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Green Water Infrastructure for Chicago Chicago Department of Water Management employees at work.
T
he Chicago Department of Water Management provides water and sewer service to over 5 million people in the greater Chicago area. Though much of its water infrastructure dates back to the 19th century, its major infrastructure revitalization and environmental initiatives earned the Department of Water Management a 2018 Sustainable Water Utility Management Award from the Association of Metropolitan Water Agencies. In this interview, Randy Conner, commissioner of the Chicago Department of Water Management, speaks with Municipal Water Leader Managing Editor Joshua Dill about how his agency is building a stronger, more efficient, and cleaner water system for the city. Joshua Dill: Please tell us about your background and how you came to be in your current position.
28 | MUNICIPAL WATER LEADER
Joshua Dill: Please tell us about the Department of Water Management. Randy Conner: The department serves about 5.4 million people within the state of Illinois, which is about 42 percent of the state’s population. With approximately 2,100 employees, it is the largest nonemergency department in the city government. The department was created in the 1800s to ensure a supply of clean water. Built in 1869, the Chicago water tower was the city’s first pumping station and water purification plant. Of course, cities create waste, and there was a problem with waste being dumped into Lake Michigan. The city government decided to protect public health by developing a sewer system. Because the
PHOTO COURTESY OF CHICAGO DEPARTMENT OF WATER MANAGMENT.
Randy Conner: In university, I studied construction practices and engineering principles, and every summer I worked with my father, who owned his own construction company. He was the first minority contractor to do concrete work for the City of Chicago. In 1994, I consulted for an engineering consulting firm. In 1996, I began my career with the city as an engineering technician. I was in charge of the City of Chicago’s Aldermanic Menu Program, in which aldermen were given money to do infrastructure upgrades within their respective wards. Then I was put in charge of the Chicago Department of Transportation’s Engineering Division, overseeing about 15 engineers. We did new street construction design work and handled all the construction engineering issues for the Department
of Transportation’s in-house crews. I then became deputy commissioner of infrastructure management at the Department of Transportation. I oversaw the entire public way for the City of Chicago, which involves pavement marking, directional signage, ticketing, and other things related to construction in the public way. In 2007, I became the first deputy commissioner of the Chicago Department of Street and Sanitation, which handles garbage pickup, snow removal, graffiti removal, and other things of that nature. I was charged with overseeing day-to-day operations as well as the administration of the department. In 2014, I was tasked to go back to the Department of Transportation as first deputy commissioner. I oversaw day-to-day operations and administration. In 2017, Mayor Emanuel tapped me to be the commissioner of the Chicago Department of Water Management.
