Water and wastewater industry leaders in Texas and throughout the United States have expressed concern over high rates of retirement eligibility and difficulties finding and attracting workers ready to fill job openings, especially for work in smaller systems. In late January 2018, the U.S. Government Accountability Office released a report on water workforce readiness and a bill was introduced in the U.S. Senate to establish a water infrastructure workforce development program. Concern over existing education of workers in water and demographic information projecting future workforce readiness are commonly cited as signaling a coming crisis for the water industry. An alignment of post-secondary training and industry needs is recommended to meet coming workforce employment requirements for Texas and the nation. A model post-secondary education pathway for water science and technology is described to support water workforce readiness.

© 2018 Rudolph A. Rosen, Luis A. Cifuentes, James Fischer, Howard Marquise, John C. Tracy