Strategic Planning       Engineering Department Metropolitan Water District of Southern California District Mission The Metropolitan Water District of Southern California (MWD) is the largest water utility provider in the United States. MWD serves 16 million customers in Southern California with 27 member agencies and 51 members on its Board of Directors. Water is imported from the Bay Area and the Colorado River by means of aqueducts to regional treatment centers in the Los Angeles area where it is distributed to member agencies by wholesale delivery contract arrangements. MWD supplied water is often blended by its member agencies with lower cost ground water resources to maintain price stability to their customers. Since its creation in the early 1930’s the District has operated so effectively that Southern Californians often take for granted the availability of low cost, safe and reliable supplies of imported water. Engineering Department Role The Engineering Department has long been the center of MWD operations. Facilities designed and built with Department resources over the years are legendary within the water utility industry in terms of size, reliability and overall quality. The Department enjoys a rich culture of achievement. However, recent regional development restrictions, policy shifts and continued growth in demand for MWD supplied water caused a restructuring process to begin within the Department. Water pricing polices were amended to stimulate conservation, create water re-cycling programs and look for new supplies. Member agencies sought to become more active and participative in working with the Department to develop these and other changes. Project Setting & Goals The Engineering Department selected FJ Schroeder & Associates to develop a Strategic Plan for the Department to strengthen the organization, sharpen it’s vision on future District-wide needs and to improve it relations with member agencies. Won in competition with nationally recognized engineering firms, Sullivan Consulting Group (SCG) served Schroeder & Associates as a creative resource with needed skills to analyze an engineering work environment and compare it with emerging trends in the wholesale water industry. Approach & Outcomes The consultant team worked closely with Department leadership to research the basis for policy making decisions, interviewed key staff, and member agencies. We conducted in-house seminars based upon findings and lessons-learned over the course of the project and helped to align expectations of Department customers. We learned that an underlying motive of many recent policy shifts was driven by concern over possible de-regulation initiatives that could adversely impact District-wide operations. The electric power utility sector in California was undergoing a massive regulatory shift which un-bundled its generation, transmission and distribution facilities and some within MWD foresaw a similar process with state-wide water utilities. Clearly, an unbundling of MWD operations would dramatically impact how business would be done in it’s future. One such shift impacting the Engineering Department was serious consideration of marketing its services to customers outside MWD. We helped the Department sharpen its focus on this concept and direct its resources toward more effective initiatives. Specific elements of the final plan were: Acknowledged impact of public perceptions on organizational performance Improved understanding of emerging technologies to stabilize costs Improved communications with internal customers and member agencies Increased understanding of regional water policy shifts and impacts on Engineering Department Better manage manpower levels and outside contractors Increased awareness of shared risks in commercial ventures with outside providers back to top Copyright © Sullivan Consulting Group, Inc.