A companion document to the Primer
for Effective Utility Management
Effective Water and Wastewater
Utility Management Case Studies
Columbus Water Works (Georgia)
Green Bay Metropolitan Sewerage District (Wisconsin)
Gwinnett County Department of Water Resources (Georgia)
Massachusetts Water Resources Authority (Massachusetts)
April 2009
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American Water Works
Association
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Foreword
In 2007, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), Water Environment Federation (WEF), American
Water Works Association (AWWA), National Association of Clean Water Agencies (NACWA), Association of
Metropolitan Water Agencies (AMWA), American Public Works Association (APWA), and National
Association of Water Companies (NAWC) (the Collaborating Organizations), signed an historic agreement to
promote effective utility management across the water sector based on a series of Ten Attributes of
Effectively Managed Utilities (Attributes) and Five Keys to Management Success (Keys). In 2008, these
partners produced "Effective Utility Management: A Primer for Water and Wastewater Utilities." This
Primer highlights the Attributes and Keys, example utility performance measures, and a simple utility self-
assessment methodology.
Now, the Collaborating Organizations are pleased to present
a series of case studies on four utilities (Columbus Water
Works, Green Bay Metropolitan Sewerage District, Gwinnett
County Department of Water Resources, and Massachusetts
Water Resources Authority) that have applied all or part of
the Primer concepts and tools. The case studies document
is a companion to the Primer, providing concrete examples
and "how to" assistance for utility managers applying the
Primer concepts and tools.
Effective Utility Management:
A Primer for Water and
Wastewater Utilities is available
at the following website:
http://watereum.org
The case studies document the experiences of utilities applying the concepts and tools contained in the
Primer and provide information on how other utility managers can best use the Primer in their own
organizations. The case study examples demonstrate how the utilities used the Attributes, Keys, example
measures, and self-assessment tool to ensure they were on the right track with managing improvement
priorities and to make effective improvements in areas needing more attention. The utilities faced a range
of challenges in their management improvement efforts, and found that the Primer concepts and tools
significantly aided their efforts.
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Effective Utility Management Collaborating Organizations
Representatives
Julia Anastasio
American Public Works Association
John Anderson
American Water Works Association
Peter Cook
National Association of Water
Companies
Tom Curtis
American Water Works Association
Chris Hornback
National Association of Clean Water
Agencies
Jim Home
U.S. Environmental Protection Agency
Eileen O'Neill
Water Environment Federation
Jackie Leclair
U.S. Environmental Protection Agency
Carolyn Peterson
Association of Metropolitan Water
Agencies
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Acknowledgements
The Collaborating Organizations wish to thank the managers and executives of
the four participating utilities for their contributions to these case studies:
Utilities in the Case Studies
Jim Patterson and Beth Bickerstaff
Columbus Water Works (GA)
Tom Sigmund
Green Boy Metropolitan Sewerage
District (Wl)
Tyler Richards
Gwinnett County Department of
Water Resources (GA)
Marian Orfeo
Massachusetts Water Resources
Authority (MA)
The Collaborating Organizations would also like to thank the Utility Advisory
Group members for their contribution to the development of this document:
Utility Advisory Group
Greg DiLoreto
Tualatin Valley Water District
Dan Hartman
City of Golden Public Works
Ed McCormick
East Bay Municipal Utility District
Eric Olsen
Shorelands Water Company
Tyler Richards
Gwinnett County Dept. of Water Resources
Thomas Sigmund
Green Bay Metropolitan Sewerage
District
Diane Taniguchi-Dennis
City of Albany Dept. of Public Works
Donna Wies
Union Sanitary District
John Young
American Water
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Ten Attributes to Effectively Managed Water Sector
Utilities and Five Keys to Management Success
Ten Attributes to Effectively Managed Water Sector Utilities
1. Product Quality
2. Customer Satisfaction
3. Employee and Leadership Development
4. Operational Optimization
5. Financial Viability
6. Infrastructure Stability
7. Operational Resiliency
8. Community Sustainability
9. Water Resource Adequacy
10. Stakeholder Understanding and Support
Five Keys to Management Success
1. Leadership
2. Strategic Business Planning
3. Organizational Approaches
4. Measurement
5. Continual Improvement Management Framework
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Table of Contents
Introduction 1
Case Study: Columbus Water Works (Georgia) 8
Case Study: Green Bay Metropolitan Sewerage District (Wisconsin) 16
Case Study: Gwinnett County Department of Water Resources (Georgia) 24
Case Study: Massachusetts Water Resources Authority (Massachusetts) 333
Appendix A: Columbus Water Works 2008 Strategic Planning - Strategies, Goals, Objectives 41
Appendix B: Columbus Waterworks Self-Assessment Results 46
Apprendix C: Columbus Waterworks 2008 Strategic Planning Benchmarks 48
Appendix D: Green Bay Metropolitan Sewerage District 2008 Strategic Plan Goals, Objectives and
Investment Strategies 50
Appendix E: Gwinnett County Department of Water Resources - Achievement of Attributes and
Importance of Attributes Ranking 58
Apprendix F: Gwinnett County Department of Water Resources - Strategic Planning Achievement and
Importance Graph 59
Appendix G: Gwinnett County Department of Water Resources - Example of Balanced Scorecard
Perspectives 60
Apprendix H: Massachusetts Water Resource Authority Business Plan Fiscal Years 2009 to 2013 61
Appendix I: Massachusetts Water Resource Authority Business Plan Strategy #2 63
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Effective Water and Wastewater Utility Management
Case Studies 2009
A Companion Document to the Primer for Effective Utility Management
Introduction
Water and wastewater utilities are confronted with many challenges as they strive to make
organizational improvements. Water sector utility managers must consider a wide range of issues in
their management improvement initiatives. General economic conditions, staff turnover,
communication between internal management and external stakeholders, involvement of staff across
the organization, aging infrastructure, rate issues, and limited staff resources are some of the issues
managers address.
The Primer concepts and tools, which include the Attributes, Keys, examples of performance measures,
and self-assessment tool, provides utility managers with straightforward tools for tackling management
improvement efforts within the context of today's challenges. A group of utility advisors developed the
Primer concepts and tools, which have been endorsed and released by the Collaborating Organizations.
The Primer is available for use at the following website: http://watereum.org/.
The utilities in the case studies found that the Primer concepts and tools made a substantial
contribution to their management improvement efforts, bringing a crisp and cost effective focus to their
initiatives and aiding both their internal and external communications. The utility managers involved in
these case studies reported a range of important benefits from using the Primer concepts and tools,
including:
• External validation of utility management improvement priorities by using a nationally
recognized framework for effective utility management endorsed by the Collaborating
Organizations.
• Support to ensuring that management efforts focus on an effective balance between internally-
oriented (e.g., operational optimization) and externally-oriented (e.g., stakeholder
understanding and support) priorities.
• A timely means to initiate or update strategic planning (the self-assessment tool provided a
simple, but not simplistic, means to identify high and low performing management areas and
affirm existing or establish new goals and objectives for each).
• A coherent and comprehensive management improvement framework that acts to focus
ongoing or planned efforts, enhance dialogue, and build consensus among utility management,
oversight bodies, stakeholders, and staff across the organization.
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• A flexible set of tools that apply to a range of utilities at different stages in the management
improvement process.
• A cost free ready-to-use management improvement tool that utility managers can implement in
as much or as little depth as they find appropriate for their organizations.
Overall, the experiences of these utilities indicate that the Primer provides a highly cost effective and
easy-to-implement set of tools and concepts for undertaking and improving upon existing utility
management improvement efforts. The remainder of this introduction provides further background on
the case study utilities and their experiences drawing on the Primer concepts and tools. The individual
case studies provide a more detailed depiction of each utility's experience and the application of the
Primer concepts and tools.
Overview of Utilities
The Collaborating Organizations and Utility Advisory
Group members selected four utilities from a list of
sixteen nominees. The utilities were selected to
represent a range of characteristics, including a variety
of geographical locations, water and wastewater
services, and population sizes served. The utilities
have recent experience applying the Primer concepts
and tools to new or existing management
improvement initiatives. Senior managers and
executives from each utility were interviewed for the
case studies and provided background information on
management initiatives, application of the Primer
concepts and tools to the utility's management
improvement efforts, results of the application, and
lessons learned from the process.
"By using the Attributes you can
develop a great strategic plan,
goals, and measures, or you can
very simply and inexpensively
update your existing plan, as we
—Tyler Richards, Deputy Director of
Operations and Environmental
Services, Gwinnett County Dept.
Water Resources
The utilities selected for case study profiling represent a range in size, budget, and approach to applying
the Primer concepts and tools. Table 1 highlights some of the key characteristics among the four
utilities.
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Table 1: Characteristics of the Utilities
Utility
Columbus Water
Works
Green Bay
Metropolitan
Sewerage District
Gwinnett County
Department of Water
Resources
Massachusetts Water
Resources Authority
Geography
Southeast
Midwest
Southeast
Northeast
Water/
Wastewater
Combined
Wastewater
Combined
Combined
Average
Wastewater
Flow
70 - 84 mgd
39mgd
45 mgd
320 mgd
Average
Water
Demand
27.5 mgd
n/a
86.9 mgd
214 mgd
Residential
Population
Served
227,000
219,000
750,000
2.5 million
Application of the Primer Concepts and Tools
The case studies provide a range of examples for utilities considering using the Primer concepts and
tools, including the Attributes, Keys, example measures, and self-assessment method. Depending on
the status of the utility management improvement initiatives, application of the Primer varied across the
case study utilities.
Management Initiatives
The case study utilities applied the Primer concepts and tools to improvement initiatives at various
stages in their management improvement initiatives. Columbus Water Works (CWW) and
Massachusetts Water Resources Authority (MWRA) used the concepts and tools to support the review
of existing strategic plans that had been in place for many years. These utilities had already invested
substantial time and resources in their management improvement initiatives.
Gwinnett County Department of Water Resources (DWR) applied the Primer to the review of a two year
old strategic plan. DWR used the Primer concepts and tools as a simple, cost effective framework for
the strategic planning review process. Green Bay Metropolitan Sewerage District (GBMSD) applied the
Primer to a new strategic planning process that for the first time involved a full range of managers and
executive staff in addition to the District's Commissioners. This utility used the concepts and tools as a
framework for developing goals, objectives, and strategic investments.
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Approaches to the Primer Concepts and Tools
The case studies profile different approaches to applying
the Primer concepts and tools. CWW, GBMSD, and
MWRA utilized the concepts and tools as a framework for
the planning process analysis and discussion that
occurred in workshops and planning meetings. DWR
applied the Primer concepts and tools to a strategic plan
review process that did not involve workshops or
meetings but instead used email and standing
management team meetings. For each type of approach,
the utilities found the Primer concepts easy to apply
within the context of their existing management
initiatives.
Self-Assessment Tool
"During strategic planning, if
you are not careful, you can get
lost in the weeds where
management tactics become the
focus. Everyone needs to back
up every once in a while and
look at the big picture and the
Attributes help you to do that."
—Jim Patterson, V.P. Strategic
Planning Implementation,
Columbus Water Works
Three utilities—CWW, DWR, and GBMSD—used the Primer self-assessment tool. This resulted in the
identification of areas of achievement and growth, as well as areas needing more focus. Information
from the self-assessment results was then used in their strategic planning processes, to help prioritize,
develop, and revitalize management initiatives. The utilities took different approaches to the
application of the self-assessment tool. CWW used a survey approach with a mathematical compilation
of the results, using average scores. GBMWD used the results of manager responses as a consensus
building exercise within a meeting context. Like CWW, DWR used a survey approach but took a slightly
different approach to compile the results.
DWR also tracked the results of the self-assessment tool by division, finding similarities between
participants across the organization. This approach provided reassurance that the participants were in
agreement regarding priorities and achievements. This case study highlights the potential use of the
self-assessment tool for tracking results across diverse groups, such as divisions or, in the future,
possibly stakeholder interest areas. The approach can help to reveal disparities or similarities in the
sense of priorities and achievement between participants. It can provide an effective basis for dialogue
to explicitly reconcile differences or to offer reassurance about having a unified sense of utility priorities.
Performance Measures
All of the case study utilities used the list of example performance measures provided in the Primer.
The utilities already had performance measurement systems in place and used the examples as a means
to check for completeness relative to each of the Attribute areas. As a result of the comparison
exercise, two utilities identified a need to further develop performance measures in certain areas. One
utility validated the completeness of its existing measurement efforts, and the fourth utility will use the
list of measures to support further development efforts later this year.
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Table 2: Utility Application of Primer Concepts and Tools
Utility
Columbus Water
Works
Green Bay
Metropolitan
Sewerage District
Gwinnett County
Department of
Water Resources
Massachusetts
Water Resources
Authority
Management
Initiatives
Reviewed existing
long-term
strategic plan
Reviewed existing
short-term
strategic plan
New strategic
planning process
involved full range
of staff for the first
time
Reviewed existing
long-term
strategic plan
Approach to
Primer Concepts
Used Primer as
framework for
strategic planning
workshops
Used Primer as
framework for
strategic planning
workshops
Used Primer as
framework for
plan review by
email and standing
meetings
Used Primer as
framework for
strategic planning
workshops
Self-Assessment
Tool
Completed the
self-assessment;
identified areas of
achievement and
importance
Completed the
self-assessment;
identified areas of
achievement and
importance
Completed the
self-assessment;
identified areas of
achievement and
importance
Did not complete
self-assessment.
Considered results
of a previous
assessment
Performance
Measures
Compared list of
example measures
in Primer with
existing measures
Compared list of
example measures
in Primer with
existing measures
Compared list of
example measures
in Primer with
existing measures
Compared list of
example measures
in Primer with
existing measures
Lessons Learned
The utility managers and executives interviewed for the case studies shared lessons learned from their
application of the Primer concepts and tools to their utilities' management improvement initiatives.
External Validation Lends Credibility to Utility Management Priorities: The case study utilities found that
having a succinct management improvement framework endorsed by the Collaborating Organizations
lent substantial credibility to their management improvement initiatives and helped validate their goals
and strategies. For example, the MWRA management team operating in the context of relatively new
Board members, found the nationally-recognized concepts and tools helped them to generate Board
member support for their management improvement efforts.
A Simple Means to Identify Management Improvement Opportunities: The case study utilities found the
Primer concepts and tools provided a simple approach to identifying areas needing more focus, as well
as areas on the right track. The utilities mapped the Attributes to their management initiatives to
identify where existing efforts needed improvement, and where initiatives were providing effective,
overall management coverage. The utility managers found the mapping process fairly straightforward
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and easy to introduce to management teams and into
existing and new management initiatives. For example,
CWW managers and strategy teams were easily able to
correlate specific goals, objectives, and strategies from
their existing strategic plan with each of the ten
Attributes. During a strategic plan review workshop,
CWW strategy teams discovered that they were not
achieving the Employee and Leadership Development
Attribute at a level they considered effective and made
changes to the revised strategic plan to address this area
more comprehensively.
