Staying prepared.
As Manager of Business Continuity, Julia ensures that the District has plans for resuming normal operations and critical business functions as quickly as possible if (and when) disaster strikes.
“As water suppliers, our critical infrastructure supports life. You can live without power but you can’t live without water.”
Julia oversees almost two dozen business continuity plans for the District’s various departments and work units, which are updated and exercised regularly. In addition, Julia works with mutual aid partners, cities and counties to identify shared resources, how to work together in emergencies and determine vulnerabilities. “After a disaster, we may not be able to easily access the resources we need to operate so we need to identify alternatives and have a mitigation plan in place.”
Julia not only focuses on preparing for disasters, she also guides daily operations through changing times. “It is not all doom and gloom. We also ensure there is knowledge retention in case of retirement or employee transition. We look at cross training, documentation, and identifying which parts of our business are mission-critical to ensure water flows and wastewater is treated.”
Julia joined the District 17 years ago as a Laboratory Supervisor in the Wastewater Department. The position of Manager of Business Continuity didn’t even exist until Julia filled the role in 2006, and she has turned it into an award-winning program that is ever-evolving, maturing and continuing to improve.
“There is no template or model for what we do (after emergencies) in the water and wastewater industries. It is a very collaborative effort and everyone has to work together and support each other to make things happen.”