Five Key Takeaways from California’s New Water Workforce Research Report

Tiffany Baca, Education & Workforce Development Manager, MWDOC
Executive Director, WEEA

What does California’s water workforce need most right now?

That question brought together water agencies, educators, community organizations, workforce partners, faculty, and students through a statewide collaboration between Water UCI and the Water Energy Education Alliance (WEEA). The result was CA Water Workforce Development: Insights from Two Statewide Workshops, a new research report built through live discussion, polling, and field-informed research.

As workforce challenges and impending retirements continue to affect utilities across the state, the sessions helped surface barriers, partnerships, and approaches already moving the work forward. Participants described workforce development not as a single hiring issue, but as a broader operational challenge tied to long-term workforce resilience and service continuity. Reflecting on the findings, here are five key takeaways from the report:

1. Awareness Alone Is Not Enough.

Participants across the state emphasized that many students, career changers, and even educators still have limited awareness of water careers and the pathways into them. At the same time, agencies reported high interest in entry-level opportunities once those careers become visible. The challenge is not only to increase exposure but also to help people move into coordinated pathways that include training, mentorship, hands-on experience, and clearer entry points into the field.

2. Hands-On Experience Is Still One of the Biggest Barriers.

One theme surfaced consistently throughout the discussions: beginners often struggle to access the real-world experience agencies want applicants to have. Participants emphasized the importance of paid internships, work-based learning, tours, mentorships, and applied learning opportunities that help students and early-career candidates build confidence and practical skills before entering the workforce. Expanding early hands-on experiences emerged as a key opportunity to strengthen workforce readiness and familiarity with the sector.

3. Workforce Development Works Best as a Connected System.

The report reinforced that workforce development does not happen in isolation. Education partners, utilities, community organizations, human resource teams, and operations staff all play different roles in preparing future workers. Participants emphasized that stronger coordination across these systems can reduce confusion, strengthen hiring pipelines, and help organizations make better use of limited workforce resources.

4. Students Can Play a Meaningful Role in Workforce Research.

This project created opportunities for students to participate directly in workforce research and engagement. Under the guidance of WEEA industry professionals and Water UCI faculty and researchers, students developed and initiated polling, synthesized findings, and interacted with professionals across the sector. This work enabled students to contribute to conversations that shape and support workforce systems. With more than 30 UC and CSU campuses across California, there is a significant opportunity to expand workforce research partnerships statewide.

5. Collaboration Creates Better Questions and Better Solutions.

The sessions highlighted the value of creating space for cross-sector collaboration. Throughout the workshops, participants shared ideas, resources, partnership models, and practical strategies already being tested across regions. WEEA partners helped inform the direction of the research while Water UCI provided research leadership and analysis support, creating a stronger feedback loop between industry, education, and workforce development efforts statewide.

This report represents the beginning of a larger body of work examining how California can strengthen workforce pathways across the water sector.

The full report is available under Reports & Studies at https://mwdoc.com/weea.

Administered and led by the Municipal Water District of Orange County (MWDOC), WEEA unites over 300 water, energy, and education leaders across the state to create real career pathways into essential infrastructure sectors, helping students move from classroom learning to high-quality, mission-driven careers that sustain California’s future.