"We were able to show our
Board members that our
management improvement
priorities are fully consistent
with a nationally recognized and
endorsed utility management
framework. That was
validating and should help
generate solid Board support for
our efforts over the five-year
timeframe of the Business Plan."
— Marian Orfeo, Director of
Planning and Coordination,
Massachusetts Water Resources
Authority
Lower Cost Strategic Plan Updates: Utility managers
found the Primer concepts and tools to provide a cost-
effective, easy-to-implement approach. Their application
helped the utilities to lower management improvement
initiative costs and to focus resources more efficiently.
For example, DWR lowered its costs for a strategic
planning update by completing the plan review process
without the use of workshops or strategy planning
meetings. The Primer concepts and tools helped make it possible for DWR to conduct its review by
email and standing management team meetings. Using the self-assessment tool in the Primer, DWR
gathered input from managers in all divisions regarding the utility's level of achievement and priorities.
The self-assessment tool proved to be a very low cost and timely means to establish a sense of
management initiative priorities.
Maintaining a Focus on "The Bid Picture" and Critical Outcomes: Managers in the case studies returned
to the Primer concepts throughout the planning process as a way to direct the dialogue, focus on the
"big picture" of overall management effectiveness, and take on a fresh way of viewing improvement
initiatives. This helped the utilities maintain a balance among "inside the fence" and "outside the fence"
management improvement initiatives.
For example, the Primer concepts provided a high-level framework for discussions between the GBMSD
management team and its Commissioners. GBMSD reported that the self-assessment results
substantially contributed to shifting management perception regarding the need for increasing
emphasis on external-oriented management efforts. The self-assessment results provided a compact
and clear depiction of where GBMSD had management strengths and where opportunities for
improvement existed. This clear depiction contributed to a productive dialogue between GBMSD
managers and Commissioners, and resulted in consensus on a balanced strategic plan.
Clear Illustration and More Focused Discussion of Management Improvement Opportunities: Managers
found the Primer self-assessment tool provided a clear illustration of the utilities' level of current
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achievement and where improvement opportunities reside. The table and graphic, produced by the
utilities using the self-assessment tool, were helpful for communicating with staff, managers, and Board
members about where a utility was and where it wanted to be, in a format that was easy to understand.
Applicability Across a Range of Management
Improvement Experience and Sophistication: Utility
managers found the Primer concepts and tools offer
utilities flexibility in application. The tools can be applied
by utilities with a range of experience and investment in
utility management improvement initiatives. In the case
studies, CWW and MWRA had gone through multiple
strategic planning cycles. GBMSD recently completed its
first, fully inclusive strategic planning effort, and DWR has
a two year old strategic planning process and used the
Attributes to review and update that process. Even with
the diversity of experience, all of the utilities in the case
studies were able to implement the tools easily and
effectively.
"Another real benefit to using
the Primer is the graphical
illustration of the utility's
achievement rating for the
Attributes and importance
ranking. This is a good way for
the management team and staff
to understand where we are and
where we want to be."
— Tom Sigmund, Executive
Director, Green Bay Metropolitan
Sewerage District
Overall, the case study utilities found that the Primer
concepts and tools provide a cost-effective, easy to
implement approach to exploring utility management improvement opportunities, as well as identifying
areas providing effective management. The case studies show how four successful utilities applied the
Primer to improvement initiatives in a new and straightforward way, while addressing the current
challenges common to water sector utilities across the country.
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Case Study: Columbus Water Works (Georgia)
This case study profiles Columbus Water Works, in Columbus, Georgia, and its application of the
Attributes and Keys based on interviews with the Vice President of Strategic Planning Implementation
and the Manager of Communications and Continuous Improvement. The organization used the
Effective Utility Management Primer for Water and Wastewater Utilities (Primer), as a guide for applying
the Attributes and Keys.
Utility Overview
Columbus Water Works (CWW) is an enterprise operation serving a population of approximately
227,000 with drinking water treatment and distribution, and wastewater collection and treatment
operations. CWW is an executive department of the consolidated governments of the City of Columbus
and Muscogee County and is funded through ratepayer fees.
Source water for CWW is provided by the Chattahoochee River and is treated at the North Columbus
Water Resources Facility, which has a capacity of 90 million gallons per day (mgd). The plant averages
32 mgd, but during periods of high demand for water has hit a peak usage of 54.5 mgd. The treatment
plant was originally built in 1915 and has been updated and modified numerous times to meet new
regulations and accommodate technology advances.
CWW Wastewater Treatment Plant
Wastewater is treated at the South Columbus Water Resources Facility. Built in 1964, the plant has
been through several upgrades to keep pace with advancing technology and new regulations. The plant
originally operated using primary treatment, but added secondary treatment in 1974. During wet
weather events, when stormwater may enter the system, the plant can treat up to 84 mgd.
The Columbus Water Board is responsible for the overall management of the utility, including hiring the
President, approving the annual budget, setting legal, financial, and personnel policies, and approving
rates. The Board is made up of five members, with the mayor of Columbus serving as an ex-officio
member, and the remaining four seats appointed by the Columbus City Council.
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Existing Management Initiative
"When we introduced the
Primer, it was well received.
The management team was
excited to have a new approach
to strategic planning."
- Beth Bickerstaff, Manager of
Communications and Continuous
Improvement, Columbus Water
Works
Columbus Water Works' current internal management
initiative program, or strategic plan, was created in 2005.
This effort built off of an earlier strategic planning
initiative begun in 1997. In response to the mixed
success of the 1997 effort, the development of the 2005
strategic plan included a structural reorganization and
the creation of the Strategic Planning Implementation
Division (SPID). CWW's vision, as developed through the
2005 strategic planning process is "To be an outstanding
provider of utility services, dedicated to protecting the
environment, aspiring to new opportunities, and
compelled to excel in service to our community." To
support this vision, SPID works closely with six strategy
teams providing support and guidance, one for each of
the organization's major strategy areas (1: Enhance customer satisfaction, 2: Strengthen regional
economic potential, 3: Leverage information technology, 4: Optimize infrastructure performance, 5:
Develop sustainable workforce, and 6: Maintain financial stability).
The 2005 strategic plan and subsequent reorganization empowered the strategy teams to resolve issues
directly and carry out the plan's action items. Because the strategy teams were given the authority to
implement specific actions and resolve related problems, and to act directly without needing to delay
for management approval, CWW was able to involve team leaders and staff across the organization in
timely and effective management improvements. The structural support for strategy teams made a
significant difference in the organization's ability to implement its strategic plan, reach its associated
management goals, and move toward achieving its vision.
CWW conducted its first major review of the current strategic plan in 2007 and a second major review in
2008. The 2008 review took place during a Leadership Retreat workshop in which the Primer concepts
and tools were first utilized as part of the strategic planning process. By mapping the relationship
between the organization's strategies and the Primer concepts, senior managers and strategy team
leaders were able to assess organization-wide performance for the strategic plan review.
Application of the Attributes
CWW's President first shared information on the Primer with the organization in 2008, just before the
Leadership Retreat workshop. The organization's senior managers and strategy team leaders reviewed
the primer in preparation for the workshop. The purpose of the workshop was to re-examine and
update the organization's strategic plan. CWW used the Primer, including the Attributes, the Keys, and
the self-assessment as the framework for this review process.
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Prior to the workshop, management staff compared the organization's existing strategic plan (the six
strategy areas and associated goals) with the Attributes, and found them to be highly correlated. Using
the Primer as a reference, specific strategies, goals, and objectives were mapped from the existing
strategic plan to each of the Attributes. During the workshop, the six CWW strategy teams were asked
to identify what goals or objectives should be changed or added, based on the Attributes and current
organizational challenges (See Appendix A: CWW 2008 Strategic Planning—Strategies, Goals,
Objectives). The workshop participants developed action plans to address the changes, additions, and
issues identified, and began work with the strategy teams immediately following the workshop to move
the actions forward.
Utility Self Assessment
In preparation for their Leadership Retreat Workshop,
CWW made use of the self-assessment tool provided in
the Primer. Managers and team leaders individually
completed the organizational self-assessment in the
Primer before the workshop to identify CWW's level of
achievement and importance ranking for each of the
Attributes, in addition to identifying milestones that the
teams had achieved. The self-assessment tool was
completed and returned online through a website with
the compiled results presented at the workshop (See
Appendix B: CWW Self-Assessment Results Figure 1 and
2—Importance Ranking and Achievement Rating).
Overall, the self-assessment results showed a correlation
between what the participants thought CWW was doing
well and what Attributes they thought were most
important to the organization.
At the workshop, the assessment results showed that participants ranked Product Quality as the most
important Attribute, and Financial Viability as the second most important. Participants rated CWW very
high in achievement of Product Quality (1 on a scale of 5) and high in the area of Financial Viability (2
out of 5). The results showed high to very high achievement ratings for most of the Attributes, with the
lowest level of achievement (3 on a scale of 5), given to the Employee and Leadership Development
Attribute. Employee and Leadership Development ranked 3-4 (very important), showing some
inconsistency when compared to its relatively low achievement rating. The inconsistency was attributed
to the expected retirement, within the next few years, of a number of CWW's senior managers, while
having insufficient planning in place for workforce succession.
"With the limited time we had
in the strategic planning
workshop, we were able to
quickly identify issues that
needed to be addressed using
the Primer. When we got back
within our teams we were able
to discuss how to address those
—Jim Patterson, V.P. Strategic
Planning Implementation,
Columbus Water Works
10
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CWW Leadership Retreat Workshop 2008
The self-assessment results confirmed that CWW was heading in the right direction with its strategic
planning approach, but also reinforced the need for more focus on the Employee and Leadership
Development area in particular. As a result of the inconsistency in this area, CWW managers and
strategy teams met to discuss the issue after the workshop. An employee training program and
succession plan were developed to begin addressing the pending turn-over of the executive team.
Example Utility Measures
Senior managers also compared the example performance measures provided in the Primer with the
existing ones that CWW has in place. The managers were able to correlate example measures with
CWW measures and found each of the Attributes to be well supported by CWW's current performance
measurement system. The managers evaluated measures from three sources in the organization:
CWW's strategic plan, the strategy team objectives, and CWW's application of QualServe1 indicators.
The results of the comparison indicated that CWW has most of the Primer concepts well supported with
existing performance measures, while the Community Sustainability Attribute needs further
performance measure development. As a next step, CWW plans to examine its options for developing
more robust performance measures for the Community Sustainability Attribute.
Overall, CWW managers found they have strong coverage and are getting good results from their
current performance measurement system (see Appendix C: Columbus Water Works, 2008 Strategic
Planning—Benchmarks). The managers concluded that the Primer would be a good tool for those
utilities getting started in the measurement evaluation process, while it acted as a reasonable cross-
check for their more fully developed measurement system. Rather than generating any significant
changes, the Primer served to confirm that CWW was on track with its measures, having a highly
developed performance measurement system already in place.
1 QualServe is a tool offered jointly by the American Water Works Association and the Water Environment Federation. For
more information visit the website at www.qualserve.org.
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Association of Metropolitan Water Agencies Awards
The 2008 Association of Metropolitan Water Agencies' (AMWA) Awards for Utility Excellence were
structured around the Attributes and Keys. The awards were given to utilities that systematically
applied effective utility management approaches to improve their products and services, continuously
working to improve product quality, customer satisfaction, employee leadership and development,
operational optimization, financial viability, infrastructure stability, operational resiliency, community
sustainability, water resource adequacy and stakeholder understanding and support.
CWW applied the Primer concepts to the 2008 AMWA Award application. In the award application the
utility demonstrated that its activities were clearly associated with the Attributes and Keys. As a result,
CWW earned the 2008 AMWA Platinum Award for Utility Excellence.
CWW 2008 AMWA Platinum Award
I
Platinum Award
Utility Excellence
Columbus Water Works
2008
Keys to Management Success
Using the Primer, CWW's managers conducted an informal comparison of the organization's
management approach with the Keys to Management Success. Consistent with the Leadership Key,
CWW's management approach relies on leadership teams that have evolved over time to best serve the
organization in implementing its strategic plan. CWW's implementation of the strategic plan also
correlates with the Strategic Business Planning Key of the Primer, which calls for strategic planning to
achieve balance and cohesion across the Attributes. In regard to the Organizational Approaches Key,
CWW actively engages approximately 60 employees in improvement efforts using the strategy teams
that reach across the organization to involve staff from all departments.
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The Measurement Key calls for a system of measures to manage improvement efforts associated with
the Attributes, and CWW has placed substantial emphasis on performance measurement, as described
above. CWW has employed a "Scan-Plan-Do" model/ similar to the "Plan-Do-Check-Act" approach
described in the Primer under the Continual Improvement Management Framework Key. In addition,
CWW has Asset Management3 and National Biosolids Partnership4 strategies in place, which are
anchored in a continual improvement management framework. The organization has also created a
Continuous Improvement staff position for a manager to coordinate efforts in this area.
Table 1 Keys to Management Success and CWW Approach
Keys
Leadership
Strategic Business
Planning
Organizational
Approaches
Measurement
Continuous Improvement
"Plan-Do-Check-Act"
CWW Approach
Leadership Teams
Strategic Plan Implementation
Strategy Teams
Performance Measures
• "Scan-Plan-Do model"
• Other management strategies
• Continuous improvement Manager
Position
Results
Implementing strategic plan
Working to achieve balance and
cohesion across the Attributes
Involving staff in improvement
efforts
Using a system of measures to
manage improvement efforts
Providing a continual improvement
management framework.
Overall, CWW found its management approach consistently matches the Keys to Management Success
as outlined in the Primer. The managers did not see the need to formally work through the Keys in the
workshop setting, but they did review them informally prior to the workshop in preparation for focusing
on the Attributes. They found that the Keys are fundamental tools for applying the Attributes, and were
useful for verifying that CWW is on track with effective management principles.
Lessons Learned
The two senior managers interviewed provided the following lessons learned from CWW's application of
the Primer concepts and tools:
• It was a straightforward exercise to map CWW's existing strategic plan to the Attributes.
The Scan-Plan-Do Model was developed in the American Water Works Research Foundation project, "Strategic Planning and
Organizational Development for Water Utilities."
3 http://www.epa.gov/OWM/assetmanage/index.htm
4 http://www.biosolids.org/
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• The mapping exercise helped CWW to identify where their existing strategic plan goals and
objectives could use improvement, and indicated, overall, that their strategic plan was providing
the organization with effective, overall management coverage.
• Using the Primer as the overall framework for the strategic plan review helped keep workshop
participants focused on the big picture of overall management effectiveness (and helped the
managers to avoid becoming overly focused on specific tactics).
• The Primer provided a fresh way of examining CWW's strategic plan and conducting the
strategic plan update. This helped managers be more engaged in the Leadership Workshop.
