April 2009 

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 

 
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 selfassessment 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. 

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. 

 

 

 

Effective Utility Management: 

A Primer for Water and 

Wastewater Utilities is available 

at the following website: 

http://watereum.org 
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 Horne 

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 

 
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 Bay Metropolitan Sewerage 

District (WI) 

 

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 

 

 
 

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 
 

 

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 Water Works Self-Assessment Results ............................................................... 46 

Apprendix C: Columbus Water Works 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 
1 

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 internallyoriented (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. 
2 

“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 

did.” 

—Tyler Richards, Deputy Director of 

Operations and Environmental 

Services, Gwinnett County Dept. 

Water Resources 

• 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. 

 

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. 
3 

 

Table 1: Characteristics of the Utilities 

Utility Geography Water/ 

Wastewater 

Average 

Wastewater 

Flow 

Average 

Water 

Demand 

Residential 

Population 

Served 

Columbus Water 

Works Southeast Combined 70 – 84 mgd 27.5 mgd 227,000 

Green Bay 

Metropolitan 

Sewerage District 

Midwest Wastewater 39 mgd n/a 219,000 

Gwinnett County 

Department of Water 

Resources 

Southeast Combined 45 mgd 86.9 mgd 750,000 

Massachusetts Water 

Resources Authority Northeast Combined 320 mgd 214 mgd 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. 
4 

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 

 

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 cas e s tudy utilities us ed the lis t of example performance meas ures 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. 

“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 
5 

Table 2: Utility Application of Primer Concepts and Tools 

Utility Management 

Initiatives 

Approach to 

Primer Concepts 

Self-Assessment 

Tool 

Performance 

Measures 

Columbus Water 

Works 

Reviewed existing 

long-term 

strategic plan 

Used Primer as 

framework for 

strategic planning 

workshops 

Completed the 

self-assessment; 

identified areas of 

achievement and 

importance 

Compared list of 

example measures 

in Primer with 

existing measures 

Green Bay 

Metropolitan 

Sewerage District 

Reviewed existing 

short-term 

strategic plan 

Used Primer as 

framework for 

strategic planning 

workshops 

Completed the 

self-assessment; 

identified areas of 

achievement and 

importance 

Compared list of 

example measures 

in Primer with 

existing measures 

Gwinnett County 

Department of 

Water Resources 

New strategic 

planning process 

involved full range 

of staff for the first 

time 

Used Primer as 

framework for 

plan review by 

email and standing 

meetings 

Completed the 

self-assessment; 

identified areas of 

achievement and 

importance 

Compared list of 

example measures 

in Primer with 

existing measures 

Massachusetts 

Water Resources 

Authority 

Reviewed existing 

long-term 

strategic plan 

Used Primer as 

framework for 

strategic planning 

workshops 

Did not complete 

self-assessment. 

Considered results 

of a previous 

assessment 

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 
6 

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. 

 

Lower Cost Strategic Plan Updates: Utility managers 

found the Primer concepts and tools to provide a costeffective, 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 cos ts for a s trategic 

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 Big 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 

“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 
7 

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. 

 

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.

“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 
8 

 

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. 

 

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. 

CWW Wastewater Treatment Plant 
9 

 

Existing Management Initiative 

 

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. 

“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 
10 

 

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 s elf-as s es s ment 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 

issues.” 

—Jim Patterson, V.P. Strategic 

Planning Implementation, 

Columbus Water Works 
11 

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 crosscheck 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. 
12 

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 

 

 

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. 
13 

 

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,2

 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 CWW Approach Results 

Leadership Leadership Teams Implementing strategic plan 

Strategic Business 

Planning Strategic Plan Implementation Working to achieve balance and 

cohesion across the Attributes 

Organizational 

Approaches Strategy Teams Involving staff in improvement 

efforts 

Measurement Performance Measures Using a system of measures to 

manage improvement efforts 

Continuous Improvement 

“Plan-Do-Check-Act” 

• “Scan-Plan-Do model” 

• Other management strategies 

• Continuous improvement Manager 

Position 

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. 

 

 

2

 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/ 
14 

• 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 over time. 

 

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. 

 
15 

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. 

 
16 

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 
17 

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 wetweather 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 
18 

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 selfassessment 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 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 internallyfocused 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 

“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 
19 

step with industry peers. In addition, the table and graph created by GBMSD as part of the selfassessment 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. 

