Water and Wastewater Contract Operations in Nebraska | An Alternative to the Municipal Staffing Crunch
Municipal water and wastewater systems do not stop operating when an employee retires.
They do not pause because a city has been unable to fill an open position. Pumps still run. Water still needs to be treated. Wastewater continues arriving at the treatment facility. Samples must be collected. Equipment needs maintenance. Records must be maintained. Problems still need to be addressed.
For Nebraska municipalities, particularly smaller communities operating with limited utility staff, maintaining qualified personnel and adequate operational depth can become a significant long-term challenge.
A community may have relied on the same experienced operator for decades. Another may have employees approaching retirement without an obvious successor. Some municipalities may successfully hire new employees but need years to develop the experience and certification required for greater operational responsibility.
These are not simply hiring problems, they are continuity problems.
Contract water and wastewater operations give Nebraska municipalities another option. Rather than making the future of the utility dependent entirely on recruiting and retaining individual employees, a municipality can partner with an experienced professional operations provider.
Alliance Water Resources works with municipalities to provide water treatment, wastewater treatment, distribution, collection, maintenance and related operational services based on the needs of individual communities.
For Nebraska municipal leaders considering the long-term future of their utility, contract operations can be part of a broader strategy for building reliable and sustainable operations.
Nebraska Water and Wastewater Operations Require Qualified People
Municipal utility operation is specialized work.
Treatment facilities include equipment, processes and regulatory responsibilities that require trained professionals.
On the wastewater side, the Nebraska Department of Environment and Energy administers the state’s Wastewater Treatment Operator Certification Program. Municipal and other applicable facilities are required to employ certified operators according to facility classifications established by NDEE.
Those classifications consider factors such as treatment processes, design flow, instrumentation and laboratory requirements.
Operators are classified according to the facilities they are qualified to operate.
For municipal leaders, this means replacing a departing wastewater operator may require much more than filling a general public works position.
The community needs qualified personnel capable of taking responsibility for the specific system.
Certified Operators Cannot Be Developed Overnight
Building an experienced operator takes time.
Nebraska’s wastewater operator certification process includes education and work experience requirements along with examinations. Operators seeking certification or advancement must demonstrate that they meet applicable requirements.
That creates a challenge for succession planning.
A municipality may have a capable employee who would eventually make an excellent operator.
But eventually is different from today.
If the current certified operator plans to retire in six months and the potential successor still needs experience, training or certification, municipal leaders need a plan for the transition.
Waiting until retirement occurs can severely limit the available options.
Retirement Can Remove Decades of Institutional Knowledge
Certification is only one part of what an experienced municipal operator brings to a utility.
Longtime employees often carry extensive knowledge about the individual system.
They know which pumps have caused trouble and which valves are difficult to operate.
They remember where water mains have repeatedly broken and which sewer lines experience root problems.
Often times they understand how treatment conditions change throughout the year and what maintenance tasks need attention before winter.
They remember previous inspection findings and even why particular operational decisions were made.
Much of this knowledge may never have been formally documented.
When that employee retires, the municipality can lose decades of operational experience along with the individual.
That makes succession planning an information-management issue as much as a staffing issue.
Contract Operations Can Create Organizational Depth
A small municipal utility may operate successfully with a small team.
The vulnerability appears when circumstances change.
What happens when the primary operator is sick or on vacation?
What happens when someone resigns unexpectedly?
Who handles an unfamiliar treatment problem?
Who maintains the system if multiple employees leave within a short period?
Which employees possess the appropriate certification?
These questions reveal the difference between having enough people for normal operations and having organizational depth.
Contract operations can give municipalities access to a broader operational organization rather than depending entirely on one or two individuals.
That organizational depth can become especially valuable during staffing transitions and unusual operational challenges.
What Are Contract Water and Wastewater Operations?
Contract operations allow a municipality to establish an agreement with a professional operations provider for defined utility responsibilities.
The municipality continues to own its infrastructure.
The agreement establishes what the operations provider will manage and what responsibilities remain with the municipality.
Terms and responsibilities can vary considerably.
