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Austin Water unveils new strategic plan after broad staff and community engagement
Summary
Austin Water presented a ground-up strategic-plan update on Dec. 10 that reworks its mission and vision, sets five enterprise goals (people, service excellence, infrastructure, community trust, innovation) and commits to turning gaps into tactical projects and KPIs during Year 1 implementation.
Alice Norton Sprague, enterprise strategic planning manager for Austin Water, told the commission Dec. 10 that the utility completed a 15‑month, ground-up update of its 2020 strategic plan after substantial staff and community engagement. "We heard from over 3,000 members of the community," Sprague said, and staff input included 575 survey responses and multiple listening sessions.
Sprague said the process produced a revised mission — "Austin Water works every day to provide water for people and care for the environment" — and a new vision: "building Austin's water future together." The plan sets five high-level goals: a people-first workplace; service excellence for customers; proactive infrastructure investment; community trust through engagement and equitable delivery; and a focus on data, innovation and risk management.
Commissioners pressed for details on how strategic goals will translate to frontline actions and metrics. Commissioner Pandurangi asked how the thousands of community survey responses compare to the size of Austin's population and whether the results were broadly representative; Sprague replied the response compared favorably to other city departments and that staff used SpeakUpAustin, myATX portals, social media and targeted invitations to focus groups to reach respondents. "We launched a survey out to Austin Water staff," Sprague said, describing both staff and community outreach.
On accountability, Sprague described a Year 1 emphasis on implementation: converting identified gaps into tactical project teams and initiatives, developing a ‘‘matrix’’ to link gaps to tactics, and creating KPIs and performance measures tied to the Effective Utility Management (EUM) framework. "Year 1 of this plan is essentially implementation," she said; staff will launch internal socialization immediately and public outreach after the holidays.
Sprague also noted the plan aligns with citywide strategic priorities and existing long‑range plans and that Austin Water has formed a 20‑plus member strategic steering committee to guide goal setting. She said staff will return with routine updates and that the enterprise strategic services team will lead progress tracking and annual assessments.
The commission did not take formal action on the plan during the meeting; commissioners asked for periodic progress reports as Austin Water moves from the strategic framework into tactical work and KPI development.