 

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. 

“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 
20 

 

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 WI 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 
21 

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 GBMSD Approach Results 

Leadership Leadership Development Partnering with local technical college to 

train current staff. 

Strategic Business Planning Strategic Planning Process Developing implementation strategy for 

2008 Strategic Plan. 

Organizational Approaches Management and Staff Teams Implementing the 2008 strategic plan 

investments. 

Measurement Performance Measures Evaluating current measures in relation 

to the 2008 strategic plan. 

Continual Improvement 

Management Framework 

Evaluation of Improvement 

Management Strategies 

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 
22 

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 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 

“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 
23 

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/. 

 

 

 
24 

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. 

 
25 

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. 

 

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 res ult of thes e changes , DWR is 

transitioning from a growth-focused utility to a more 

deliberative rehabilitation and replacement organization. 

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 

 

 

5

 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. 

“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 
26 

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–“1” 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 consensusbuilding 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. 

 
27 

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 

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 s ent by email to participants for comment. The final res ults were then us ed by the 

management team in the strategic planning review process. The Deputy Director is interested in inviting 

“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 
28 

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. 

 

 

 

6

 U.S. Green Building Council LEED Certification Program: http://www.usgbc.org/Default.aspx 
29 

The s trategic plan as revis ed 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 

“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 
30 

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 DWR Approach Results 

Leadership Workforce Development Providing an integrated Employee 

Development and Training Program 

Strategic Business Planning Strategic Planning Process Revitalizing the strategic plan using the 

Attributes 

Organizational Approaches Strategic Planning Involve all levels of management and staff in 

self-assessment process and implementation 

Measurement Performance Measures Reviewing set of measures in context of new 

strategic plan using the Primer 

Continual Improvement 

Management Framework Key Performance Indicators 

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 
31 

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: 

 

• 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. 

• 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. 

 

“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 
32 

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 

s imilar views of the organization’s achievement level and priorities . DWR us ed 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 costeffective strategic planning process. 

 

More information about DWR is available on its website: http://www.gwinnettcounty.com/cgibin/gwincty/egov/ep/gcbrowse.do?channelId=-536881961&pageTypeId=536880236. 

 

 
33 

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 
34 

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. 

 
35 

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. 

 

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, 

“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 
36 

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. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 
37 

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 s elf-as s es s ment proces s . According to the Director of Planning and 

Coordination, the utility’s 2008 revised Strategic Business Plan recognized the results of its previous selfassessment 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. 

 

 

7

 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. 
38 

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-CheckAct 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 MWRA Approach Results 

Leadership Employee Training, and 

Succession Planning Programs 

Setting strategy in the Business plan to 

develop succession planning 

Strategic Business Planning 2008 Business Planning 

Process 

Reviewing the Strategic Business Plan in 

the context of the Attributes and Keys 

Organizational Approaches Cross-functional Teams Involving all levels of management and 

staff in work process improvement 

Measurement Performance Measurement 

System 

Measuring operations, compliance and 

support; monthly and quarterly reports 

Continual Improvement 

Management Framework 

Plan-Do-Check-Act Model, 

Third-Party Assessments 

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: 

 
39 

• 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. 

 

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 proces s. The management team found 

the Primer to be a us eful 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 

“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 
40 

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/. 

 

 
41 

 Appendix A: Columbus Water Works 

2008 Strategic Planning—Strategies, Goals, Objectives 

 

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. 
42 

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. 

 

STRATEGY 2: 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 
43 

 Objective 1: Improve working relationships with Fort Benning to 

 help CWW meet Fort Benning Mission. 

 

STRATEGY 3: 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. 

Objective3: 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. 

 

STRATEGY 4: 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. 
44 

 

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 

 

STRATEGY 5: Develop Sustainable Workforce 

 

Goal 1: Facilitate the development of employees by creating an environment that encourages 

personal and professional growth. 

 Objecitve1: 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. 

 

 
45 

STRATEGY 6: Maintain Financial Stability 

 

 Goal 1: Operate on a balanced budget. 

Objective1: 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. 

 
46 

Appendix B: Columbus Water Works Self-Assessment Results 

 

Figure 1 CWW Self-Assessment: Importance Ranking8 

 

 

 

 

 

8

 Columbus Water Works Leadership Retreat Workshop Summary, September 26-29, 2008, Appendix. 