• The self-assessment tool provided an easy to implement, overall, high-level framework for
evaluating organizational performance. It provided reassurance that CWW was effectively
addressing most Attributes while highlighting one Attribute in need of further work.
• The example measures acted as an effective cross-check for CWW's existing measurement
system if only to reassure the organization that it has a robust system in place.
• Although it has invested substantially in management systems over a several-year period, CWW
found the Primer to be a helpful tool for characterizing its management improvement status and
needs.
• Management improvements take time and evolve over several years. For example, CWW
uncovered the need for strategy teams during its 2005 strategic planning process, several years
before the Primer was published. The use of strategy teams was further refined during the 2007
plan revisions. In 2008, when the Primer was published, the strategy teams were able to
implement the Primer concepts and tools during the next strategic planning process. CWW
management improvements occurred in stages and application of the Primer was part of the
ongoing progress made overtime.
Overall, the CWW managers found that they had no difficulty introducing the Primer to an already
functioning management team and into an existing strategic planning process. The managers found the
Attributes and Keys, the self-assessment tool and example performance measures very useful and
believed the tools helped CWW to identify areas it needed to focus on. The CWW managers would
recommend the Primer concepts and tools to other utilities.
Conclusion
CWW is an excellent example of a utility that has used the Primer to apply the Attributes and Keys for
reviewing and developing management strategies, goals, and objectives. The utility compared the
Primer concepts to its existing strategic plan strategies and found a strong correlation. CWW utilized
the Primer's self-assessment method and identified one Attribute that needed more focus, and other
Attributes that were well supported. Areas needing a bit more focus in relation to CWW performance
measures were identified through a comparison with the measurement strategies in the Primer. CWW
successfully applied the Primer concepts and tools through its strategic planning workshop, followed by
strategy team actions to implement the workshop findings.
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For utilities such as CWW that have invested substantial time and resources in management systems,
the Attributes, Keys, Measures, and Self-Assessment can act as effective tools for evaluating
management strategies. According to the senior managers interviewed, the Primer can help the utility
take a step back and effectively evaluate the big picture goals it is working to achieve.
More information about CWW is available on its website at http://www.cwwga.org/default.asp.
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Case Study: Green Bay Metropolitan Sewerage District (Wisconsin)
This case study profiles Green Bay Metropolitan Sewerage District (GBMSD), in Green Bay, Wisconsin,
and its application of the Ten Attributes to Effectively Managed Water Sector Utilities (Attributes) and
Keys to Management Success (Keys). Based on interviews with the Executive Director, the case study
describes the utility's use of the Effective Utility Management Primer for Water and Wastewater Utilities
(Primer), as a guide for applying the Attributes and Keys.
Utility Overview
Green Bay Metropolitan Sewerage District (GBMSD) is an independent municipal district that provides
district interceptor systems and wholesale wastewater treatment services from its two treatment
facilities in Green Bay and De Pere, Wisconsin. GBMSD serves over 219,000 residents, through 17 village,
town, and city customers.
GBMSD Green Bay Facility at the Mouth of the Fox River
GBMSD's original treatment plant began operations in 1935 and experienced several significant
expansions over the following decades, including a major expansion in 1975 that allowed it to be the
first plant in the nation to simultaneously treat municipal and pulp mill wastewater. During the 1990s
the plant added aeration basins, secondary clarifiers, and an improved solids handling system, resulting
in greatly improved ammonia removal efficiency. In 1999-2000, GBMSD experienced significant
restructuring and downsizing. To keep municipal user rates low while continuing to maintain or improve
performance, GBMSD reduced its workforce by 30 percent.
In December 2007, GBMSD and the City of De Pere's wastewater utility agreed to merge operations.
The De Pere treatment facility and GBMSD facility, combined, on average treat approximately 39 mgd of
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wastewater. The Green Bay facility is designed to treat up to 49 mgd and treats approximately 30 mgd
on average. The De Pere facility can treat up to 14 mgd; on average the facility treats approximately 9
mgd. The maximum wet-weather design flow for the De Pere facility is 30 mgd; the maximum wet-
weather design flow for the Green Bay facility is 160 mgd.
GBMSD is authorized as a special purpose municipality under Chapter 200 of the statutes of the State of
Wisconsin and is funded by user fees. GBMSD has the authority to levy a property tax, but has never
used that authority. GBMSD is directed by a five-member Commission that meets at least monthly.
Commissioners are nominated by the Brown County Executive and approved by the Brown County
Board to serve staggered five-year terms. GBMSD employs a highly skilled workforce of approximately
100 staff.
Existing Management Initiative
In 2002, before the Primer was published, the GBMSD Commission and Executive Staff updated the
utility's 1999 strategic plan, focusing on risk and vulnerability assessment and asset management
strategies. Implementation of that high-level plan did not translate to direct action by managers and
staff. More recently, a new strategic planning process that involved not just commissioners, but a broad
cross-section of staff was implemented with the purpose of driving performance across the entire
organization. While the 2002 planning process was conducted by and for the GBMSD commissioners
and executives, the 2008 process was a more fully inclusive strategic planning effort involving managers
and staff. The 2008 process benefited from a design that encouraged more organization-wide
participation in implementation strategies.
Green Bay Metropolitan Sewerage District Meeting
The process began with a kick-off meeting in May 2008, followed by a series of workshops through
summer and fall of 2008. The planning process utilized the Primer concepts and tools as a framework
for identifying goals, objectives, and investment strategies to achieve GBMSD's mission, "to promote
public health and welfare through the collection, treatment and reclamation of wastewater while
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assessing stable, competitive rates. In conjunction with others, the organization will encourage
pollution prevention and support programs to help ensure that water contaminated by human activity is
returned clean to the environment." An implementation plan framed around the Primer concepts is
currently being developed for completion in 2009.
Utility Self Assessment
In 2008, GBMSD's Executive Director distributed the
Primer and reviewed it with 16 managers and executive
staff on the management team, who then individually
completed the utility self-assessment. The management
team was asked to rank the Attributes according to level
of importance and to rate GBMSD on its level of
achievement for each Attribute. The team decided to
treat the assessment results as an internal document, to
enable managers to be more fully candid. The
management team as a group reviewed the self-
assessment results at its first strategic planning meeting,
condensed the individual assessments into a single
group assessment and used the results of the
assessment to reach consensus on priority focus areas
for the strategic plan.
"The Primer helped identify that
change was needed and helped
us develop strategies aligned
with our goal of becoming a
more effective utility."
—Tom Sigmund, Executive Director,
Green Bay Metropolitan Sewerage
District
The individual importance ranking and achievement rating from the self-assessment tool first revealed
that the management team was primarily focused on the utility's services "inside the fence," such as
product quality and plant maintenance. The results showed that externally-focused strategies, such as
communicating with customers, environmental stewardship, seeking stakeholder support, and other
activities "outside the fence," were not considered by the management team to be high priority areas or
GBMSD strengths. At the same time, the Commission found external strategies lacking in the existing
management priorities and was focusing on the need for externally-focused activities in the 2008 plan.
Going into the strategic planning process, the focus of the management team and that of the
Commissioners were significantly different.
As the management team and Commissioners discussed the Primer concepts and tools, the need for
investment in externally-focused management initiatives became more apparent; these were eventually
seen by the management team as priority focus areas for the strategic plan, in addition to the internally-
focused activities. The Primer and the self-assessment tool, in particular, were credited with giving the
management team the opportunity to see external strategies in a different light, in balance with
internally-focused goals.
Because the Primer provided nationally-recognized principles endorsed by EPA and six national water
sector associations, it enabled the management team to see the need for change within GBMSD to be in
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step with industry peers. In addition, the table and graph created by GBMSD as part of the self-
assessment tool, clearly illustrated to managers and staff the organization's current status and its future
goals in a way that was easy to understand. By demonstrating the need for change, the self-assessment
tool helped participants to overcome resistance to viewing externally-focused goals on par with
internally-focused ones. The Primer, and the self-assessment tool in the Primer, created a strong basis
for the management team to focus externally, played a critical role in validating the "outside the fence"
interests of the Commissioners, and helped GBMSD to reach consensus on strategic planning goals.
Application of the Attributes
The utility's Executive Director first learned about the
Primer concepts and tools from his involvement in the
Effective Utility Management Advisory Committee, in
addition to the EUM website and industry conferences.
He shared copies of the Primer with the GBMSD
Commissioners and management team in preparation for
the 2008 strategic planning process. The management
team completed the self-assessment exercise, which
provided a high-level sense of strategic planning focus
areas, both internally- and externally-focused. During
strategic planning workshops, the management team
then identified specific goals, objectives and investment
strategies for the new strategic plan, based on the focus
areas identified.
"It was tough for people to
change their focus and the
Primer helped them to
understand the need to change.
The Primer helped them
evaluate and prioritize a diverse
set of alternatives."
—Tom Sigmund, Executive Director,
Green Bay Metropolitan Sewerage
District
J
The 2008 process utilized the self-assessment results as a framework for identifying four major GBMSD
goals (1: Support economic development, 2: Offer exceptional career development opportunities, 3:
Promote environmental stewardship/education, 4: Provide diverse, quality services). Each goal was
weighted based on the results of the self-assessment exercise and management preferences to establish
a priority order. The goals were then associated with a set of objectives, which were again weighted to
reflect the results of the self-assessment and management preferences. The objectives were listed in
priority order and were then associated with a list of 14 potential strategic investment option activities.
GBMSD then evaluated each investment option, considering how much it would serve GBMSD in
meeting the identified objectives and how it would address the Attributes. As a result of the analysis,
four final strategic investment strategies were selected for implementation in the strategic plan (See
Appendix D: Green Bay Metropolitan Sewerage District Goals, Objectives, and Investment Strategies).
The strategic investments provided specific actions for managers and staff to take to address the goals
and objectives in the plan. The four strategic investments for moving the goals and objectives forward
and the associated Attributes were confirmed for the strategic plan (see Table 2: Strategic Investments
and the Attributes). By prioritizing the investments and selecting four, GBMSD will be able to focus its
staff resources on the most important strategic activities, while maintaining its core business operations.
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Table 2: Strategic Investments and the Attributes
2008 Strategic Investments
Correlation with Attributes
1.Services to other municipalities: Provision of
wastewater treatment and collection services to
other municipalities in region including
operations (by contract), technical services,
and/or system acquisitions.
Stakeholder understanding and support;
Operational optimization; Financial viability
2. Watershed planning/credit trading: In
collaboration with other major Wl wastewater
utilities and DNR, develop whole watershed
planning framework (including establishing credit
trading protocols).
Community Sustainability; Stakeholder
Understanding and Support; Financial Viability
3. Asset management: Develop an asset (including
IT assets) renewal and replacement program
using condition assessments, life-cycle costing
and risk-based decision making protocols.
Financial Viability; Infrastructure Stability;
Community sustainability; Stakeholder
understanding and support
4. In-district sustainability projects: Develop
projects (or project components) that yield
sustainability benefits including limiting GHG
emissions, achieving LEED compliance, etc.
Develop environmental impact reporting.
Financial viability; Infrastructure stability; Product
quality; Community Sustainability; Stakeholder
understanding and support
In the final step of the strategic planning process, the utility will review its current set of performance
measures in the context of the 2008 objectives and investments, using the list of measures in the Primer
as a guide. The management team is currently finalizing the implementation plan and performance
measures for completion in spring 2009.
Attribute-Related Utility Measures
GBMSD developed performance measures in 2004, before the Primer was published, in relation to the
strategic plan goals that were in place at the time. During its current strategic planning process, GBMSD
is revisiting its measures using the examples in the Primer. The management team is in the process of
correlating its measures with the objectives and strategic investments in the new plan and revisions will
be made where needed.
GBMSD currently measures product quality for regulatory compliance, workforce succession
preparedness, bond rating, worker safety, partnership projects, and annual rate increases compared to
consumer price index. All of these measures will be reviewed in light of the 2008 goals and objectives
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and the four strategic investments, and will be implemented in 2009. GBMSD plans to develop annual
reports that convey the results of its performance measures.
Keys to Management Success
Using the Primer, the Executive Director conducted an informal assessment of the Keys to Management
Success and GBMSD's management approach (see Table 2: Keys to Management Success and GBMSD
Approach). In relation to the "Leadership" Key, GBMSD has established a Leadership Development
strategy for training staff. The utility has partnered with a technical school and will graduate its first set
of staff from the program in 2009. In addition, the management team continues to implement
succession planning strategies for GBMSD. GBMSD's 2008 strategic planning process using the Primer
framework correlates with the "Strategic Business Planning" Key, and will be implemented in 2009.
Regarding the "Organizational Approaches" Key, GBMSD has actively engaged the management team
and Commission in its strategic planning process and implementation strategy. It is currently in the
process of chartering management and staff teams to implement the strategic investments. GBMSD
regularly uses work teams to evaluate issues and implement projects.
The "Measurement" Key calls for measurement of improvement efforts associated with the Primer
concepts. GBMSD is currently evaluating its measurement strategies in relation to its 2008 strategic
plan goals, objectives, and investment options, using the list of example measures in the Primer. With
regard to the "Continual Improvement" Key, GBMSD is in the process of evaluating its improvement
management strategies. The management team is striving to document institutional knowledge and to
learn from past experiences. GBMSD has had an asset management strategy in place for many years,
and is currently evaluating its usefulness in terms of the 2008 strategic plan.
Table 2: Keys to Management Success and GBMSD Approach
Keys
Leadership
Strategic Business Planning
Organizational Approaches
Measurement
Continual Improvement
Management Framework
GBMSD Approach
Leadership Development
Strategic Planning Process
Management and Staff Teams
Performance Measures
Evaluation of Improvement
Management Strategies
Results
Partnering with local technical college to
train current staff.
Developing implementation strategy for
2008 Strategic Plan.
Implementing the 2008 strategic plan
investments.
Evaluating current measures in relation
to the 2008 strategic plan.
Documenting institutional knowledge
and learning from past experience. Asset
management strategy.
Overall, GBMSD's management approaches match the Keys to Management Success model, as outlined
in the Primer. The management team continues to evaluate GBMSD's management efforts and to
improve its performance. Although GBMSD did not implement a formal analysis of the Keys, the
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Executive Director did find them useful as a guide for applying the Primer and ensuring that GBMSD is
on track with nationally recognized effective utility principles.
Lessons Learned
The Executive Director provided the following lessons
learned, in regard to applying the Primer concepts and
tools to its strategic management initiatives:
"The Primer and Attributes gave
staff the opportunity to look at
goals in a different manner. This
turned their thinking from only
looking 'inside the fence' to
seeing that goals 'outside the
fence' are also needed."
— Tom Sigmund, Executive
Director, Green Bay Metropolitan
Sewerage District
• The Primer reinforced the need for focusing on
activities "outside the fence" of the utility's
internal operations. Because they provided a
respected industry perspective on effective utility
management, the Primer reinforced the
Commissioners' interest in better balancing
internally and externally-focused strategic
investments. The Primer concepts and tools
provided a fresh way to evaluate the strategic
plan, enabling managers to view focus areas in a
way that was not previously considered.
