FWEA FOCUS
Annual WEF Board Retreat Comes to Florida!
Sondra W. Lee, P.E. President, FWEA
A
fter rescheduling due to Hurricane Nicole, the annual Water Environment Federation (WEF) Board of Trustees Retreat was nearly affected a second time by massive flight delays when a winter storm seriously impacted flights across the East Coast in early January. With great luck all of the board members were able to make their flights down to south Florida just in time to kick off the two-day event the morning of January 5 in Miami Beach.
Each year, the new president of WEF selects the location of the annual retreat, so this year Ifetayo Venner brought the retreat to Florida. She selected the Miami area for its unique culture and proximity to Jamaica and Barbados, where she had grown up. Miami was a place she and her family would visit years before becoming a Florida resident and WEF president. As FWEA president, I was able to attend the first morning session of the retreat to welcome the board to Florida, providing some general information about the geography of the state, the setup of the FWEA chapters, and the FWEA strategic business plan goals. The focus on Florida continued for the remainder of the morning with two panel discussions with local water leaders.
Joan Fernandez (left) leads the first discussion.
34 March 2023 • Florida Water Resources Journal
Miami Area Utility Leaders Panel Discussion The first panel, moderated by Joan Fernandez, FWEA treasurer, consisted of three local utility leaders: S Marisela Aranguiz, capital improvements program deputy director, Miami-Dade Water and Sewer Department S Andrea Suarez Abastida, director, North Miami Beach Water S Christina Ortega Castinerias, city engineer, City of Miami Beach Each panel member provided an overview of their utility and what challenges they’re facing. Some of the issues these water utility leaders addressed include the following: Public Advocacy of the Water Industry A key area for a water utility to improve on is to better utilize public outreach and advocacy. Water industry projects are invisible necessities and local officials and citizens don’t always understand their importance, especially since these projects do not spark a lot of publicity campaigns that could generate excitement. Educating local officials would prevent important water infrastructure projects from being sidelined by campaign promises that often receive priority in local funding efforts. Unfortunately, it may take a sunny-day flooding event to finally catch the attention of the individuals in charge of setting funding priorities. Workforce Utilities are facing a lot of vacancies, and filling positions has been extra challenging due to the low wages that are being offered, along with the requirement to work atypical hours, including the requirement to work during storm events. Many utilities have had to rehire retired employees to fill in position gaps. Officially declaring water industry