Diamond indicates average score; red line indicates range of scores 

Number of Responses per Ranking 

High 

Low Rank 
47 

Figure 2 CWW Self-Assessment: Achievement Rating9 

 

 

 

9

 Columbus Water Works Leadership Retreat Workshop Summary, September 26-29, 2008, Appendix. 

 High 

Diamond indicates average score; red line indicates range of scores 

Number of Responses per Ranking 

Low Rank 
48 

Appendix C: Columbus Water Works 

2008 Strategic Planning – Benchmarks 

 

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. 

 
49 

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. 

 

 
50 

Appendix D: Green Bay Metropolitan Sewerage District 

2008 Strategic Plan Goals, Objectives, and Investment Strategies 

 

Strategic Investment Options Selected for Strategic Plan 

Investment Option Description Attributes and Goals Addressed 

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 

 

Goal 1: Support Economic 

Development; Goal 4: Diverse, 

Quality Service 

2.WATERSHED 

PLANNING / CREDIT 

TRADING 

In collaboration with other major WI 

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 

 
51 

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 

0 No regional partnering. Investment is conducted without support or cooperation of 

potentially impacted parties in region. 

3 

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. 

5 

Engagement. Regional interests participate in regional investment activities and facilitate 

implementation of investment options (without dedication of material (financial) 

resources. 

7 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 Description of Performance 

0 Investments consume available capacity without enabling expansion of services; may 

prompt moratorium on sewer connections. 

3 Investment has no significant impact on treatment capacity; investments do not provide 

capacity for new environmental services. 

5 Investments maintain the current capacity and maintain current reliability 

7 Investments increase the reliability of the available capacity and provide services for 

normal growth needs 

10 Investment enables economical delivery of services (current and prospective) to new users 

in an expanded regional customer base. 

 

 

 
52 

 

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 Description of Performance 

0 Investments increase the potential for service outages and/or major equipment failures. 

Critical systems are compromised. 

3 Investments do not address inadequacies of critical systems and/or install redundancy. 

5 Investments maintain the accepted standard of reliability and maintain the status quo. 

7 Investments are based on sound asset management principles and allow for predicting of 

decreased reliability. 

10 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 Description of Performance 

0 Investments increase basic costs of services and do not mitigate overall environmental 

costs for regional customers. 

3 Investment has no material impact on regional customers’ environmental costs. 

5 Investments manage current costs and have the ability to maintain at this level as other 

costs increase. 

7 Investments support progressive environmental management systems that properly 

account for increase in costs. 

10 

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, onthe-job) and leadership development programs - establishing a foundation for effective succession 

planning and knowledge management initiatives. 
53 

(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 Description of Performance 

0 Investments provide no material opportunities for staff training and development. 

3 Investments provide training and development to meet the basic needs of the job. 

5 

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. 

7 Investments promote and support internal and external training opportunities for self 

initiated individuals to prepare for future opportunities. 

10 

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 broadbased 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 Description of Performance 

0 Investments perpetuate status quo and/or provide no opportunities for. 

3 

Investments provide limited opportunities to maintain employee diversity through 

standard measures to attract, retain, and develop a diverse employee population in 

traditional roles. 

5 Investments provide new opportunities to increase employee diversity through targeted 

measures to attract, retain, and develop a diverse employee population in traditional roles. 

7 

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. 

10 

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) 
54 

 

Scoring Criteria for Investment Selection 

Score Description of Performance 

0 Investments do not provide new or expanded job responsibilities or material advancement 

opportunities. 

3 Investment enables limited evolution of existing job responsibilities and staff advancement 

opportunities in traditional roles. 

5 Investments encourage individual positional growth driven by an individual’s initiative to 

improve in the position. 

7 Investments promote and support positional growth that is driven by the growth of the 

organization and the services offered. 

10 

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 

0 Investments serve to preserve the status quo and/or further entrench unprogressive 

attributes of existing GBMSD culture. 

3 Investment will likely be implemented using traditional analysis and decision-making 

processes with limited opportunities for innovation and non-traditional team building. 

5 Investments will promote and sustain the existing culture with limited opportunities for 

innovation and non-traditional team building. 

7 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. 

 
55 

Scoring Criteria for Investment Selection 

Score Description of Performance 

0 Investments provide no significant advance in GBMSD environmental performance nor 

facilitate / promote non-traditional, regional measures. 