• Managers found that mapping the Attributes and Keys with the management goals, objectives,
and investments was a fairly straightforward and useful exercise particularly for identifying
areas needing improvement.
• The Primer provided a high-level framework upon which to base planning discussions and
structure strategic planning processes. GBMSD managers returned to the Primer in each stage
of the planning process.
• The Primer, including the self-assessment tool provided simple and easy-to-implement guidance
that managers found beneficial for moving GBMSD's process forward. The table and graphic
developed using the self-assessment tool were especially helpful for communicating the utility's
current status and future goals. It enabled effective communication and understanding
between the management team and the Commission. By demonstrating the need for change,
the self-assessment tool helped participants to overcome resistance to change.
• The decision to hold the self-assessment results as an internal document allowed the managers
and executives to be more fully candid in the self-assessment process.
• The Primer will enable GBMSD to cross-check its measurement system with the example list of
measures, applying the Primer concepts to its performance measures.
Overall, the Executive Director did not have any difficulty introducing the Primer to the management
team and Commission and integrating them into the 2008 strategic planning process. The management
team found the Primer to be a useful tool for identifying the level of importance managers and staff
placed on internal and external management strategies. The Primer concepts and tools provided
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guidance on industry norms for effective management, and helped the management team and
Commission to reach consensus on the 2008 strategic planning approach.
Conclusion
GBMSD is an example of a utility that has used the Primer in a strategic planning process that involved
managers and staff across the organization for the first time. The utility used the Primer to establish
new goals and objectives, as well as investment strategies for implementation. GBMSD utilized the
Primer's self-assessment tool to identify strengths and weaknesses. The self-assessment revealed that
strategies "outside the fence" needed more focus and helped to bring the management team and
Commission into agreement on priority focus areas. GBMSD successfully used the Primer through its
strategic planning process, and will complete its implementation plan and performance measures this
year.
GBMSD found that the self-assessment in the Primer provided a simple, easy-to-implement tool for
beginning the strategic planning process, and the Primer provided a framework that the management
team could follow throughout the process. The Primer was useful for a utility that wanted to make
significant changes in its management strategies and served to close the gap between the managers'
and the Commissioners' views on externally-focused activities. The self-assessment tool in the Primer
provided a clear illustration of the utility's current status and future priorities. GBMSD will use the
Primer concepts and tools in the future, and the Executive Director recommends it for other utilities that
are implementing strategic planning in a way that fully involves managers, staff and Commissioners in
the process.
More information about GBMSD is available on its website at http://www.gbmsd.org/.
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Case Study: Gwinnett County Department of Water Resources (Georgia)
This case study profiles Gwinnett County Department of Water Resources (DWR), in Lawrenceville,
Georgia, and its application of the Ten Attributes to Effectively Managed Water Sector Utilities
(Attributes) and Keys to Management Success (Keys). Based on interviews with the Deputy Director of
Operations and Environmental Services (Deputy Director OES), the case study describes how DWR used
the Effective Utility Management Primer for Water and Wastewater Utilities (Primer), as a guide for
applying the Attributes, Keys, self-assessment tool, and example list of performance measures.
Utility Overview
DWR is a publicly-owned utility providing water, wastewater, and stormwater services for over 750,000
residents. It is governed by the Gwinnett County Board of Commissioners, advised by a Water and
Sewerage Authority.
Gwinnett County Department of Water Resources
The Water Production Division operates and maintains two separate intake and pump facilities at Lake
Lanier. Water is processed at two water filtration plants. The Lanier Filtration Plant can produce 150
mgd, and the Shoal Creek Filtration Plant can produce 75 mgd, for a total of 225 million gallons per peak
day water production capacity. In 2007, Gwinnett County residents and businesses consumed nearly 32
billion gallons of water, averaging 86.9 mgd. In 2008, consumption averaged 72.1 mgd. The highest
historical peak-day demand has been 143 mgd.
• The Water Reclamation Division currently operates five wastewater treatment facilities with a
total permitted capacity of 98 mgd as a monthly average. The Wayne Hill Water Resources
Center has a 60 mgd capacity, with the highest monthly flow of 48.3 mgd in 2007-2008.
• Yellow River basin reclamation facilities are currently being consolidated, with a combined
capacity of 22 mgd. The highest monthly flow at these facilities in 2007 through 2008 was 16.59
mgd.
• Crooked Creek WRF has a current capacity of 16 mgd, with the highest monthly flow of 13.7
mgd in 2007-2008.
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The reclaimed water from the F. Wayne Hill Water Resources Center is conveyed through two long
pipelines either to the Chattahoochee River upstream of other metro area intakes or to Lake Lanier in
the vicinity of Gwinnett County's newest water supply intake.
"The Primer is about as simple
and easily understood as
anything I have yet seen. In
fact, it is only 44 pages including
appendices and figures. Best of
all, it is free!"
—Tyler Richards, Deputy Director of
Operations and Environmental
Services, Gwinnett County Dept.
Water Resources
Management Planning Initiatives
Since 1992 DWR has had a facility master plan that focuses
mainly on permit capacity and growth. That master plan
was revised on five-year intervals. Located northeast of
Atlanta, Gwinnett County was a rapidly urbanizing area, and
prior to 2007 the utility concentrated on new capital and
intensive growth. For example, from 1997 to 2007 the
population increased over by 25,000 per year. More
recently, growth in the county has slowed markedly. In
addition, ongoing drought has prompted an outdoor
watering ban. As a result of these changes, DWR is
transitioning from a growth-focused utility to a more
deliberative rehabilitation and replacement organization.
mmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm*
In 2007, before the Primer was published, DWR
implemented its first strategic planning process, conducting a series of workshops involving all levels of
management and field staff. Five strategic objectives were developed through the process: 1) Effective
Asset Management, 2) Customer Service, 3) Workforce Development, 4) Financial Viability, and 5)
Enhanced Communication.
After the strategic plan was developed in 2007, DWR generated performance measures in 2008, based
on strategic plan goals. In 2009, the utility revisited its strategic plan through a low cost planning
process using the Primer concepts and tools. Due to a freeze in hiring and a plan to cut spending, DWR
did not conduct strategic planning workshops, but carried out the strategic planning process through
email and standing management team meetings, possibly saving up to $36,000. The Primer provided a
cost-effective approach that was easy to implement by managers and staff. Because the 2007 strategic
plan was developed only eighteen months earlier, the process was possible without scheduling strategic
planning workshops. With the Primer framework, DWR was able to revitalize its strategic plan and
review its performance measures through a process involving all levels of management and staff.
DWR's strategic planning efforts were framed by the County's use of the Balanced Scorecard5 for
business planning. The organizations governed by the County are required to use the Balanced
Scorecard for planning strategic goals and objectives. DWR will integrate its revised strategic plan under
The Balanced Scorecard was developed by Dr. Robert Kaplan and Dr. David Norton as a performance measurement framework
that added strategic non-financial performance measures to traditional financial metrics to provide a more "balanced" view of
organizational performance.
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the Primer framework with the County's broader Balanced Scorecard context later this year. Plan
initiatives will be assigned to individual managers and staff for implementation.
Utility Self Assessment
The Deputy Director OES distributed the Primer electronically to 44 managers in all divisions of the
utility using a survey format. Managers completed the self-assessment survey, ranking achievement
areas and importance levels for the utility. Within a few weeks the self-assessment responses from 34
employees were available for analysis. The Deputy Director applied a mathematical compilation of the
responses and plotted the aggregated results in a graph to show ranking trends for each Attribute (see
Appendix E: Gwinnett County Department of Water Resources Achievement of Attributes and
Importance of Attributes Ranking).
Gwinnett County Department of Water Resources
DWR did encounter some difficulty completing the self-assessment as an individual survey. When asked
to rank order the Attributes from higher to lower importance, respondents assumed "1" to indicate least
important and "10" to indicate most important (the respondents found the Primer scale approach-"!" is
most important, "10" least important- to be counterintuitive). The Deputy Director OES commented
that, in light of this confusion, it is important for utility executives distributing the tool to reinforce that
1 is a high ranking and 10 is a low ranking rather than relying only on the directions provided with the
Primer. DWR provided further explanation to staff regarding the order of the ranking scale and
responses were resubmitted with corrections.
The Deputy Director OES tried various methods for compiling the self-assessment responses, which
proved challenging. Since she was analyzing independent survey results outside of the consensus-
building workshop setting, it was difficult to represent the responses clearly. Using a method of
averaging the results gave a meaningless ranking, with all scores in the middle of the ranking scale. In
consultation with the management team, the Deputy Director tried grouping the aggregate responses
into levels of importance or achievement, which proved to be successful and provided the information
GCWDR needed for its planning process.
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"As a result of the Primer
concepts we are a more focused
utility. Managers and staff are
working toward common goals
and can see their place in
achieving them."
— Tyler Richards, Deputy Director
of Operations and Environmental
Services, Gwinnett County Dept.
Water Resources
For this method, DWR took the full range of available
responses—1 to 10 for the importance ranking and 1 to 5
for the achievement rating—and categorized them into
levels. An Attribute that ranked 1 to 5 in importance, for
example, was considered to be at a high importance level,
and if it ranked 6 to 10, it was considered to be at a low
importance ranking. For the achievement ratings, if DWR
was rated 1 to 2 for achievement of an Attribute, the
Attribute was considered highly achieved, and if it was
rated 3 to 5 it was considered less achieved. The percent
of total responses for a given score were also provided.
For example, if 90 percent of the responses fell within the
high level of importance ranking, that was indicated on
"^B
the graph. Overall, the method developed by DWR for
compiling the aggregate results of the survey successfully
represented the responses in a way that was useful for the strategic plan review process. Once the
survey responses were compiled and displayed graphically, DWR was able to quickly identify areas
needing improvement.
The results of the self-assessment process indicated that DWR was achieving expectations for Product
Quality and Customer Satisfaction, which were also ranked as highly important Attributes. This
indicated that DWR's existing strategies for these areas were being well communicated and successfully
implemented. The Financial Viability and Infrastructure Stability Attributes, on the other hand, received
a low achievement rating, but a high to moderately high level of importance ranking. This indicated that
DWR needed to focus its 2009 revised strategic plan in these two areas in particular. The management
team decided to focus on developing strategies for understanding the full life-cycle cost of the utility, to
improve on the Financial Viability Attribute and the Infrastructure Stability Attribute.
DWR tracked the self-assessment results by division, which provided interesting results showing
similarities across the organization. The responses from each division, including the Engineering,
Finance, Lab, Management, Operations, and Planning Divisions, were color coded on a graph (see
Appendix F: Gwinnett County Department of Water Resources Strategic Planning Achievement and
Importance Graph). The results indicated that staff members from across the divisions shared a similar
sense of organizational priorities and level of achievement. The similarities between division responses
indicated that individuals in different areas of the organization had incorporated a unified perspective
on priorities and performance, rather than a more division-centric focus, and that the 2007 strategic
plan had created a cohesive sense of goals and objectives across the organization.
Once the self-assessment results were analyzed and graphed, they were reviewed by the management
team and sent by email to participants for comment. The final results were then used by the
management team in the strategic planning review process. The Deputy Director is interested in inviting
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additional participants, such as field staff and outside stakeholders to the self-assessment process in the
future, for a broader set of responses to the Attributes ranking.
Gwinnett County Department of Water Resources
Application of the Primer Concepts and Tools
The Deputy Director OES introduced the Primer self-assessment survey to DWR managers in January
2009. In addition to providing the self-assessment tool, she mapped the existing strategic plan
initiatives with the Attributes, to help managers refocus and consider new areas for the revised plan.
Managers found that the ongoing DWR initiatives were consistent with the Attributes, which validated
the existing strategic plan focus. For example, DWR is designing a LEED certified6 building at one of its
facilities, and a system for using energy from digester gas at another facility. Through the process of
mapping the Attributes with current initiatives, DWR was able to recognize that these projects were
addressing the Community Sustainability Attribute. For Attributes not aligned with the existing strategic
plan, such as Financial Viability and Infrastructure Stability, new draft initiatives were created for
consideration.
Based on the results of the self-assessment tool and the basic mapping of initiatives with the Attributes,
the management team reviewed its goals and objectives, and developed new initiatives to address areas
needing more focus. The next step for DWR is to develop strategies for implementing the goals,
objectives, and initiatives in the revised plan. The management team is currently in the process of
developing an improvement plan and performance measures for the 2010 strategic plan
implementation.
U.S. Green Building Council LEED Certification Program: http://www.usgbc.org/Default.aspx
28
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"The Primer stressed the
importance of concentrating our
efforts in areas needing
improvement and showed
where we excelled. It also
caused us to consider areas that
we may not have otherwise
considered."
— Tyler Richards, Deputy Director
of Operations and Environmental
Services, Gwinnett County Dept.
Water Resources
The strategic plan as revised according to the Primer
concepts and tools will be integrated into Gwinnett
County's balanced scorecard framework, which is part of a
county-wide approach to management planning (For an
example of the Balanced Scorecard approach, see
Appendix G: Gwinnett County Department of Water
Resources Balanced Scorecard Perspectives.)
A balanced scorecard allows flexibility in selecting strategic
objectives. Associated with each objective are one or
more key performance indicators (KPIs) or measures, and
under each KPI there are one or more strategic initiatives
which drive improvements in the KPI. A vibrant and
responsive strategic plan will focus on those Attributes
needing the most energetic attention in any given planning
horizon, without abandoning emphasis on those
performance metrics that are central to accomplishing
DWR's mission. As these weaker Attributes are thus strengthened by improvement initiatives, successor
iterations of the strategic plan will focus on other Attributes deemed to be low achievers according to
subsequent surveys.
For 2010 strategic plan development, those Attributes which received high scores on importance but
low scores on achievement on the most recent survey will not only be identified as objectives on the
scorecard, but will be supported by multiple KPIs with multiple initiatives per KPI. Some of these
performance measures may be newly conceived as a means of gaining additional managerial control
over these areas of the enterprise, and initiatives will be crafted which will improve performance on
those particular KPIs. Each initiative will specify scope and resources, detail the action-plan tasks, set
milestone dates, and assign responsible individuals. A multiplicity of initiatives on the weaker
Attributes, recast as objectives on the balanced scorecard, will concentrate the organization's attention
on those areas needing the most improvement.
Although a balanced scorecard provides an effective vehicle for converting the Primer concepts and
tools to action, any strategic planning instrument that delves into detailed action plans (programs and
projects aligned to support the strategic plan) will serve to integrate the Attributes into effective utility
management.
Attribute-Related Utility Measures
After the 2007 strategic plan was developed, DWR identified performance measures for assessing its
achievement of plan goals and objectives. In the 2009 strategic planning review process, managers used
the list of example measures in the Primer to evaluate the measures it had in place against the new plan
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objectives and Primer framework. The examples in the Primer helped the management team to choose
standard and meaningful measures that could enable DWR to chart improvements over time.
