SKILL PANEL REPORT California's Water Industry - Cuyamaca ...

SKILL PANEL REPORT California’s Water Industry1EXECUTIVE SUMMARYThe oldest Baby Boomer turned 65 in 2011, and according to the Pew ResearchCenter, 10,000 Boomers will turn 65 every day through 2030. 1 Industries criticalto public health and safety -- think water, energy and healthcare -- must addressthis issue. According to the American Water Works Association, 30% of waterand wastewater system operators nationwide will reach retirement age by 2016.In California, 38 million people and the ninth largest economy in the worlddepend on the water industry for a safe and reliable water supply andwastewater sanitation. Water is the essential ingredient in everything, fromagriculture to manufacturing to the California lifestyle, and it Is not something wecan take for granted. Like the Boomers, much of California’s water andwastewater infrastructure is at retirement age, and the long term reliability of ourcurrent water resources is evaporating in the face of climate change andpopulation growth.Van Ton Quinlivan, Vice Chancellor of Workforce and Economic Developmentfor the California Community Colleges, asked Cuyamaca College to convenea panel of key people from water, education and workforce development todiscuss a collaborative approach to training the state’s next generation of waterindustry workers. Invitations were sent to people recognized by their peers forunderstanding the challenges facing California’s water utilities, job seekers andcommunity colleges; or, for already developing training solutions that can bemodeled statewide.Their recommendations are to develop water industry skill panels throughoutCalifornia and have each panel manage and market the career pathways in theirregion. It is a large task, but the panel believes these are the best strategies forcompeting against other industries for middle-skill workers and developing theskills the water industry needs. The panel wants to create a model for the regionsto use, and continue meeting until the model is completed. This report presentstheir findings: who the partners on a skill panel are, and what role they play.PanelistsPage 5How to Train theNext Generation of WaterIndustry WorkersPage 6Regional Skill Panels:Partners & RolesK-12EDUCATIONPage 14CERTI-FICATIONPage 26WATERINDUSTRYPage 46Next StepsPage 50COMMUNITYCOLLEGESPage 21WORKFORCEINVESTMENTPage 45CAL STATEUNIVERSITYPage 494