3 

Investment provides limited improvement in GBMSD point source pollutant loadings to 

regional receiving waters and/or contributes marginally to regional water quality 

initiatives. 

5 Investment provides improvement in GBMSD point source discharge loadings as measured 

by traditional cost / benefit measures. 

7 

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 

0 Investment may increase GBMSD environmental impacts (e.g., green house gas emissions, 

pollutant loadings, etc.) 

3 

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. 

5 Investment provides for limited reduction from base line of GBMSD environmental impacts 

and/or offers limited support for regional sustainability initiatives. 

7 

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 

0 Investment provides no benefit to sustainability initiatives or general stakeholder 

education on regional water quality or environmental issues. 

3 Investment provides limited, traditional opportunities for education, research & 

development on regional water quality impacts of GBMSD. 
56 

5 Investment provides limited opportunities for innovative, regional oriented education, 

research & development activities on environmental sustainability issues. 

7 

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 Description of Performance 

0 Investment will endanger GBMSD ability to continue to meet permit requirements and 

compromise eligibility for NACWA Peak Performance Award. 

3 Investment provides limited support for compliance with current or expected regulatory 

requirements. 

5 Investment provides means to maintain current level of regulatory compliance. 

7 Investment will enhance GBMSD ability to meet future environmental / regulatory 

performance as measured against prospective permit requirements. 

10 

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 Description of Performance 

0 Investment could compromise efficient delivery of existing customer services. 

3 Investment will enhance timeliness and/or efficiency of delivery of existing customer 

services. 

5 Investment will increase timeliness and efficiency of delivery of existing customer services 

and will allow delivery of new customer services as requested. 

7 Investment will enhance timeliness and efficiency of delivery of existing customer services 

and will promote market driven delivery of new customer services. 
57 

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 of GBMSD’s 

revenue base and reflect perspective of wastewater and biosolids as assets with intrinsic value. 

 

Scoring Criteria for Investment Selection 

Score Description of Performance 

0 Investment will not develop new or expand menu of existing environmental services 

provided by GBMSD. 

3 Investment will facilitate paced expansion of environmental services provided by GBMSD. 

5 Investment will promote and support expansion of environmental services provided by 

GBMSD with limited growth in size and diversity of net revenue stream. 

7 Investment will encourage market driven expansion of environmental services provided by 

GBMSD with growth and diversity of net revenue stream. 

10 Investment will provide for a significant expansion of environmental services provided 

GBMSD, yielding material increases in magnitude and diversity of revenue streams. 

 

 

 

 

 
58 

Appendix E: Gwinnett County Department of Water Resources 

Achievement of Attributes and Importance of Attributes Ranking 

Figure 1: Achievement of Attributes 

DWR Achievement of Attributes

0%

10%

20%

30%

40%

50%

60%

70%

80%

90%

100%

Product Quality

Customer Satisfaction

Community Sustainability

Operational Optimization

Operational Resiliency

Water Resource Adequacy

Stakeholder Understanding and Support

Employee and Leadership Development

Financial Viability

Instrastructure Stability

Higher Achievement Lower Achievement

 

Figure 2: Importance of Attributes 

DWR Importance of Attributes

0%

10%

20%

30%

40%

50%

60%

70%

80%

90%

100%

Product Quality

Customer Satisfaction

Financial Viability

Water Resource Adequacy

Employee and Leadership Development

Instrastructure Stability

Operational Optimization

Operational Resiliency

Community Sustainability

Stakeholder Understanding and Support

Most Important Least Important

 
59 

Appendix F: Gwinnett County Department of Water Resources 

Strategic Planning Achievement and Importance Graph 

 