With the hiring freeze and cost cutting measures taking place, the management team became aware of
the need to use staff resources as efficiently as possible. Managers understood that resources should
not be spent on "measuring the unimportant." Through the strategic planning process using the Primer
as a guide, DWR was able to identify the most essential measures and eliminate those that were not
needed. The new set of measures will be implemented by the field staff and results will be reported on
a regular basis.
To improve its achievement of the Financial Viability Attribute, DWR will develop measures to track full
life cycle costing. To improve on the Infrastructure Stability Attribute, it will develop strategic asset
management plans to look at the condition of critical assets. The final set of performance measures and
the improvement plan will be developed by summer 2009 as an input to the 2010 operating and capital
budgets.
Keys to Management Success
The Deputy Director OES conducted an informal analysis of the Keys to Management Success, using the
Primer. The "Leadership" Key is consistent with DWR's strategy to focus on workforce development,
including employee development and training programs, as well as succession plans. The "Strategic
Business Planning" Key matches DWR's strategic planning review process using the Primer concepts and
tools as a framework.
Table 1 Keys to Management Success and DWR Approach
Keys
Leadership
Strategic Business Planning
Organizational Approaches
Measurement
Continual Improvement
Management Framework
DWR Approach
Workforce Development
Strategic Planning Process
Strategic Planning
Performance Measures
Key Performance Indicators
Results
Providing an integrated Employee
Development and Training Program
Revitalizing the strategic plan using the
Attributes
Involve all levels of management and staff in
self-assessment process and implementation
Reviewing set of measures in context of new
strategic plan using the Primer
County-wide improvement in outputs,
efficiency, and outcomes using the Balanced
Scorecard
The "Organizational Approaches" Key was addressed in DWR's strategic planning process that involved
all levels of management, as well as field staff. The utility is also consistent with the "Measurement"
Key, as it reviews the measures already in place, in the context of the new strategic plan. With regard to
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the "Continual Improvement" Key, DWR is using county-wide performance indicators to report monthly
on improvements using the Balanced Scorecard approach.
DWR's management approach is consistent with the Keys to Management Success as outlined in the
Primer. The Deputy Director OES found that the Keys are helpful for tracking progress, and were useful
for verifying that the utility is on track with established effective management principles.
Lessons Learned
The Deputy Director OES provided the following lessons
learned from DWR's application of the Primer concepts
and tools:
"I would encourage other
utilities to download the Primer.
Then use the attributes, self
assessment tool and other
approaches in the Primer as a
simple way toward utility
improvement."
—Tyler Richards, Deputy Director
OES, Gwinnett County Dept. Water
Resources
The Primer concepts were useful for validating
the strategic plan initiatives already in place, by
providing a framework endorsed by The
Collaborating Organizations for effective utility
management. The process of mapping the
Attributes with DWR strategies was fairly
straightforward and provided a useful method
for identifying areas needing improvement.
! mmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm m
The Primer concepts and tools gave DWR an
approach for getting all levels of management and staff to agree on the focus for the revised
strategic plan. The self-assessment tool in the Primer was an easy, cost-effective approach for
the management staff to review and update the utility's existing strategic plan. The tool in
particular provided a way to conduct a strategic planning update through email and regular staff
meetings without the use of workshops or a costly process.
DWR needed to develop an in-house methodology for compiling and displaying the responses
received from the self-assessment tool survey. The responses, once compiled and displayed
graphically, allowed the utility to quickly identify areas needing improvement.
The benefits of the self-assessment approach have left DWR inclined to expand the use of the
self-assessment survey to include additional participants (including outside stakeholders) in
future strategic planning update cycles.
Tracking self-assessment responses by division confirmed that participants across the
organization had similar views, regardless of their work area. Results indicated that the
individual divisions had incorporated a utility-wide sense of management priorities and
performance.
The list of performance measures in the Primer was a useful reference for reviewing DWR's
measurement system in the context of the Primer concepts. Using the examples, DWR
identified a need for further development of performance measures in two areas associated
with the Financial Viability and Infrastructure Stability Attributes.
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Conclusion
DWR is an excellent example of a utility that has used the Primer concepts and tools for revising an
existing strategic plan. The utility compared the Attributes to its existing strategies and found a strong
correlation. The utility applied the self-assessment tool to identify areas for further improvement and
isolated two particular Attributes needing more focus. The utility also used the self-assessment tool to
evaluate responses across the organization's divisions and found that staff across the organization had
similar views of the organization's achievement level and priorities. DWR used the examples of
measures in the Primer to review its performance measures in the context of the new strategic plan and
Primer framework. DWR successfully accomplished these tasks through a cost-effective strategic
planning effort.
DWR identified many benefits from using the Primer concepts and tools. By applying the Primer to its
management improvement initiatives, DWR was able to implement a cost-effective, easy-to-implement
process. Cost was particularly important to DWR, due to its existing hiring freeze and need to cut costs.
DWR was able to bring all levels of management and staff into agreement on priorities and goals
without a costly strategic planning process and to target its resources most efficiently. DWR benefited
from a nationally-recognized straightforward framework that helped the utility to identify areas needing
improvement and areas that are on the right track. The graphic and tool provided a clear illustration of
the utility's current status and future goals. As a result of applying the Primer concepts and tools,
DWR's Deputy Director OES reports that it is a more focused utility with all staff working toward
common goals.
For utilities such as DWR that have had a strategic plan in place for only a couple of years, the Primer
concepts and tools can be very effective for revitalizing management strategies and anchoring the plan
review process. According to the Deputy Director OES, the Primer provides simple tools that are easy
for utilities to implement, bringing all levels of management and staff together in an efficient and cost-
effective strategic planning process.
More information about DWR is available on its website: http://www.gwinnettcounty.com/cgi-
bin/gwinctv/egov/ep/gcbrowse.do?channelld=-536881961&pageTypeld=536880236.
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Case Study: Massachusetts Water Resources Authority (Massachusetts)
This case study profiles Massachusetts Water Resources Authority (MWRA), in Boston, Massachusetts,
and its application of the Ten Attributes to Effectively Managed Water Sector Utilities (Attributes) and
Keys to Management Success (Keys), and the Effective Utility Management Primer for Water and
Wastewater Utilities (Primer), used as a guide to applying the Attributes and Keys. Based on interviews
with MWRA's Director of Planning and Coordination, the case study describes the utility's use of the
Primer concepts and tools in its strategic initiatives and application for Association of Metropolitan
Water Agencies' Platinum Award for Utility Excellence.
Utility Overview
MWRA is an independent public authority in Boston, serving a population of approximately 2.5 million
individuals and 5,500 industrial users with wholesale water and sewer services. MWRA supplies an
average of 215 mgd of drinking water to local water departments in 48 communities. MWRA's sewer
services include wastewater facilities which serve 43 communities and treat 350 mgd of sewage.
MWRA Quabbin Reservoir
Water supply is provided by the Quabbin and Wachusett Reservoirs, with capacities of 412 billion
gallons and 65 billion gallons, respectively. Water from the reservoirs is treated at the Ware Water
Treatment Plant and the John J. Carroll Water Treatment Plant. The John J. Carroll Plant uses ozone as a
primary disinfectant and chloramines for residual disinfection. It has capacity to treat up to 405 mgd of
water from the Wachusett Reservoir. Water enters the Ware Plant directly from the Quabbin Reservoir
and is treated with chlorine for primary disinfection. The Ware Plant provides water to approximately
75,000 people and in 2008 treated 7.9 mgd on average. Treated water is distributed through a system
of over 300 miles of pipe.
MWRA operates two wastewater treatment facilities, Deer Island Wastewater Treatment Plant and
Clinton Wastewater Treatment Plant. The Deer Island plant removes human, household, business and
industrial pollutants from wastewater that originates in homes and businesses in 43 greater Boston
communities. Deer Island's North Main Pump Station has a capacity of 910 mgd while the Lydia
Goodhue Pump Station has a capacity 360 mgd. The Clinton Wastewater Treatment Plant provides
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advanced sewage treatment services to the town of Clinton and the Lancaster Sewer District. The
Clinton Plant's three influent lift pumps have a total capacity of 3 mgd at slow speed (24 rpm) and 6 mgd
at fast speed (48 rpm). MWRA's wastewater treatment system also includes Nut Island Headworks, a
sewage screening facility where sewage passes through screens and grit chambers that remove large
objects, sand and gravel. After screening, the sewage is conveyed through the Inter-Island Tunnel to
Deer Island. Nut Island Headworks serves 21 sewer system communities. Treated water is discharged
through a 9.5 mile-long outfall tunnel into Massachusetts Bay.
MWRA is governed by an 11-member board of directors, 8 of whom are directly or indirectly appointed
by its 61 customer communities. Three members are appointed by the Governor of Massachusetts.
MWRA receives input from three advisory groups: the MWRA Advisory Board, the Water Supply
Citizen's Advisory Committee, and the Wastewater Advisory Committee.
• The MWRA Advisory Board reviews and comments on MWRA capital and current expense
budgets, as well as MWRA practices and policies. Its members include the chief elected official
and a designee from each of the cities and towns serviced by the MWRA, along with a member
of the Metropolitan Area Planning Council (MAPC), and six gubernatorial appointees
representing various interests. The Advisory Board appoints three members to the MWRA Board
of Directors and serves as a liaison between the communities and the MWRA.
• The Water Supply Citizen's Advisory Committee (WSCAC) advises the MWRA and the
Department of Conservation and Recreation on water conservation and watershed protection
strategies. WSCAC's membership is balanced geographically and by interest, representing source
watershed communities, watershed associations, water utilities, environmental groups,
business, water users, and other interested parties.
• The Wastewater Advisory Committee (WAC) offers independent recommendations on
wastewater policies and programs. WAC's mission is to be a citizen's advisory committee to the
MWRA providing an independent public forum for holistic discussion of wastewater issues.
Membership is designed to reflect the knowledge and interest of major affected constituencies:
engineering and construction, environmental advocacy, planning, academic research, and
business.
Existing Management Initiative
Since the early 1990s, MWRA has conducted strategic business planning to implement its Mission, "To
promote reliable, cost effective, high quality water and sewer services that protect public health,
promote environmental stewardship, maintain customer confidence and support a prosperous
economy." The utility completed updates of its business plan in 1997, 1999, 2000, 2003 and 2008. In
the period between the 2003 and 2008 Business Plan updates, MWRA focused its management planning
efforts on long-term infrastructure planning. Managers identified key infrastructure focus areas that
would be reflected in its next Business Plan revision. In 2006, MWRA completed its Wastewater System
Master Plan and Water System Master Plan, which identified and prioritized all infrastructure needs.
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In May 2008, MWRA completed a full revision of its business plan using the Primer concepts as a
framework. Managers developed new or renewed goals, objectives and strategies for all major business
areas. A total of 28 strategies were identified and compared with the Attributes using a "crosswalk"
format (see Appendix H: MWRA Business Plan Fiscal Years 2009-2013). The strategies under
consideration for the updated Business Plan, and the Primer concepts and tools, were discussed during
senior staff meetings, MWRA Board meetings, Board subcommittee meetings, and project meetings
involving management and staff.
Several strategies in the revised business plan are related to environmental sustainability and energy
conservation, which is consistent with the state's goals for energy efficiency. The state of Massachusetts
will request federal economic stimulus funds for these MWRA activities as part of its energy efficiency
program. The strategic planning process using the Primer concepts and tools helped MWRA to prepare
these projects for consideration by the state for its stimulus funds program.
Application of the Attributes
The Planning and Coordination Division launched the
2008 Business Plan revision process by distributing an
updated draft schematic of the strategies to senior
managers using the Primer concepts as a frame of
reference. The schematic highlighted strategies that
remained relevant and/or were still being implemented,
and recommended new strategies consistent with
emerging priorities. The senior managers then developed
approaches for producing the strategy write-up, using the
Primer as a guide, and received input from the
management team that would implement it.
"Some managers had been
through a management
improvement process and some
had not. The strategy template
based on the Primer concepts
gave them a frame of reference
for the business plan review."
- Marian Orfeo, Director of
Planning and Coordination,
Massachusetts Water Resources
Authority
Once the strategies were drafted, the Director of
Planning and Coordination conducted a "crosswalk" of
the strategies with the Attributes, adding an explanatory section at the end of each strategy write-up
(For an example of the strategy write-ups, see Appendix I: MWRA Business Plan Strategy #2). The
Director found a strong correlation between the strategies and Attributes, which served to validate the
approach that MWRA was taking with its strategic planning initiatives. The Attribute crosswalk exercise
provided an opportunity for MWRA to compare its management strategies to a list of principles
endorsed by the Collaborating Organizations, and confirm that it was on the right track. The external
validation provided the managers with the comfort level and leverage needed to communicate with the
Board of Directors about their strategic planning focus areas.
Through the crosswalk exercise, MWRA was also able to identify its strengths and weaknesses in relation
to the Attributes, with some strategies being credited with addressing multiple Attributes. For example,
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MWRA has been providing a program to assist communities with loans for improving local distribution
systems for several years. This program was consistent with the Stakeholder Understanding and
Support, Infrastructure Stability, and Product Quality Attributes, providing multi-dimensional benefits
for the organization. With regard to areas needing more focus, MWRA found that one of its centers that
had succeeded in maintenance excellence could make management changes to provide maintenance
leadership in other centers that needed improvement. The utility identified this strategy as an
opportunity to focus on the Employee and Leadership Development, Operational Optimization, and
Operational Resiliency Attributes by shifting its staff in its maintenance programs.
Overall, the Attributes were easily correlated with the utility's management approaches and provided a
helpful framework for identifying strengths and weaknesses. In addition, the Primer provided a tool for
validating that MWRA's management approach and strategic planning initiatives were on target with
nationally recognized effective utility management principles.
Association of Metropolitan Water Agencies Awards
MWRA completed another application of the Primer concepts, applying for the Association of
Metropolitan Water Agencies' (AMWA) Platinum Award for Utility Excellence. The 2008 AMWA awards
for exceptional performance were structured around the Attributes and Keys.
For the awards application, MWRA categorized its management initiatives and performance outcomes
in the context of the Attributes and Keys. The utility provided a straightforward mapping of the
Attributes and Keys with its own initiatives in the awards application document. As an example of how
MWRA correlated its strategies with the Attributes and Keys in the application, under the Product
Quality Attribute, MWRA reported on how it was meeting all current standards and regulations, making
treatment decisions, soliciting input from customers, and using an extensive process of goal setting,
measurement, reporting, review, and feedback. The utility also reported on its data collection and
measurement processes, reporting, and communication procedures, and how it was fostering
organization-wide involvement.
In addition to this example, MWRA reported on activities related to the other 9 Attributes, and several
Keys. The extensive information in the awards application, which demonstrated that MWRA's activities
were clearly associated with the Attributes and Keys, resulted in MWRA earning a 2008 Platinum Award
for Utility Excellence.
