Earlier this summer, the Post asked our readers what issues you wanted to hear candidates running for WaterOne board to address leading up to the Nov. 7 election.
Based on that feedback, we developed a three-item questionnaire centering the issues most important to Johnson County residents.
Each day this week, we’ll publish the candidates’ responses to one question.
Today, we’re publishing candidates’ responses to the following question:
In light of extreme weather events, including more frequent torrential rains, seasonal severe thunderstorms that bring high winds and punishing heat waves during the summer, how can WaterOne best prepare and maintain its infrastructure to be resilient and reliable in the face of a changing climate?
Below are the answers the Post received from candidates on this issue:
Member 1
Melanie Kraft (incumbent)
Emergencies and climate extremes can happen anytime but during the recent power outage in the Kansas City metro, water availability was NOT affected and the key is redundancy and training. With preparation, continual planning, training scenarios, drills and education, WaterOne practices preparedness every day. Redundant energy sources using natural gas or diesel as backup energy options creates a water supply system for reliability.
Partnerships with community organizations, such as Johnson County Emergency Preparedness, Notify JoCO, will continue to be a priority for emergency preparedness. I continue to support WaterOne staff’s participation in regular training simulations with FEMA practicing multi-disaster scenarios for Johnson County, even practicing for possible train derailments with hazardous spills. During the COVID pandemic, WaterOne created a team to meet regularly to address any and all issues related to the pandemic.
Educating customers about household water emergencies and how to do their part has also been a WaterOne priority. Videos and instructions for cold weather, such as turning off and draining sprinkler systems before the first freeze, turning off outdoor faucets and disconnecting outside hoses. It’s important for homeowners to know the location of their water shut-off valve, insulate water pipes that may be exposed to the cold, or pipes that are close to exterior walls be wrapped with insulation.
Jerry Cook
I commend WaterOne for developing, analyzing and maintaining a commitment to short- and long-term management planning cycles. As a result, equipment selection, projected water usage trends, population shifts, weather cycles and financial resources have been properly analyzed and secured to meet the challenges for extreme weather conditions.
The board has a responsibility to remain focused on governance policies that support operational excellence. WaterOne staff have a professional responsibility to consistently review and promote annual maintenance of infrastructure. Additionally, appropriate staff must retain consistent communication strategies with local, state and national experts related to water sustainability, weather trends and the changing impacts of natural resources. Always Nurture Nature!
Tom Fennesy
Did not provide the Post with a response.
Member 2
Brian Glynn
WaterOne is already well diversified for delivering a resilient water supply to its customers. WaterOne obtains water directly from both the Kansas River and the Missouri River as well as collector wells to obtain groundwater from the alluvial areas along both rivers. Having intake and collector wells on both the Kansas River and Missouri River is unique in the Kansas City area, as most municipalities only have access to either the Kansas or Missouri.
In times of drought, WaterOne can draw water from either the Kansas River or Missouri River or the adjacent collector wells to meet the demands of its customers. In times of flooding, WaterOne’s infrastructure, especially that along the Kansas and Missouri rivers is adequately designed to withstand a 500-year flood event to minimize impacts to their infrastructure.
The WaterOne Board should continue to adopt policies to ensure WaterOne’s water sources remain diversified and ensure WaterOne is able to effectively meet their customers’ demands all times of the year, regardless of weather.
Ullyses Wright
Extreme weather conditions due to climate change always tax a system. What are the best ways to reduce the chances of costly infrastructure shutdowns? It’s through regular maintenance and planning for water breaks due to severe stress from drought, and be prepared for those torrential rain situation.
However, as an agriculturalist, I realize the importance of water for all forms of life: human life, animal life and plant life. So we will also need to have plans in place to address the high demands on the water supply available to WaterOne.
Member 6
Whitney Wilson (incumbent)
Overall, we need to be a part of the solution, not the problem. It takes a considerable amount of power to send clean water to everyone’s faucets. Today, we have roughly 50% green energy powering our utility but, we need to get to 100% as fast as feasible. Continuing to long-term plan and execute on sustainable infrastructure projects and working more closely with our regional partners to extend source water protections gives us the best chance for resiliency in the region.