Strategic Planning for DWR Needs 

Rating 

Higher Achievement Lower Achievement 

5 FV FV

4 FV WA WA IS FV WA WA OO WA

IS OR

ED ED EDOR FV FV ED SU SS WA

SS SS SS SS 

SS

3 FV FV

WA FV ED

FV WA WA 

IS FV FV WA IS 

ED IS IS SS SS SU ED

OO SU OO

FV ED FV ED

FVCS IS OO OO

OO IS OO FV 

ED IS ED IS

CS ED ED ED 

IS IS IS OR OO OO FV IS FV FV

FV ED IS SS 

IS IS OR

ED IS IS

IS CS IS OR

IS OR OOSU ED OR IS OO 

SU OO SU

SU OR SU OROR WA OR OR OR 

SS SU SS SU

SU WA SS

WA SU SS

OR PQ PQ ED

WA SS OO SS 

OO SU OR SS

2 

CS PQ PQ FV 

CS CS CS

CS OO CS 

CS OO OO OR

FV PQ CS CS 

WA

CS CS CSFV CS ED 

FV IS IS IS 

ED ED CS CS 

WA 

WA CS ED

WA CS CS 

FV ED CS 

CS CS OO SU ED

OR OO IS FV 

ED CS SUWA OR OO ED SS IS ED

OR OO OO

IS FV FV ED IS 

PQ OR EDFV IS WA OO 

OR OR OROR SS OO

OO OO OR 

OO SS OO FV FV

FV OO OO OR 

FV WA OR

OO SU IS SU 

CS OR WA SU WA SU

PQ OR

SU SS OO EDFV OO SS

OR CS SU SU SS WA

OR SS SU SS 

SS SS WA SU SS SU SU SS SS SU SS

1 

PQ PQ PQ

PQPQ PQ

PQ PQ PQ

WA PQ PQ

PQ PQ PQ

PQ PQ PQPQ PQ PQ

CS CS WA 

FV PQ PQ

OR PQ CS PQ PQ

WA OO WA

WA WA CS 

PQ CS OR FV PQ CS OR ED IS ED IS SU SU ED ED CS

WA SU SU

SU SU

SS WA SS SU 

SS 

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 

More Important Less Important 

Ranking 

Engineering - Blue Finance - Pink Lab- Brown Management - Red Operations - Green Planning - Gray 

PQ - Product Quality OR - Operational Resiliency 

SU - Community Sustainability WA - Water Resource Adequacy SS - Stakeholder Understanding and Support

CS - Customer Service ED - Employee and Leadership Development OO - Operational Optimization FV - Financial Viability IS - Infrastructure Stability 
60 

 

Appendix G: Gwinnett County Department of Water Resources 

 

Example of Balanced Scorecard Perspectives 

 

 
61 

 

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 WATER THAT 

MEETS NATIONAL STANDARDS AND 

IS PERCEIVED AS SAFE, 

AFFORDABLE , HEALTHY AND 

APPEALING.

5. ADVOCATE FOR A NEW DEER ISLAND NPDES 

PERMIT THAT REFLECTS TREATMENT 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 FOR 

TOXICS. 

II. ENVIRONMENTAL QUALITY

DISCHARGE EFFLUENT THAT MEETS 

NATIONAL STANDARDS, PROTECTS 

PUBLIC HEALTH, AND HELPS 

IMPROVE RECEIVING WATER 

QUALITY.

1. CONTINUE TO SUPPORT AND OVERSEE 

EFFECTIVE SOURCE WATER PROTECTION 

THROUGH THE WATER SUPPLY PROTECTION 

TRUST AND IMPLEMENTATION OF THE 2004 MOU 

WITH DCR.

2. ENSURE THAT THE QUABBIN AND CARROLL 

WATER TREATMENT PLANTS MEET EPA'S NEW 

TREATMENT AND DISINFECTION BY-PRODUCT 

RULES BY 2014 AND CONTINUE TO OPTIMIZE 

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. 

- PROTECT SOURCE WATER 

QUALITY.

- MAINTAIN COMPLIANCE WITH 

FILTRATION WAIVER.

- SUPPORT UPGRADING COMMUNITY 

DISTRIBUTION SYSTEMS.

- ENSURE PUBLIC CONFIDENCE.

- MAINTAIN COMPLIANCE WITH 

NPDES PERMIT. ACHIEVE NACWA 

PLANTINUM STATUS BY 2013.

-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 

SUSTAINABILITY AND ENERGY 

CONSERVATION 

REDUCE MWRA'S "ENVIRONMENTAL 

FOOTPRINT" AND ENERGY COSTS 

-REDUCE GREENHOUSE GAS 

EMISSIONS

-MAXIMIZE MWRA'S PARTICIPATION 

IN THE GREEN ENERGY 

MARKETPLACE

-CONSERVE ENERGY AND WATER

- RECYCLE WASTE MATERIALS

9. CONTINUE TO INVEST IN THE PRODUCTION 

AND UTILIZATION OF RENEWABLE ENERGY AT 

MWRA FACILITIES.