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Utility Self Assessment
During the start of the 2008 Business Plan revision process, the self assessment tool in the Primer was
not yet published. The utility had completed a QualServe7 Self-Assessment and Peer Review process and
was therefore familiar with the self-assessment process. According to the Director of Planning and
Coordination, the utility's 2008 revised Strategic Business Plan recognized the results of its previous self-
assessment process, rather than applying the achievement and importance ranking tool in the Primer.
MWRA Deer Island Wastewater Treatment Plant
Attribute-Related Utility Measures
MWRA developed a formal performance measurement system in 1995. In 1996, MWRA began issuing
monthly water quality benchmark performance reports to local officials and community agencies. Over
time the performance measurement system has grown to include all aspects of operations, regulatory
compliance, and support areas. A full set of measures is compiled into "Yellow Notebook" reports that
are distributed to senior staff monthly. A shorter version of the report, the "Orange Notebook," is
presented to the Board each quarter. MWRA measures its performance against national and state
regulatory standards, other national standards, and internally set targets. Performance targets are
reviewed and re-set at least once per year.
After the strategies were developed from the 2008 Business Plan review process, MWRA evaluated its
performance measures within the context of the Primer example measures. Managers reviewed the
MWRA measures in the 2008 Business Plan and found them to be consistent with the list of
performance measures in the Primer. The Planning and Coordination Division will continue to evaluate
measures in the future and plans to revisit the Primer as a guide for connecting the MWRA performance
measurement system to an Attribute framework.
QualServe is a tool offered jointly by the American Water Works Association and the Water Environment Federation. For
more information visit the website at www.qualserve.org.
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Keys to Management Success
For the AMWA awards application, MWRA completed an assessment of the utility's achievement of the
Keys to Management Success. In relation to the "Leadership" Key, MWRA has an annual management
and operations training program. In its 2008 Business Plan, MWRA established a strategy for succession
planning. The business planning process correlated with the "Strategic Business Planning" Key. With
regard to the "Organizational Approaches" Key, MWRA has involved all levels of management and staff
in its work process improvement initiatives, and has elicited input on its Business Plan from Advisory
Board staff members.
MWRA has had a performance measurement system in place since 1995, which correlates with the
"Measurement" Key. The utility continues to evaluate and update its measures in relation to the
updated business plan. With regard to the "Continual Improvement" Key, MWRA has a Plan-Do-Check-
Act program in place to evaluate improvements in performance. In addition, the utility has utilized
third-party assessments, such as the QualServe Self-Assessment and Peer Review process, and a
competitiveness study to review staffing targets.
Table 1 Keys to Management Success and MWRA Approach
Keys
Leadership
Strategic Business Planning
Organizational Approaches
Measurement
Continual Improvement
Management Framework
MWRA Approach
Employee Training, and
Succession Planning Programs
2008 Business Planning
Process
Cross-functional Teams
Performance Measurement
System
Plan-Do-Check-Act Model,
Third-Party Assessments
Results
Setting strategy in the Business plan to
develop succession planning
Reviewing the Strategic Business Plan in
the context of the Attributes and Keys
Involving all levels of management and
staff in work process improvement
Measuring operations, compliance and
support; monthly and quarterly reports
QualServe Self Assessment and Peer
Review Process, Competitiveness Study
MWRA's management approach is consistent with the Keys to Management Success as outlined in the
Primer. The Director of Planning and Coordination found that the Keys are helpful for tracking progress,
and were useful for verifying that the utility is on track with established effective management
principles.
Lessons Learned
The Director of Planning and Coordination provided the following lessons learned from MWRA's
application of the Primer concepts and tools:
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The correlation of MWRA strategies with the Primer concepts and tools lends credibility to the
business planning and performance measurement processes. The Primer is a nationally
recognized framework that validates the utility's goals and strategies.
The Primer provides a high-level approach that is useful for strategic planning discussions with
senior managers and Board members. It gave participants a new way to review an existing
strategic plan and performance measurement system.
The Primer concepts provided a crisp method for bringing focus to all managers and Board
members on strategies for moving forward. The Primer takes broad principles and presents
them in a way that is easy to understand and implement across the organization.
The MWRA strategies could be correlated with multiple Attributes, in ways that were not
previously considered. The mapping exercise was useful for correlating the Attributes and Keys
with management strategies for the strategic plan review process, as well as for the AMWA
Awards application.
The example measures in the Primer were beneficial for reviewing MWRA's measurement
system, ensuring that it has a robust system in place.
"The Primer concepts and tools
helped us to show the Board we
were consistent with best
management practices
recognized by EPA and national
water sector associations."
—Marian Orfeo, Director of
Planning and Coordination,
Massachusetts Water Resources
Authority
Overall, the Director of Planning and Coordination had no
difficulty introducing the Primer concepts and tools to an
already functioning management team for the strategic
planning review process. The management team found
the Primer to be a useful framework for organizing
Business Plan strategies and performance measures, as
well as the AMWA awards application, which is structured
around the Attributes and Keys. The MWRA Director of
Planning and Coordination would recommend the Primer
to other utilities that have established strategic business
planning processes and is inclined to continue portraying
management strategies in the Attribute and Keys
framework in the future.
Conclusion
MWRA is an example of a utility that has successfully applied the Primer concepts and tools for
reviewing its Business Plan and developing management strategies and performance measures. The
utility compared the Attributes and Keys to its existing and new strategies and found a strong
correlation. MWRA successfully applied the Primer concepts through its strategic planning meetings,
involving all levels of management and the Board.
MWRA found multiple benefits from applying the Primer concepts to its business planning process. The
Primer validated MWRA's initiatives and provided a high-level framework for effective discussions
between managers and Board members and a fresh approach to reviewing improvement initiatives. The
Primer helped to focus discussions in a straightforward way. Using the Attribute and Keys framework
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MWRA won the AMWA Platinum Award for excellence, and successfully renewed its business plan and
performance measures.
For utilities such as MWRA that have invested substantial time and resources in management systems,
the Attributes, Keys, and Measures can act as effective tools for evaluating management initiatives.
According to the Director of Planning and Coordination, the Primer concepts and tools can provide a
nationally-recognized framework, endorsed by the Collaborating Organizations that validate
management improvement initiatives.
More information about MWRA is available on its website: http://www.mwra.com/.
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Appendix A: Columbus Water Works
2008 Strategic Planning—Strategies, Goals, Objectives
Columbus
Water
Works
Serving our Community
Protectuig the Environment
Note:
Font in blue were changes from Scan/Plan/Do Workshop November 2006
Font in green are changes from Management Retreat September 2008
STRATEGY 1: Enhance Customer Satisfaction
Goal 1: Respond to customer requests at the point of contact.
Objective 1: Respond to and resolve routine customer requests within
established service standards.
Objective 2: Enhance a culture that all employees are customer service
providers.
Objective 3: Broaden external points of contact for customer service
capabilities.
Objective 4: Enhance and strive for maximum utilization of technology-based
customer service capabilities.
Objective 5: Evaluate procedures for customer satisfaction with regional
customers.
Goal 2: Understand customer and stakeholder perceptions and expectations.
Objective 1: Regularly collect, analyze and act on customer and stakeholder
feedback on a periodic basis.
Objective 2: Explore provision of alternative services.
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Objective 3: Communicate effectively results of Focus Groups / Stakeholder
feedback.
Objective 4: Improve customer feedback by coordinating with other strategy teams
to prioritize customer communication needs.
Goal 3: Community understands CWW mission.
Objective 1: Public is educated about CWW products and services.
Objective 2: Maximize the effective reach and efficiency of all available
communication channels to better inform our customers.
Objective 3: Enhance environmental stewardship communication to increase
awareness and understanding.
STRATEGY2: Strengthen Regional Economic Potential
Goal 1: Position CWW as a trusted source on water issues.
Objective 1: Demonstrate and present successful utility solutions.
Objective 2: Achieve industry/business credentials and certifications.
Objective 3: Collaborate with organizations and institutions to advance
knowledge.
Objective 4: Gain Respect and Trust of Surrounding Counties.
Objective 5: Develop and demonstrate CWW environmental leadership (as
related to green programs, climate change and community sustainability) to the
region.
Goal 2: Increase regional water services.
Objective 1: Expand customer base.
Objective 2: Expand service and product offerings.
Objective 3: Retain current commercial and industrial customer base.
Objective 4: Maximize customer and stakeholder benefits
Objective 5: Indentify and impact pending legislation and regulations related to
regional growth
Goal 3: Leverage new Fort Benning facilities for regional growth
42
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Objective 1: Improve working relationships with Fort Benning to
help CWW meet Fort Benning Mission.
STRATEGY3: Leverage Information Technology
Goal 1: Deliver IT capabilities efficiently and effectively.
Objective 1: Regularly adjust plans based on changing business requirements.
Objective 2: Meet or exceed defined IT implementation criteria.
Objectives: Regularly identify emerging technology trends.
Goal 2: Minimize IT costs while meeting business requirements.
Objective 1: Justify significant IT investments based on business case.
Objective 2: Maintain optimal IT life-cycle expenditures.
Goal 3: Support users and maintain secure and reliable technology to realize benefits.
Objective 1: Monitor IT training for users and IT Staff to ensure ongoing user
support.
Objective 2: Insure operational availability of IT network and applications.
Objective 3: Protect IT system and data integrity to insure business continuity.
STRATEGY4: Optimize Infrastructure Performance
Goal 1: Meet or exceed environmental compliance and customer requirements with
consistent/reliable performance.
Objective 1: Comply with all applicable local, state, federal regulations.
Objective 2: Deliver products and services to meet or exceed quality standards
Objective 3: Evaluate water use alternatives
Objective 4: Contribute to the reduction of particulate matter to help insure the
city meets air quality standards
Goal 2: Minimize asset life-cycle costs while meeting customer demands.
Objective 1: Identify and prioritize critical assets for repair/replacement.
Objective 2: Ensure capacity to meet future customer demand.
Objective 3: Minimize critical asset failures.
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Goal 3: Maintain competitive position and advantage.
Objective 1: Operate efficiently to maintain competitive advantage.
Objective 2: Review performance periodically to monitor continuous
improvement.
Objective 3: Evaluate Energy and Chemical Alternatives
Goal 4: Minimize the effects of man-made and natural disasters
Objective 1: Operate to minimize adverse impacts
Objective 2: Provide systems and services to meet security needs
STRATEGY5: Develop Sustainable Workforce
Goal 1: Facilitate the development of employees by creating an environment that encourages
personal and professional growth.
Objecitvel: Develop/increase pool of leadership talent.
Objective 2: Continually improve the effectiveness of the employee
development program.
Objective 3: Evaluate and make recommendations to improve workplace
environment and increase employment engagement and commitment.
Objective 4: Retain essential intellectual knowledge of employees.
Goal 2: Recruit, retain and engage a dynamic and motivated workforce.
Objective 1: Monitor workforce trends.
Objective 2: Facilitate and create positive relationships with community and
educational resources to recruit a qualified workforce.
Goal 3: Optimize the overall employee benefit, compensation, wellness and safety program.
Objective 1: Maintain a safe and healthy workplace.
Objective 2: Total compensation (salary and benefits) is competitive while
balancing costs.
Objective 3: Provide improved process for retirement planning.
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STRATEGY 6: Maintain Financial Stability
Goal 1: Operate on a balanced budget.
Objective!: Develop and maintain revenue while effectively controlling the cost
using sound planning and management.
Objective 2: Forecast accurate expenditures.
Objective 3: Maintain judicious use of reserves.
Goal 2: Use sound financial planning and management practices.
Objective 1: Regularly adjust plans based on trends (history/projection).
Objective 2: Market competitively funds for investment.
Objective 3: Identify potential financial impacts based on global economic
changes and aging infrastructure.
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Appendix B: Columbus Water Works Self-Assessment Results
Figure 1 CWW Self-Assessment: Importance Ranking
IMPORTANCE RANKING
Low Rank
*-
< 7 -,
Q
i 6-
Zl
Z
(5
I 3 i
'-
High
^
/
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Figure 2 CWW Self-Assessment: Achievement Rating
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Number of Responses per Ranking
Product Quality (PQ)
Customer Satisfaction (CS)
Employee and Leadership Development (ED)
Operational Optimization (00)
Financial Viability (FV)
Infrastructure
Stability (IS)
Operational Resiliency (OR)
Community Sustairiability (CS)
Water Resource Adequacy (WA)
Stakeholder Understanding and Support (SS)
20
12
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9
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11
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Diamond indicates average score; red line indicates range of scores
Columbus Waterworks Leadership Retreat Workshop Summary, September 26-29, 2008, Appendix.
47
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Appendix C: Columbus Water Works
2008 Strategic Planning - Benchmarks
Columbus
Water
Works
Serving our Community
Protecting the Environment
Benchmarks:
1. To Remain Below 13 QualServe top quartile for Water Quality Complaints per Month
2. The Average for the Year will Meet or Exceed the Customer Satisfaction Target of 785 for all Customers.
3. Achieve or exceed 27 percent of Customers that Pay by the Web, IVR and EFT.
4. Maintain an average annual score of 50 points for awards won per fiscal year.
5. To present 10 technical presentations per fiscal year.
6. Participate in 10 business presentations and regional development meetings per fiscal year.
7. Participate in 10 public education presentations per fiscal year.
8. The 12 month running average percent of uptime of the network will be > 99 percent.
9. The 12 month running average percent of uptime of the internet will be > 99 percent.
10. To have 5 or less virus incidents that infect greater than 5 users per year.
11. Maintain a monthly average below 0.1 NTU on filtered water turbidity.
12. Maintain below NPDES permit limit on Suspended Solids for compliance monitoring.
13. Maintain below NPDES permit limit on CBOD for compliance monitoring.
48
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14. Disruptions of water service for customers will not exceed the Qualserve median quartile for
unplanned outages between 4 and 12 hours.
15. Disruptions of water service for customers will not exceed the QualServe median quartile for
unplanned outages greater than 12 hours.
16. Sewer backup will not exceed 19 annually.
17. To remain below the QualServe median quartile for collection system failures.
18. Training hours per employee to meet or exceed the QualServe median quartile.
19. Workers compensation expenses remain less than 1 percent of base salaries budgeted amount.
20. To achieve below industry standards for total accident incident rates.
21. Not to exceed the industry standard for the lost time accidents incidence rate.
22. To remain below the QualServe median performance measure for the severity rate.
23. To achieve below industry standard for vehicle accidents per 1 million miles.
24. To remain below the industry standard on turnover rate.
25. Actual expenditures as a percent of budget to maintain a target range between 95 percent and 105
percent.
26. Revenue meets or exceeds expenditures > 1.
27. Actual water demand as a percent of projected to maintain a target range between 98.5 percent and 101.5
percent.
