand, demand management and other
conservation options, and other  local considerations.

Example questions:
3  Has the  utility developed  a sourcewater protection plan (yes/no) and is the plan
    current (yes/no)?
3  Does the utility have a demand management/demand reduction plan (yes/no)?
    Does this plan track per  capita water consumption and,  where analytical tools
    are available to do so, accurately attribute per capita consumption reductions
    to demand reduction strategies (such as public education and rebates for water-
    efficient appliances) (yes/no)?
3  Do demand scenarios account for changes in rates (which can change for many
    reasons) and conservation-oriented, demand management pricing  structures
    (yes/no)?
3  Does the utility have policies in place that address, prior  to committing to new
    service areas, availability of adequate dry year supply (yes/no)? Alternatively, does
    the utility have a commitment to denying service commitments unless a reliable
    drought-year supply, with  reasonable drought use restrictions, is available to meet
    the commitment (yes/no)?

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A Primer for Water and Wastewater Utilities  Page 43
Stakeholder  Understanding  and Support
1. Stakeholder consultation
Description: This measure addresses utility actions to reach out to and consult with
stakeholders about utility matters, including utility goals, objectives, and manage-
ment decisions.

Example questions:
3  Does the utility identify stakeholders, conduct outreach, and actively consult with
    stakeholders about utility matters (yes/no)? Elements of this plan can include:
    •  Number of active contacts with stakeholders in key areas (e.g., from local
       government, business, education, non-governmental groups)?
    •  Does the utility actively seek input from stakeholders (yes/no)?
    •  Frequency with which the utility actively consults with  stakeholders. This
       measure should go beyond counting the number of calls or times informa-
       tion is sent out or posted on websites to items such as number of stakeholder
       outreach and education activities, number of opportunities for stakeholders
       to provide input, participation of stakeholders on utility committees, etc.
    Does the utility actively consider and act upon stakeholder input (yes/no)?

2. Stakeholder satisfaction
Description: This measure addresses stakeholder perceptions of the utility. Stakehold-
er satisfaction can be measured through surveys sent to stakeholders, formal feedback
surveys distributed to stakeholders at events, etc.

Example calculations:
3  Overall satisfaction (percent): 100 X (number of stakeholders  who annually rate
    the overall job of the utility as positive -=- total number of stakeholders surveyed).
3  Responsiveness (percent):  100 X  (number of stakeholders who annually rate  utility
    responsiveness to stakeholder  needs as positive -=- total number of stakeholders
    surveyed).
3  Message recollection  for outreach programs targeted to specific stakeholder groups (per-
    cent): (a) 100 X (number of stakeholders who recall key messages -=- total number
    of stakeholders surveyed); and (b) 100 X (number of stakeholders who recall the
    message source (TV, utility mailers, newsletters, etc.) -=- total number of stakehold-
    ers surveyed).

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                                                      Page 44  Effective Utility Management
3. Internal benefits from stakeholder input
Description: This measure addresses the value utility employees believe stakeholder
engagement has provided to utility projects and activities. Measurement by the util-
ity can focus on surveying utility employees running projects that have stakeholder
involvement.

Example calculations:
3  100 X (number of utility  projects or activities where stakeholders participated
    and/or provided input for which utility employees believe there was value add-
    ed as a result of stakeholder participation and input -=- total number of projects
    where stakeholders participated and/or provided input).
3  Overall value added (percent): 100 X (number of utility employees who rated their
    overall sense of value added from stakeholder participation and input as (high
    value added, some value added, little value added,  no value added) -=- total num-
    ber of utility employees surveyed).

4. Comparative rate rank
Description: This measure depicts how utility rates compare to similar utilities (e.g.,
utilities of the same type (drinking water, wastewater) that are similar in terms of
geographic region, size  of population served, etc.).  A utility can use the measure
internally or to educate stakeholders. It should be noted that the lowest rate is not
necessarily best (see Financial Viability).

Example calculations:
3  Typical monthly bill for the average household as a  percentage of typical monthly
    bills for similar area utilities.

5. Media/press coverage
Description: This measure captures media portrayal of the utility (newspaper, TV, ra-
dio, etc.) in terms of awareness, accuracy, and tone.

Example calculations:
3  Amount of coverage: Total number of media stories (newspaper, TV, radio, etc.)
    concerning the utility per year.
3  Media coverage tone (percent):  100 X (number of media stories concerning the
    utility that portray the utility in a positive way -=- total number of media stories
    concerning the utility) per year.
3  Media coverage accuracy (percent): 100 X (number of media stories that accurately
    describe the utility -=- total number of media stories  concerning the utility) per
    year.

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A Primer for Water and Wastewater Utilities    Page 45

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Effective Utility Management: A Pri mer for Water and Wastewater Utilities

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