10. EXPLORE NEW REVENUE- GENERATION 

OPPORTUNITIES USING MWRA'S ENERGY 

ASSETS. 

11. CONTINUE TO CONDUCT 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, 

 
62 

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 

TO MEET THE NEEDS OF THE 

SERVICE DISTRICTS.

12. DEVELOP AND IMPLEMENT PLANS TO 

ELIMINATE IDENTIFIED SINGLE POINTS OF 

FAILURE WITHIN MWRA'S TRANSMISSION AND 

DISTRIBUTION SYSTEM.

13. CONTINUE TO ASSIST COMMUNITIES TO 

IMPROVE 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 WATER AND WASTEWATER MASTER 

PLANS PRIOR TO FY14 CONSISTENT WITH THE 

DEVELOPMENT OF THE FIVE-YEAR CIP CAP. 

- PROVIDE FACILITIES FOR 

CONTINUOUS WATER SUPPLY AT 

SUFFICIENT PRESSURE.

- PROVIDE FACILITIES TO 

TRANSPORT WASTEWATER FLOWS 

AND MINIMIZE SANITARY SEWER 

OVERFLOWS. 

- SUPPORT REGIONAL AND LOCAL I/I 

REDUCTION INITIATIVES.

- SEEK TO MINIMIZE COMMUNITY 

DISRUPTIONS FROM MWRA 

ACTIVITY.

V. SYSTEM RELIABILITY AND 

OPTIMIZATION

OPERATE THE SYSTEMS RELIABLY, 

SAFELY, EFFICIENTLY AND WITHIN 

DESIGN AND REGULATORY 

PARAMETERS, AND EXTEND THE 

USEFUL LIFE OF PHYSICAL ASSETS.

- MAINTAIN ASSETS (EQUIPMENT, 

INFRASTRUCTURE AND FACILITIES) 

CONSISTENT WITH OPERATING 

REQUIREMENTS.

- DEPLOY OPERATING RESOURCES 

COST-EFFECTIVELY AND 

PRODUCTIVELY.

- ENSURE CONTINUOUS 

OPERATIONS DURING EMERGENCY 

EVENTS.

17. CONTINUE TO IMPLEMENT AN MWRA-WIDE 

ASSET MANAGEMENT AND MAINTENANCE 

PROGRAM.

18. IMPLEMENT REMOTE MONITORING AND 

AUTOMATED OPERATION OF ALL MWRA 

WASTEWATER TRANSPORT FACILITIES BY 2010.

19. CONTINUE IMPLEMENTING A 

COMPREHENSIVE SECURITY AND EMERGENCY 

PREPAREDNESS PROGRAM GUIDED BY MWRA'S 

SECUR ITY AND EMERGENCY PREPAREDNESS 

TASK FORCE. 

VI. FINANCIAL MANAGEMENT

MANAGE MWRA FINANCES TO 

MAINTAIN CORE SERVICES, ENSURE 

INVESTOR CONFIDENCE AND 

DELIVER RATEPAYER VALUE.

- LIMIT THE RATE REVENUE 

INCREASE REQUIREMENT TO LESS 

THAN 4% THROUGH 2013.

- MAINTAIN AA2, AA, AA CREDIT 

RATING.

20. CONTINUE TO REGULARLY UPDATE 

ESTIMATES OF ANTICIPATED REVENUES AND 

EXPENSES OVER A MULTI-YEAR PLANNING 

HORIZON AND TO CONTROL DIRECT EXPENSE 

GROWTH.

21. MANAGE CIP SPENDING WITHIN THE FY09-13 

CAP OF $1.16 BILLION .

22. REGULARLY ASSESS OPPORTUNITIES TO 

REFINANCE AND RESTRUCTURE MWRA'S 

OUTSTANDING DEBT TO LOWER DEBT SERVICE 

EXPENSES.

23. MAXIMIZE INVESTMENT INCOME THROUGH 

PERIODIC EVALUATION OF INVESTMENT 

VEHICLES AND MARKET CONDITIONS. 

24. PURSUE FEDERAL AND STATE ADVOCACY 

STRATEGIES TO SUPPORT MWRA'S CAPITAL 

PROGRAM AND TO ENCOURAGE COSTEFFECTIVE REGULATIONS.

VII. PEOPLE AND SYSTEMS 

MANAGEMENT

MANAGE STAFF AND SYSTEMS 

RESOURCES TO CARRY OUT 

MWRA'S BUSINESS PLAN 

OBJECTIVES 

- INVEST IN ORGANIZATIONAL 

EFFICIENCY AND EFFECTIVENESS.