There are also “low-hanging fruit” ways to help reduce the demand on the infrastructure so that we can maximize its useful life.
One way would be to invigorate our sprinkler system outreach efforts. A large majority of customers have lawn sprinkler systems set to water their lawn automatically and at the same time as all the other customers. This puts unnecessary demand on the infrastructure every morning during the growing season. However, if neighbors staggered the timing of this activity, it would help to reduce peak demand, a significant driver of the cost to run water operations. Our communications team might be able to focus on neighborhood or HOA meetings to provide education on the subject so that neighbors can make informed decisions about their water usage.
Another way, also mentioned in Monday’s answer, would be to expand our AI and analytics capabilities to anticipate possible vulnerabilities across the system and mitigate the issue before it becomes more costly to repair, etc.
Jim McNair
WaterOne has done an excellent job in preparing the system for challenges in this area. The supply and distribution are well-engineered for climate-related challenges.
That does not mean that we sit still. The measures we have must be systematically tested to ensure they work when needed.
Just because we have a district level of security — flood resistant and drought resistant intakes — does not mean that we should not address the challenges that might occur in a local area. We need to be prepared for those contingencies.
We need to be a part of the water industry community to make sure we continue to be on the leading edge of technology so we can have the most efficient preparedness.
The board’s responsibility is to have the general manager document that these actions occur.
Member 7
Mark Parkins (incumbent)
WaterOne has taken a proactive approach to the design and construction of our facilities over the past 50 years to ensure system resilience and sustainability. WaterOne recently updated our 40-year Master Plan, which includes a chapter on climate change resiliency. The Operations Committee, which I chair, was responsible for guiding the preparation of this Master Plan. We relied on the IPCC Sixth Assessment Report as the basis of the climate impacts. Our updated Master Plan identified the adaptive and mitigative measures that WaterOne has taken and should take in the future to address these changes.
We are in the process of implementing the Master Plan recommendations. For instance, WaterOne designs all infrastructure to withstand a 500-year flood. Critical facilities have clean energy standby generators. We participate in Evergy’s Renewables Direct program and lease solar panels from Evergy and KCBPU. We maintain emergency interconnections with all of our neighboring utility systems. We lead the efforts of source water protection with the Milford Lake RCPP to reduce harmful algae blooms in this key source water supply. We now use Ozone to improve water quality and reduce chemical usage and eliminate many pharmaceutical traces at our primary treatment plant.
We are also in the process of designing a clean energy hydropower facility on the Kansas River that will provide up to a megawatt of clean energy to help power our primary treatment plant. WaterOne has published an award winning Sustainability Guide that exemplifies our culture of sustainability and sets the example to follow. A very talented group of employees work at WaterOne to make this a reality.
Renee Dinsmore
Climate change impacts WaterOne in several ways. First, we need a functional sustainability committee that will prioritize securing and maintaining infrastructure. WaterOne needs governing members who take climate change seriously and use their policy levers to preserve and protect our drinking water.
Second, infrastructure must be maintained and built to withstand inevitable extreme weather events from storms to drought, using risk data to guide the most important projects.
Third, alternative energy sources must be used to minimize service disruption. WaterOne needs to invest in energy sources that will take responsibility for WaterOne’s emissions while also giving it the flexibility to manage obstacles during extreme weather events and keep rates affordable.
My professional background affords me the skills and expertise to govern all three of these priorities.
Tomorrow, we will publish candidates’ responses to the final question:
WaterOne is a non-tax supported utility, meaning rates and fees cover the cost of operations. And those rates are some of the lowest of any water utility in the Kansas City metro, according to data provided by WaterOne. However, some readers want to know if you would support potentially lowering bills for certain groups of customers, including seniors on fixed incomes and those with lower household incomes. Explain your stance.
