Watershed management reports high vacancies, stepped-up collections effort and new command center

Interim Commissioner Al Wiggins told the City Utilities Committee on April 11 that the Department of Watershed Management’s second-quarter report (covering Oct.–Dec. 2024) showed stable finances but continuing operational pressure from licensed-operator vacancies and recent retirements.

Wiggins said staffing “has improved since approximately June of last year” but that the Office of Water Treatment and Reclamation is carrying what he described as a 72% vacancy rate for positions that require specialized operator licenses. He said the department lost about 31 employees in the period reported, 18 of them by retirement.

The staffing picture was the core of a broader update that covered training, revenue, meter installations, leak detection and field operations. Wiggins credited DWM University, led by Chief Administrative Officer Don Williams, with training 497 employees across compliance, safety and job-specific courses during the quarter. He said year-to-date actual water and sewer receipts totaled about $46,000,000 and that the department expects end-of-year collections to align with projections.

Deputy Commissioner Jonathan Williams told the committee the apparent drop in monthly collections is…