- PROMOTE AN ORGANIZATIONAL 

CULTURE CONSISTENT WITH MWRA 

CORE VALUES OF TEAMWORK, 

TRANSPARENCY, PUBLIC 

ACCOUNTABILITY AND COSTEFFECTIVENESS.

- STAFF AT A LEVEL CONSISTENT 

WITH MWRA'S BUSINESS 

STRATEGIES

25. UTILIZE AUTOMATION AND NEW 

TECHNOLOGY TO ACHIEVE MWRA BUSINESS 

PLAN OBJECTIVES.

26. PREPARE FOR AND CONDUCT NEGOTIATIONS 

TO SECURE SUCCESSOR COLLECTIVE 

BARGAINING CONTRACTS FOR THE 2010-2013 

CONTRACT PERIOD. IMPLEMENT CONTRACTS 

AFTER BOARD OF DIRECTORS APPROVAL. 

27. PROVIDE HUMAN RESOURCES PROGRAMS TO 

SUPPORT THE BUSINESS PLAN AND TO RECRUIT, 

DEVELOP AND RETAIN A DIVERSE WORKFORCE 

TO ACHIEVE BUSINESS PLAN OBJECTIVES .

28. COMPLY WITH ALL AFFIRMATIVE ACTION 

PROGRAMS TO REDUCE UNDERUTILIZED JOB 

GROUPS AND PROMOTE PARTICIPATION IN THE 

M/WBE PROCUREMENT PROGRAM.

12. OPERATIONAL RESILIENCY, 

INFRASTRUCTURE STABILITY

13. COMMUNITY SUSTAINABILITY, 

STAKEHOLDER UNDERSTANDING 

AND SUPPORT, INFRASTRUCTURE 

STABILITY 

14. COMMUNITY SUSTAINABILITY, 

INFRASTRUCTURE STABILITY

15. WATER RESOURCE ADEQUACY, 

COMMUNITY SUSTAINABILITY

16. FINANCIAL VIABILITY, 

OPERATIONAL RESILENCY, 

STAKEHOLDER UNDERSTANDING 

AND SUPPORT

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

 
63 

 Appendix I: MWRA Business Plan Strategy #2 

 

Draft: May 8, 2008

MWRA Business Plan Strategy #2 Ensure that Quabbin and Carroll Water Treatment Plants meet 

EPA’s new treatment and Disinfection Byproducts Rules by 2014 and continue to optimize Carroll Plant operations. 

Division Director(s): Michael Hornbrook Strategy Manager(s): Jae Kim, Stephen Estes-Smargiassi, Dave Coppes Properly designed and operated water treatment facilities are one of the keys to the protection of public health and compliance with EPA drinking 

water regulations. MWRA’s recently completed Carroll Water Treatment Plant (CWTP) is still in the process of being optimized, and new regulations issued by EPA in 2006 will require upgrades by 2014 to provide a second primary disinfection step capable of inactivating cryptosporidium at both the 

CWTP and at the Ware Disinfection Facility (WDF) that serves Quabbin water to the CVA communities. Based on a review of MWRA’s continued compliance with the EPA requirements for avoiding filtration, results of source water quality monitoring, and the technologies available to provide the required stringent Cryptosporidium inactivation, staff are proceeding with the addition of ultraviolet light disinfection at both the WDF and the CWTP. 

Description: The Long Term 2 Enhanced Surface Water Treatment Rule (LT2) and the Stage 2 Disinfection/Disinfection Byproducts Rule (Stage 2)

require new source water monitoring and substantial changes to treatment for unfiltered systems based on that monitoring, including a second primary disinfection step and new more stringent monitoring programs for disinfection byproducts (DBPs). Conceptual designs for new treatment facilities at both plants are complete, and design will begin shortly. Initial stages of newly required monitoring efforts are also complete.Because MWRA had anticipated the requirements of the new LT2 rule, MWRA was able to “grandfather” existing Cryptosporidium data: low levels at 

both reservoirs qualify both plants for 2-log inactivation rather than 3-log. The new Stage 2 rule required an elaborate and costly “initial distribution system evaluation” monitoring program to help the system and regulators design appropriate DBP compliance monitoring locations representative of likely worst case conditions. Because of the success of CWTP ozonation at dramatically reducing DBP levels throughout the metro Boston distribution system (by about 80 to 90 percent), MWRA qualified for a waiver of these monitoring requirements The Ware Disinfection Facility still uses chlorine, and while DBP levels in the CVA system meet current requirements, levels were not low enough to qualify for the IDSE waiver. MWRA staff assisted the three CVA communities in designing the monitoring program and will help in conducting it. MWRA and the communities will need to develop and implement new long term DBP compliance monitoring programs in both 