28. Remain below 1 percent of active billable stopped meters.
29. Maintain meter change out program meeting manufactures life expectancy of 12 years.
49
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Appendix D: Green Bay Metropolitan Sewerage District
2008 Strategic Plan Goals, Objectives, and Investment Strategies
Strategic Investment Options Selected for Strategic Plan
Investment Option
1. SERVICES TO OTHER
MUNICIPALITIES
Description
Provision of wastewater treatment
and collection services to other
municipalities in region including
operations (by contract), technical
services, and/or system acquisitions.
Attributes and Goals Addressed
Stakeholder understanding and
support; Operational
optimization; Financial viability
Goal 1: Support Economic
Development; Goal 4: Diverse,
Quality Service
2. WATERSHED
PLANNING/CREDIT
TRADING
In collaboration with other major Wl
wastewater utilities and DNR, develop
whole watershed planning framework
(including establishing credit trading
protocols).
Community Sustainability;
Stakeholder Understanding and
Support
Goal 3: Environmental
Stewardship/ Education
3. ASSET
MANAGEMENT
Develop an asset (including IT assets)
renewal and replacement program
using condition assessments, life-cycle
costing and risk-based decision making
protocols.
Financial Viability; Infrastructure
Stability; Community
sustainability; Stakeholder
understanding and support
Goal 1: Support Economic
Development
4. IN-DISTRICT
Develop projects (or project
components) that yield sustainability
benefits including limiting GHG
emissions, achieving LEED compliance,
etc. Develop environmental impact
reporting.
Financial viability; Infrastructure
stability; Product quality;
Community Sustainability;
Stakeholder understanding and
support
Goal 3: Environmental
Stewardship/ Education; Goal 4:
Diverse, Quality Service
50
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Green Bay Metropolitan Sewerage District
Goals, Objectives, and Strategic Investment Performance Scales
Goal 1: Support Economic Development
A fundamental goal of GBMSD is to continue to support economic development (and diversification) in
the region. This support requires recognition of the evolving nature of the industrial and commercial
base of the region, and participation in regional economic development initiatives.
Objective: Partner with Regional Interests
GBMSD will proactively engage major regional economic interests (e.g., industries, Chamber of
Commerce, educational institutions, other utilities) to support regional economic development and
diversification. (Region informally defined as Fox River Watershed and/or Brown County)
Scoring Criteria for Investment Selection
Score
Description of Performance
No regional partnering. Investment is conducted without support or cooperation of
potentially impacted parties in region.
GBMSD investment is made with acquiescence of potentially impacted parties in region
but without active participation or support. Regional interests participate in investment
activities without dedicated resources beyond attendance at coordination events.
Engagement. Regional interests participate in regional investment activities and facilitate
implementation of investment options (without dedication of material (financial)
resources.
Active partnering. Investment involves increasingly significant dedication of resources for
GBMSD sponsored and coordinated regional investments.
10
Full regional partnering. Investment involves significant dedication of resources (e.g.,
financial, labor) with shared interests in economic / environmental returns.
Objective: Available Capacity
Ensuring that growth in service demands may be accommodated with adequate system capacity (e.g.,
conveyance, treatment) able to deliver high quality services.
Scoring Criteria for Investment Selection
Score
0
3
5
7
10
Description of Performance
Investments consume available capacity without enabling expansion of services; may
prompt moratorium on sewer connections.
Investment has no significant impact on treatment capacity; investments do not provide
capacity for new environmental services.
Investments maintain the current capacity and maintain current reliability
Investments increase the reliability of the available capacity and provide services for
normal growth needs
Investment enables economical delivery of services (current and prospective) to new users
in an expanded regional customer base.
51
-------
Objective: System Reliability
System performance will consistently meet permit requirements and deliver desired service levels,
serving not only to enhance quality of life for community residents but also as an asset for business
attraction / retention.
Scoring Criteria for Investment Selection
Score
0
3
5
7
10
Description of Performance
Investments increase the potential for service outages and/or major equipment failures.
Critical systems are compromised.
Investments do not address inadequacies of critical systems and/or install redundancy.
Investments maintain the accepted standard of reliability and maintain the status quo.
Investments are based on sound asset management principles and allow for predicting of
decreased reliability.
Investments enhance system reliability and increase capability to meet current and
prospective demands for both traditional and new environmental services.
Objective: Environmental Cost Management
GBMSD will help ensure its rates for environmental services (potentially not only wastewater conveyance
and treatment) are reasonable, predictable, and convey significant value to GBMSD customers and the
community.
(Costs include not only wastewater treatment but all costs for environmental management)
Scoring Criteria for Investment Selection
Score
0
3
5
7
10
Description of Performance
Investments increase basic costs of services and do not mitigate overall environmental
costs for regional customers.
Investment has no material impact on regional customers' environmental costs.
Investments manage current costs and have the ability to maintain at this level as other
costs increase.
Investments support progressive environmental management systems that properly
account for increase in costs.
Investments provide customers with economic benefits by either mitigating traditional
costs for wastewater treatment and/or delivering relatively lower cost non-traditional
services.
Goal 2: Exceptional Career Development Opportunities
A fundamental goal of GBMSD is to preserve and enhance its culture of learning, innovation,
cooperation, and mutual respect. GBMSD strives to be an 'employer of choice', offering opportunities
for advancement in chosen fields of interest.
Objective: Staff Training & Development
GBMSD will provide opportunities for staff advancement by investing in training (including formal, on-
the-job) and leadership development programs - establishing a foundation for effective succession
planning and knowledge management initiatives.
52
-------
(Indicated, in part, by employee surveys that address training on current/emerging issues, certifications,
and employee perceptions related to development opportunities).
Scoring Criteria for Investment Selection
Score
0
3
5
7
10
Description of Performance
Investments provide no material opportunities for staff training and development.
Investments provide training and development to meet the basic needs of the job.
Investments provide opportunities for staff training and development within the context of
their current job responsibilities, facilitate retention of certifications, and/or continue
participation in professional societies/ national organizations.
Investments promote and support internal and external training opportunities for self
initiated individuals to prepare for future opportunities.
Investments provide expanded opportunities for staff training and development that
provide qualifications for staff to assume new, expanded and/or innovative job
responsibilities, facilitate acquisition of new (and new forms of) certifications, and/or
enable GBMSD to demonstrate leadership in professional societies / national
organizations.
Objective: Workforce Diversity
GBMSD will promote diversity (e.g., ethnic, gender, age) in its workforce by actively recruiting broad-
based candidate pools, promoting a welcoming climate, and partnering with educational and ethnic
communities in the region.
(Workforce diversity relates to the distribution of the employee population in terms of gender, race,
age, and cultural backgrounds of employees, and to its engagement with communities it serves - in
terms of stakeholder information and service delivery, recruitment, and partnering.)
Scoring Criteria for Investment Selection
Score
0
3
5
7
10
Description of Performance
Investments perpetuate status quo and/or provide no opportunities for.
Investments provide limited opportunities to maintain employee diversity through
standard measures to attract, retain, and develop a diverse employee population in
traditional roles.
Investments provide new opportunities to increase employee diversity through targeted
measures to attract, retain, and develop a diverse employee population in traditional roles.
Investments provide expanded opportunities to broaden employee diversity through
specific measures to attract, retain, and develop a diverse employee population in both
the traditional and non-traditional definitions of diversity.
Investments provide significant opportunities to attract, retain, and develop employees
that will enhance workforce diversity and help establish/affirm engagement practices that
embrace and celebrate cultural diversity.
Objective: Transition of Positions
GBMSD will actively work to transition the nature of jobs in which employees ensure positions continue
to afford challenging work experiences, leverage technology advances, and maintain the vitality of
GBMSD's learning culture.
(Character and nature of job responsibility change over time, rewarding)
53
-------
Scoring Criteria for Investment Selection
Score
0
3
5
7
10
Description of Performance
Investments do not provide new or expanded job responsibilities or material advancement
opportunities.
Investment enables limited evolution of existing job responsibilities and staff advancement
opportunities in traditional roles.
Investments encourage individual positional growth driven by an individual's initiative to
improve in the position.
Investments promote and support positional growth that is driven by the growth of the
organization and the services offered.
Investments directly and substantively establish opportunities for employees (within
general boundaries) to define new position responsibilities and job development
opportunities.
Objective: Employment Environment/Culture
GBMSD will promote an employment environment and organizational culture featuring overall employee
compensation structures (e.g., salaries, work schedules, diversity of assignments) that will facilitate
assumption of regional leadership roles and promote attraction and retention of qualified, motivated
staff.
Scoring Criteria for Investment Selection
Score
Description of Performance
Investments serve to preserve the status quo and/or further entrench unprogressive
attributes of existing GBMSD culture.
Investment will likely be implemented using traditional analysis and decision-making
processes with limited opportunities for innovation and non-traditional team building.
Investments will promote and sustain the existing culture with limited opportunities for
innovation and non-traditional team building.
Investments will drive the existing environment / culture to expand in a deliberate and
traditional manner as facilitated by Management.
10
Investments facilitate / promote a collaborative, team oriented culture where diversity of
opinions and perspectives are celebrated and used to foster innovation.
Goal 3: Environmental Stewardship/Education
A fundamental goal of GBMSD is to promote environmental stewardship (including water resources, air
quality, land and wetlands management, etc.) through a broad range of environmental management
services and educational activities.
Objective: Enhance Regional Water Quality
Beyond wastewater system discharge permit compliance, GBMSD will work towards enhancing water
quality throughout the region, addressing both point source and non-point sources of pollutant loadings.
54
-------
Scoring Criteria for Investment Selection
Score
Description of Performance
Investments provide no significant advance in GBMSD environmental performance nor
facilitate/ promote non-traditional, regional measures.
Investment provides limited improvement in GBMSD point source pollutant loadings to
regional receiving waters and/or contributes marginally to regional water quality
initiatives.
Investment provides improvement in GBMSD point source discharge loadings as measured
by traditional cost/ benefit measures.
Investment provides improvement in GBMSD point source discharge loadings as measured
by use of Environmental Management Systems (EMS) measures which take into account
more than cost/benefit.
10
Investments provide significant whole watershed management contribution enabling
pollutant reductions / water quality improvements beyond existing regulatory
requirements and are driven by the sustainability principles of economics, social, and
regulatory.
Objective: Promote Sustainable Operations
Recognizing the significance of sustainability factors in resource management activities, GBMSD will look
to ways to mitigate adverse environmental and social impacts associated with services - evaluating
infrastructure and technology options employing environmental and social as well as cost criteria.
Scoring Criteria for Investment Selection
Score
Description of Performance
Investment may increase GBMSD environmental impacts (e.g., green house gas emissions,
pollutant loadings, etc.)
Investment does not provide for any material improvement in GBMSD environmental
impacts (e.g., green house gas emissions, pollutant loadings, etc.) nor support regional
sustainability initiatives.
Investment provides for limited reduction from base line of GBMSD environmental impacts
and/or offers limited support for regional sustainability initiatives.
Investments provide significant opportunity for environmental (water, air, and watershed)
improvements beyond regulatory requirements and are driven by the sustainability
principles of economics, social impact, and regulatory.
10
Investment significantly reduces GBMSD environmental impacts and/or provides for
principal leadership of regional sustainability initiatives.
Objective: Education. Research & Development
GBMSD will continue to promote education, research and development activities to further
understanding of processes impacting GBMSD operations and, more generally, water resource issues and
opportunities to enhance GBMSD's environmental performance.
Score
Description of Performance
Investment provides no benefit to sustainability initiatives or general stakeholder
education on regional water quality or environmental issues.
Investment provides limited, traditional opportunities for education, research &
development on regional water quality impacts of GBMSD.
55
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Investment provides limited opportunities for innovative, regional oriented education,
research & development activities on environmental sustainability issues.
Investment provides expanded opportunities for innovative, regional oriented education,
research & development activities on environmental sustainability issues (e.g., viewed
holistically in terms of water quality, GHG, and other impacts).
10
Investments provide significant opportunities for innovative, regional oriented education,
research & development activities on environmental sustainability issues promoted and
supported by stakeholder request and needs.
Goal 4: Diverse. Quality Services
A fundamental goal of GBMSD is disciplined expansion of its environmental services - building on its
foundation of delivery of exceptionally high quality, appropriately priced, wastewater conveyance,
treatment and reclamation services.
Objective: Meet/Exceed Regulatory Requirements
GBMSD will not only continue to deliver services that meet all applicable regulatory requirements, but
will also proactively monitor (and collaborate on development of) pending regulatory requirements to
ensure that GBMSD is well positioned to maintain and further its outstanding performance record.
Scoring Criteria for Investment Selection
Score
0
3
5
7
10
Description of Performance
Investment will endanger GBMSD ability to continue to meet permit requirements and
compromise eligibility for NACWA Peak Performance Award.
Investment provides limited support for compliance with current or expected regulatory
requirements.
Investment provides means to maintain current level of regulatory compliance.
Investment will enhance GBMSD ability to meet future environmental / regulatory
performance as measured against prospective permit requirements.
Investment will significantly enhance environmental performance as measured against
current and prospective permit requirements. Facilitate achievement of NACWA Peak
Performance Awards and other national recognition.
Objective: Efficient Customer Services
GBMSD will maintain and enhance its customer focus by continuing to pursue efficiencies in GBMSD
operations (e.g. automation), strengthening relationships with major users, and responding timely and
effectively to problems and/or expressed customer concerns.
Scoring Criteria for Investment Selection
Score
0
3
5
7
Description of Performance
Investment could compromise efficient delivery of existing customer services.
Investment will enhance timeliness and/or efficiency of delivery of existing customer
services.
Investment will increase timeliness and efficiency of delivery of existing customer services
and will allow delivery of new customer services as requested.
Investment will enhance timeliness and efficiency of delivery of existing customer services
and will promote market driven delivery of new customer services.
56
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10
Investment will significantly enhance delivery of existing customer services and/or provide
for highly efficient, market-competitive delivery of new services.
Objective: Develop/Expand Environmental Services
GBMSD will maintain its financial strength while establishing a resource pool to foster the expansion or
development of new environmental services. These services will enable diversification ofGBMSD's
revenue base and reflect perspective ofwastewater and biosolids as assets with intrinsic value.
Scoring Criteria for Investment Selection
Score
0
3
5
7
10
Description of Performance
Investment will not develop new or expand menu of existing environmental services
provided by GBMSD.
Investment will facilitate paced expansion of environmental services provided by GBMSD.
Investment will promote and support expansion of environmental services provided by
GBMSD with limited growth in size and diversity of net revenue stream.
Investment will encourage market driven expansion of environmental services provided by
GBMSD with growth and diversity of net revenue stream.
Investment will provide for a significant expansion of environmental services provided
GBMSD, yielding material increases in magnitude and diversity of revenue streams.
