Communication specialists and Engineers: Partners in Successful Project Delivery

Utility managers today often define successful project delivery as both a public process that effectively addresses community expectations about facility design, construction disruptions, and operational impacts and a set of facilities that meet appropriate engineering standards for water delivery. Accomplishing the dual goals of an effective public process and an effective system for water service delivery requires a partnership between communication experts and engineering experts. This partnership blends the in-depth knowledge that communication experts possess about the structure of community relationships with the deep understanding engineers have on the structure of water systems. Creating these partnerships requires working together not only on outreach in the community but also on “in-reach” – our term for how East Bay Municipal Utility District (EBMUD) managers create and sustain relationships that result in successful project delivery.