 
64 

 

systems by 2012: these will be somewhat more costly than current programs as roughly twice as many samples will be required in the metro Boston system. Based on current data, the metro Boston systems should be able to easily comply with the new Stage 2 DBP requirements. The CVA system should also be able to comply, but the IDSE monitoring data will determine if any additional changes in disinfection technology are needed; the conceptual design for the treatment upgrade is conservatively laid out and budgeted to accommodate any needed additions. Construction and start-up of a new complex treatment facility is the end of one process, but also the beginning of a process of evaluating performance and optimizing operations and adjusting the processes. The CWTP plant was placed into service in July 2005. It is producing water which meets all regulatory requirements, meets MWRA targets for inactivation of Cryptosporidium, has reduced DBP levels dramatically, and improved the clarity of 

the water, and its taste and odor. Lead levels at high risk homes continue to decline. Measures of water quality within the MWRA and community distribution system are as good as or better than before the new plant went on line, with improved levels of chloramine residuals and reduced levels of total coliform in community pipes. While levels of bacteria in the distribution system are low, levels of total coliform bacteria in water leaving the plant have been higher than anticipated each summer, and while not causing compliance problems for MWRA, have caused a risk of non-compliance with the Total Coliform Rule for our first customer community, Marlborough. This does not appear to be a health concern, but should be resolved. An extensive monitoring and research effort has been undertaken, and both maintenance activities and plant process modifications have been made as of Winter 2007/2008. Staff will be reviewing performance data during the summer of 2008, and developing recommendations for any needed further actions. Staff also continues to review and optimize or modify plant operations to extend the useful life of components and reduce operating costs as opportunities arise. 

Milestones: Date Description LT2 Milestones May 2008 Design notice to proceed for CWTP UV upgrade August 2008 Design notice to proceed for WDF UV upgrade April 2011 Construction NTP for CWTP August 2011 Construction NTP for WDF October 2013 Substantial Completion for CWTP 

   
65 

 

October 2012 Substantial Completion for WDF Stage 2 Milestones March 17, 2009 Complete IDSE monitoring for CVA system January 1, 2009 July 1, 2009 

Complete negotiation of long term compliance monitoring program for Metro Boston Complete negotiation of long term compliance monitoring program for CVA 

April 1, 2012 October 1, 2012 

Begin new required monitoring for metro Boston Begin new required monitoring for CVA 

Plant Optimization Milestones October 2008 Review of summer 2008 WQ data and recommendations for any required actions Measurement: Meet 2-log crypto inactivation under new rule by 2014 Measure: 

Target: 

Percentage of water treated in month that is outside of EPA required specification Less Than 5 percent of water falls below required dose 

Meet DBP requirements Measure: 

Target: 

Running annual average of quarterly samples at each location Running annual average at every sample location is Less Than MCL 

Minimize Total Coliform at CWTP Measure: 

Target: 

Percentage of Samples at Plant Outlet that are total coliform positive Less Than 5 % of finished water samples are TC positive in any month 

Budget/Fiscal Impact: Design and Construction UV Improvements and Ancillary Modifications to CWTP: $54.7 million Design and Construction of UV Improvements to Ware Disinfection Facility: $6.4 million This strategy is consistent with the “Product Quality” and “Operational Optimization” management attribute, two of the nationally-recognized “Ten Attributes of Effectively Managed Water Sector Utilities” endorsed by EPA. Specifically, the strategy includes the following Attribute characteristics: • Product Quality: “Produces potable water...in full compliance with regulatory and reliability requirements and consistent with customer, public health, and ecological needs”. • Operational Optimization: “Ensures ongoing, timely, cost-effective, reliable, and sustainable performance improvements in all facets of its 

operations”. 

 
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2009 Effective Water and Wastewater Utility Management Case Studies 

Effective Water and Wastewater Utility Management Case Studies 2009