57
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Appendix E: Gwinnett County Department of Water Resources
Achievement of Attributes and Importance of Attributes Ranking
Figure 1: Achievement of Attributes
• Higher Achievement Blower Achievement
Figure 2: Importance of Attributes
58
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Appendix G: Gwinnett County Department of Water Resources
Example of Balanced Scorecard Perspectives
Mission Vision Values Reports Strategic Initiative Comments
Scorecardi |WateiS™ca(d2009
f Other Scorecards caPrint aJjGo to Water Resources
=/
=/
E/
E/
Citizen/Customer Perspective
Increase service reliability
safe drinking water compliance,,,
nbr main breaks per 100 miles,,,
Improve customer service
nbr unplanned outages per 1000,
aug speed to answer
% distrib'n response time < 2 ,,,
nbr e-bills
Results Target Status Trend
100,00 100,00 S •»
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Ensure financial viability
new revenue $
% water produced but not bilk,..
Operate the department using
sound business practices
aug customer seru cost per ace,,,
% total uncollected receiuable,,,
prod OSiM cost per rngal treated
dist sus O&M cost per 100 mile,,,
Results
94,066
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2,02
0,00
543
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Status
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E1^ % asset inuentory large meters
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E*" % decrease household water use
Results Target Status Trend
50,00 100,00 • H
Learning/Growth Perspective
4* / Increase knowledge and skills
E1' aug training hours per employe,,
Results Target Status Trend
0,24 6,00 •
22,80 1,00
60
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Appendix H: MWRA BUSINESS PLAN FISCAL YEARS 2009 TO 2013
MWRA MISSION: TO PROMOTE RELIABLE, COST EFFECTIVE, HIGH QUALITY WATER AND SEWER SERVICES THAT PROTECT PUBLIC
HEALTH, PROMOTE ENVIRONMENTAL STEWARDSHIP, MAINTAIN CUSTOMER CONFIDENCE AND SUPPORT A PROSPEROUS ECONOMY
MWRA VALUES: PUBLIC ACCOUNTABILITY - COST-EFFECTIVENESS - TRANSPARENCY - TEAMWORK - PROMOTE ENVIRONMENTAL
STEWARDSHIP, MAINTAIN CUSTOMER CONFIDENCE AND SUPPORT A PROSPEROUS ECONOMY
BUSINESS PLAN GOALS
BUSINESS PLAN OBJECTIVES
STRATEGIES
TEN ATTRIBUTES OF EFFECTIVELY
MANAGED WATER SECTOR UTILITIES
I. DRINKING WATER QUALITY
DELIVER DRINKING WATERTHAT
MEETS NATIONAL STANDARDS AND
IS PERCEIVED AS SAFE,
AFFORDABLE, HEALTHY AND
APPEALING.
-PROTECT SOURCE WATER
QUALITY.
-MAINTAIN COMPLIANCE WITH
FILTRATION WAIVER.
SUPPORT UPGRADING COMMUNITY
DISTRIBUTION SYSTEMS.
-ENSURE PUBLIC CONFIDENCE.
II. ENVIRONMENTAL QUALITY
DISCHARGE EFFLUENT THAT MEETS
NATIONAL STANDARDS, PROTECTS
PUBLIC HEALTH, AND HELPS
IMPROVE RECEIVING WATER
QUALITY.
-MAINTAIN COMPLIANCE WITH
NPDES PERMIT. ACHIEVE NACWA
PLANTINUMSTATUSBY2013.
-ENSURE CSO ACTIVATIONS AND
VOLUMES COMPLY WITH NPDES
PERMIT.
-DISPOSE OF TREATMENT SOLIDS
THROUGH THE BENEFICIAL REUSE
PROGRAM.
- MANAGE THE TRAC PROGRAM
CONSISTENT WITH EPA
REQUIREMENTS AND MWRA TOXIC
CONTROL OBJECTIVES.
III. ENVIRONMENTAL
SUSTAINABILITYAND ENERGY
CONSERVATION
REDUCE MWRA'S "ENVIRONMENTAL
FOOTPRINT" AND ENERGY COSTS
-REDUCE GREENHOUSE GAS
EMISSIONS
-MAXIMIZE MWRA'S PARTICIPATION
INTHEGREEN ENERGY
MARKETPLACE
-CONSERVE ENERGY AND WATER
- RECYCLE WASTE MATERIALS
1. CONTINUE TO SUPPORT AND OVERSEE
EFFECTIVE SOURCE WATER PROTECTION
THROUGHTHEWATERSUPPLY PROTECTION
TRUST AND IMPLEMENTATION OF THE 2004 MOU
WITH OCR.
2. ENSURE THAT THE QUABBIN AND CARROLL
WATERTREATMENT PLANTS MEET EPA'S NEW
TREATMENT AND DISINFECTION BY-PRODUCT
RULES BY 2014 AND CONTINUETOOPTIMIZE
CARROLL PLANT OPERATIONS.
3. CONTINUE TO ASSIST COMMUNITIES TO
IMPROVE LOCAL DISTRIBUTION SYSTEMS.
4. CONTINUOUSLY IMPROVE MONITORING,
REPORTING AND EFFECTIVE COMMUNICATION
OF WATER QUALITY INFORMATION.
5. ADVOCATE FOR A NEW DEER ISLAND NPDES
PERMIT THAT REFLECTSTREATMENT PLANT
PERFORMANCE AND OUTFALL MONITORING
RESULTS.
6. COMPLETE ALL CSO CONTROL MILESTONES
BY 2020.
7. DEVELOP A LONG-TERM RESIDUALS HANDLING
STRATEGY IN FY09-10.
8. CONDUCT A NEW LOCAL LIMITS STUDY TO
CONFIRM APPROPRIATE DISCHARGE LIMITS FOI
TOXICS.
•I
9. CONTINUE TO INVEST IN THE PRODUCTION
AND UTILIZATION OF RENEWABLE ENERGY AT
MWRAFACILITIES.
10. EXPLORE NEW REVENUE- GENERATION
OPPORTUNITIES USING MWRA'S ENERGY
ASSETS.
11. CONTINUETOCONDUCT ENERGY EFFICIENCY
ANALYSES AND ENERGY AUDITS AT MWRA
FACILITIES AND IMPLEMENT
RECOMMENDATIONS.
11. EXPAND MWRA RECYCLING INITIATIVES
1 .COMMUNITY SUSTAINABILITY
2. PRODUCT QUALITY AND
OPERATIONAL OPTIMIZATION
3. PRODUCT QUALITY, COMMUNITY
SUSTAINABILITY, STAKEHOLDER
UNDERSTANDING AND SUPPORT,
AND INFRASTRUCTURE STABILITY
4. PRODUCT QUALITY, CUSTOMER
SATISFACTION
5. PRODUCT QUALITY
6. COMMUNITY SUSTAINABILITY
7. PRODUCT QUALITY, OPERATIONAL
RESILIENCY
8. PRODUCT QUALITY
9. COMMUNITY SUSTAINABILITY,
OPERATIONAL OPTIMIZATION
10. OPERATIONAL OPTIMIZATION,
OPERATIONAL RESILENCY
11. OPERATIONAL OPTIMIZATION,
COMMUNITY SUSTAINABILITY,
61
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BUSINESS PLAN
GOALS
BUSINESS PLAN
OBJECTIVES
STRATEGIES
TEN ATTRIBUTES OF EFFECTIVELY
MANAGED WATER SECTOR
UTILITIES
IV. WATER AND WASTEWATER
SYSTEM CAPACITY AND
PERFORMANCE
PROVIDE SYSTEM-WIDE CAPACITY
TOMEETTHE NEEDS OF THE
SERVICE DISTRICTS.
-PROVIDE FACILITIES FOR
CONTINUOUS WATER SUPPLY AT
SUFFICIENT PRESSURE.
-PROVIDE FACILITIES TO
TRANSPORTWASTEWATER FLOWS
AND MINIMIZE SANITARY SEWER
OVERFLOWS.
-SUPPORT REGIONAL ANDLOCAL I/I
REDUCTION IN ITKTWES.
- SEEK TO MINIMIZE COMMUNITY
DISRUPTIONS FROM MWRA
ACTIVITY.
12. DEVELOP AND IMPLEMENT PLANS TO
ELIMINATE IDENTIFIED SINGLE POINTS OF
FAILUREWITHIN MWRA'S TRANSMISSION AND
DISTRIBUTION SYSTEM.
13. CONTINUETOASSIST COMMUNITIES TO
IM PROVE LOCAL WASTEWATER COLLECTION
SYSTEMS.
14. BUILD UPON EXISTING WATER
CONSERVATION AND ACCOUNTABILITY EFFORTS
TO MEET THE CONDITIONS OF MWRA'S WATER
MANAGEMENT ACT REGISTRATIONS.
15.ADVANCE REASONABLE MWRA WATER
SYSTEM EXPANSION.
16. UPDATE WATERAND WASTEWATER MASTER
PLANS PRIOR TO FY14CONSISTENTWITH THE
DEVELOPMENTOFTHE FIVE-YEAR CIP CAP.
12. OPERATIONAL RESILIENCY,
INFRASTRUCTURE STABILITY
1 3. COMMUNITY SUSTAINABILITY,
STAKEHOLDER UNDERSTANDING
AND SUPPORT, INFRASTRUCTURE
STABILITY
14. COMMUNITY SUSTAINABILITY,
INFRASTRUCTURE STABILITY
15.WATER RESOURCE ADEQUACY,
COMMUNITYSUSTAINABILITY
16. FINANCIAL VIABILITY,
OPERATIONAL RES ILENCY,
STAKEHOLDER UNDERSTANDING
AND SUPPORT
V. SYSTEM RELIABILITY AND
OPTIMIZATION
OPERATETHE SYSTEMS RELIABLY,
SAFELY, EFFICIENTLY AND WITHIN
DESIGN AND REGULATORY
PARAMETERS, AND EXTEND THE
USEFUL LIFEOF PHYSICAL ASSETS.
VI. FINANCIAL MANAGEMENT
MANAGE MWRAFINANCES TO
MAINTAIN CORE SERVICES, ENSURE
INVESTORCONFIDENCEAND
DELIVER RATEPAYER VALUE.
VII. PEOPLE AND SYSTEMS
MANAGEMENT
MANAGE STAFF AND SYSTEMS
RESOURCES TO CARRY OUT
MWRA'S BUSINESS PLAN
OBJECTIVES
-MAINTAIN ASSETS (EQUIPMENT,
INFRASTRUCTURE AND FACILITIES)
CONSISTENTWITH OPERATING
REQUIREMENTS.
-DEPLOY OPERATING RESOURCES
COST-EFFECTIVELYAND
PRODUCTIVELY.
-ENSURE CONTINUOUS
OPERATIONS DURING EMERGENCY
EVENTS.
-LIMIT THE RATE REVENUE
INCREASE REQUIREMENT TO LESS
THAN4% THRO UGH 2013.
- MAINTAIN AA2,AA,AA CREDIT
RATING.
-INVEST IN ORGANIZATIONAL
EFFICIENCY AND EFFECTIVENESS.
- PROMOTE AN ORGANIZATIONAL
CULTURE CONSISTENTWITH MWRA
COREVALUES OF TEAMWORK,
TRANSPARENCY, PUBLIC
ACCOUNTABILITY AND COST-
EFFECTIVENESS.
-STAFFATA LEVEL CONSISTENT
WITH MWRA'S BUSINESS
STRATEGIES
17.CONTINUETO IMPLEMENT AN MWRA-WIDE
ASSETMANAGEMENT AND MAINTENANCE
PROGRAM.
18. IMPLEMENT REMOTE MONITORING AND
AUTOMATED OPERATION OF ALL MWRA
WASTEWATERTRANSPORT FACILITIES BY 201 0.
19. CONTINUE IMPLEMENTING A
COMPREHENSIVE SECURITY AND EMERGENCY
PREPAREDNESS PROGRAM GUIDED BY MWRA'S
SECUR ITYAND EMERGENCY PREPAREDNESS
TASK FORCE.
20. CONTINUE TO REGULARLY UPDATE
ESTIMATES OF ANTICIPATED REVENUES AND
EXPENSES OVERA MULTI-YEAR PLANNING
HORIZON AND TO CONTROL DIRECT EXPENSE
GROWTH.
21 . MANAGE CIP SPENDING WITHIN THE FY09-13
CAP OF $1.1 6 BILLION.
22. REGULARLY ASSESS OPPORTUNITIES TO
REFINANCE AND RESTRUCTURE MWRA'S
OUTSTANDING DEBT TO LOWER DEBT SERVICE
EXPENSES.
23.MAXIMIZE INVESTMENT INCOMETHROUGH
PERIODIC EVALUATION OF INVESTMENT
VEHICLES AND MARKET CONDITIONS.
24. PURSUE FEDERAL AND STATEADVOCACY
STRATEGIES TO SUPPORT MWRA'S CAPITAL
PROGRAM AND TO ENCOURAGE COST-
EFFECTWE REGULATIONS.
25. UTILeEAUTOMATIONAND NEW
TECHNOLOGYTOACHIEVE MWRA BUSINESS
PLANOBJECTWES.
26. PREPARE FORAND CONDUCT NEGOTIATIONS
TO SECURE SUCCESSOR COLLECTWE
BARGAINING CONTRACTS FORTHE2010-2013
CONTRACT PERIOD. IMPLEMENT CONTRACTS
AFTER BOARD OF DIRECTORS APPROVAL.
27. PROVIDE HUMAN RESOURCES PROGRAMS TO
SUPPORTTHE BUSINESS PLAN AND TO RECRUIT,
DEVELOPAND RETAIN A DIVERSE WORKFORCE
TOACHIEVE BUSINESS PLAN OBJECTIVES .
28. COMPLYWITH ALL AFFIRMATIVE ACTION
PROG RAMS TO REDUCE UNDERUTILIZED JOB
GROUPS AND PROMOTE PARTICIPATION IN THE
M/WBE PROCUREMENT PROGRAM.
17. INFRASTRUCTURE STABILITY
18. OPERATIONAL OPTIMIZATION
19. OPERATIONAL RESILENCY
20. FINANCIAL VIABILITY,
STAKEHOLDER UNDERSTANDING
AND SUPPORT
21. FINANCIAL VIABILITY,
STAKEHOLDER UNDERSTANDING
AND SUPPORT
22. FINANCIAL VIABILITY,
OPERATIONAL RESILENCY,
STAKEHOLDER UNDERSTANDING
AND SUPPORT
23. FINANCIAL VIABILITY,
OPERATIONAL RESILENCY
24. STAKEHOLDER
UNDERSTANDING AND SUPPORT
25. OPERATIONAL OPTIMIZATION
26. OPERATIONAL OPTIMIZATION,
OPERATIONAL RESILIENCY
27. EMPLOYEE AND LEADERSHIP
DEVELOPMENT
28.N/A
62
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Attributes ofEffec,
• Product Quality:
health, andecolog
• Operational Opt\
operations ".
LD
ID
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Effective Water and Wastewater Utility Management Case Studies 2009
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