Join us for a tour and social on April 17th, 2024, at the Hayden Area Regional Sewer Board (HARSB)! Starting at 3 pm, we’ll tour the facility then head over to a bar (TBD) at about 5 pm for a social gathering. If you’re interested, please register here – it’s free for everyone! The tour will provide 0.2 CEUs for Washington and Idaho, pending approval. This event is hosted by the Students and Young Professionals Committee, but everyone is welcome to attend.
The WAVE program engages students and emerging professionals from diverse backgrounds with the water industry through a series of workshops and attendance of the 2024 PNCWA conference. The workshops focus on the various paths within the water industry, networking, skills development, employment opportunities, and conference preparation. Each month until the conference, we will highlight our participants and the program. Logo, company name Description automatically generated.
Federal
The House Appropriations Committee is proposing to eliminate funding for the Clean Water and Drink Water State Revolving Funds by more than half in the FY24 budget. It’s critical that your Senators and Representative hears from you about the need to maintain federal funding for critical local water infrastructure investments. Use WEF Water Advocates call-to-action to send a message today!
The Leadership Development Committee is excited to announce monthly virtual book club gatherings featuring one of our favorites. On the book club wish list for this year are a number of our favorites including Start with Why by Simon Sinek and The One Thing by Gary Keller. We’re also looking for your suggestions. Have a favorite that you’d like to discuss with your fellow PNCWA’ers? Have one that you’ve wanted to read but needed the motivation to get to it? Contact Mark Poling at [email protected] to share your title. We’ll be reviewing them at our monthly Committee meeting. We’d also love to have you join us!
We’re starting with Designing Your Work Life by Bill Burnett and Dave Evans. The book introduces design thinking to living, learning, and succeeding in our work lives. The concept is thinking like a designer. What exactly does that mean?
Join us for a tour and social on January 11th, 2024, at the Riverside Park Water Reclamation Facility run by the City of Spokane! Starting at 3 pm, we’ll tour the facility then head over to Backyard Public House at about 5 pm for a social gathering. If you’re interested, please register here – it’s free for everyone! This event is hosted by the Students and Young Professionals Committee, but everyone is welcome to attend!
Federal
The WAVE Program is looking for presenters to join our 2024 Workshop Series!
The workshops are the backbone of this program. They allow cohort members to gain knowledge, start building their networks, and are what set the WAVE program apart! This program is grateful to have had phenomenal speakers over the years, some of which have presented multiple times. We are opening the space to welcome both new and returning presenters who want to contribute to this program and get to know the upcoming future leaders in water!
Capital Improvement Plans (CIPs) are a roadmap used to document the plan for a utility to maintain, expand, and repair their assets. Whether your utility has a long-established practice of creating a CIP or you're just starting out, join us for a panel discussion and learning hour to discuss with your peers what they have learned about creating a CIP. We have two amazing speakers that are creating CIPs in real-time. Both Vanessa and Jeff are Capital Program Managers within their respective utilities who have been involved from the beginning of creating a CIP program and evolving them over time. The UMC is also creating a shared location where we can post examples of CIPs, and tools used in creating them.
Date & Time: December 6, 2023 @ Noon to 1 PM
Panel Speakers: Vanessa Johnson Clark Regional Wastewater District, Jeff Stallard Clackamas Water Environment Services
Federal
Oregon:
The Leadership Development Committee is excited to announce a book club discussion series coming in January 2023. We’re starting with Designing Your Work Life by Bill Burnett and Dave Evans. The book introduces design thinking to living, learning, and succeeding in our work lives. The concept is thinking like a designer. What exactly does that mean?
Design thinking includes:
There are several proposed updates to the WEF Bylaws which have been reviewed and approved by the Bylaws Subcommittee, the Governance Committee, and the WEF Board of Trustees. These changes are related to the Board Committees, including formalizing the Ethics Committee, removing the WEFTEC Advisory Committee, and shifting existing Subcommittees to Committees; as well as adjustments to the text related to the Member Engagement Transformation (MET). As is stated in the House of Delegates (HOD) Policies and Procedures, these changes are to be shared with Member Associations prior to the vote and approval of these changes by the HOD. The HOD will officially vote to confirm these changes at a virtual meeting later this Fall. See attached to review a markup and clean copy of the WEF Bylaws.
Questions? Please contact WEF Staff Kelsey Hurst.
Who doesn’t want a good sense of well-being? In life, most everyone does, which necessarily means feeling good at work too. Yet, according to a recent national survey, most employees say their workplace well-being has worsened in the last year. Therefore, when the Leadership Development Committee saw this, they wanted to find out if it was true for us in PNCWA as well.
A survey probing this question was sent out in July to all PNCWA members. Unfortunately, the responses indicate we are not too different than the national trend. Answers to the questions asked are summarized below, followed by some insights on how to improve workplace well-being, gained from reviewing narrative comments that were included in the survey responses.
This fall PNCWA is launching Communities of Practice (CoP). CoPs are affiliated groups of committees, formed to spark collaboration and engagement among our committees and members. Each CoPs will be led by an association board member liaison that will coordinate quarterly meetings and facilitate CoP activities. Formation of the CoPs was a strategic priority of 2022-2023 Association President Lara Kammereck. Development of the CoP concept and structure is a result of committee collaboration during the joint Board and Committee Chair meeting in January 2023. Based on this work, PNCWA has formed the following CoPs:
Join us for a tour and social on October 5th at the Liberty Lake Sewer and Water District WRF! Starting at 3 pm, we’ll tour the facility then we’ll head over to Snow Eater Brewing Company at about 5 pm for a social gathering. If you’re interested, please register here – it’s free for everyone! This event is hosted by the Students and Young Professionals Committee, but everyone is welcome to attend.
Federal:
The House Appropriations Committee is proposing to eliminate funding for the Clean Water and Drink Water State Revolving Funds by more than half in the FY24 budget. It’s critical that your Senators and Representative hears from you about the need to maintain federal funding for critical local water infrastructure investments. Use WEF Water Advocates call-to-action to send a message today!
Registration Open for 2023 PNCWA Fall Communications Camp Engaging Your Community in Your Agency’s Water Story
Location: City of Bend’s Kerri Training Facility, 22395 McGrath Rd
Cutting-Edge Technical Session: The conference schedule includes an impressive lineup of technical sessions where you can learn from experts and industry leaders. Discover the latest advancements in wastewater treatment, stormwater management, and water quality improvements. Whether you are a seasoned professional or a newcomer, these technical sessions are designed to enrich your knowledge and equip you with valuable insights.
In case you missed it! EPA has taken the following actions on PFAS in the last three months:
2023 Fall Communications Camp is happening 8:00 am to 4:30 pm on Thursday, October 26 in Bend, Oregon. A big thanks to the City of Bend for graciously hosting at their Kerri Training Facility, 22395 McGarth Rd. The Camp will include a tour of the City of Bend’s Water Reclamation Facility and presentations by staff from the cities of Bend, Boise, and Prineville plus others. More details including the full agenda and registration details will be published in early August. This event will provide 0.625 CEUs, pending approval. The Communications Camp is a one-day specialty conference focused on how to communicate about water, strengthen communications skills, and effectively tools of the trade. Proceeds from the Communications Camp go towards PNCWA’s Adopt-a-School grant program, managed by the Communications and Outreach Committee, which funds K-12 educational projects focused on water and the environment.