One Nebraska municipality may need assistance with treatment operations.
Another may need treatment plus preventive maintenance.
Another may need broader operational responsibility involving treatment, distribution or collection systems.
The objective is not to force every community into the same model but to determine what operating structure best fits the system.
Contract Water Operations Can Extend Beyond the Treatment Plant
Reliable drinking water operations involve more than treatment.
Depending on the system and operating agreement, professional support may involve treatment processes, chemical management, monitoring, equipment operation, maintenance and other daily responsibilities.
But municipal leaders should also consider what happens after treated water leaves the facility.
Distribution systems contain mains, valves, pumps, storage facilities and other infrastructure that require ongoing attention.
Repeated leaks, equipment problems or pressure issues may reveal infrastructure that deserves further evaluation.
Accurate system documentation can also become critical during emergencies.
Operators should know where infrastructure is located and understand its maintenance history.
GIS and organized system records can help preserve this information even as employees change.
Contract Wastewater Operations Can Include the Collection System
The wastewater treatment plant is only one part of a municipal wastewater system.
Wastewater must first travel through sewer mains, manholes, lift stations and other collection infrastructure.
These systems require maintenance too.
Alliance Water Resources can support collection system activities that may include:
- Sewer main cleaning
- Sewer jetting
- Camera inspection
- Manhole maintenance
- Preventive collection system maintenance
- Infrastructure documentation
- Investigation of recurring collection problems
This allows municipalities to look at wastewater operations as a complete system rather than separating treatment from the infrastructure delivering wastewater to the facility.
Preventive Maintenance Protects Operational Continuity
Staffing shortages frequently affect maintenance before they affect anything else.
Daily operational responsibilities have to be completed.
Emergencies have to be addressed.
Required monitoring cannot simply be ignored.
Preventive maintenance can therefore be pushed aside when employees run out of time.
That can create a dangerous cycle.
Maintenance is postponed because employees are responding to emergencies.
Deferred maintenance contributes to additional equipment problems.
Those problems create more emergencies.
Employees then have even less time for preventive work.
Contract operations can help establish a more structured maintenance program.
The goal is not to eliminate every equipment failure.
The goal is to identify more problems before failure and create better information about the condition of municipal assets.
Documentation Should Belong to the Utility
A municipality should not lose critical system knowledge every time an employee leaves.
Important operational information should be documented.
That can include:
- Treatment procedures
- Maintenance schedules
- Equipment history
- Infrastructure locations
- Sampling responsibilities
- Regulatory deadlines
- Emergency procedures
- Recurring water and sewer problems
- Vendor and technical contacts
- Inspection findings
- Chemical information
- Capital improvement needs
The stronger the documentation, the easier it becomes for another qualified operator to understand the system.
This is particularly important during retirement transitions.
An experienced operator should have the opportunity to transfer knowledge before leaving, not after the municipality discovers that important information was never written down.
Contract Operations Can Support the Next Generation of Operators
Contract operations and employee development do not necessarily have to be competing strategies.
A municipality may want to retain local employees and help them develop professionally while bringing in outside operational expertise.
Depending on the circumstances and applicable regulatory requirements, an experienced operations organization may provide a structure in which local personnel continue working within the utility while gaining experience and training.
This can be particularly useful for communities that have promising employees but lack enough internal depth to support the entire operation independently.
The goal should be building a sustainable utility workforce.
Compliance and Staffing Are Closely Connected
Municipal leaders may think of staffing and regulatory compliance as separate concerns.
Operationally, they are closely connected.
The same people operating treatment equipment may also be responsible for monitoring, sampling, maintenance, documentation and other regulatory responsibilities.
When staffing becomes inadequate, something eventually receives less attention.
A utility with strong operational capacity is better positioned to maintain consistent records, complete required activities and respond to problems before they become larger concerns.
That is why an operator vacancy should be viewed as more than an HR problem.
It can affect the entire utility.
When Should a Nebraska Municipality Consider Contract Operations?
Contract operations do not have to begin with a crisis.
Municipal leaders should consider evaluating their options when:
- A longtime operator is approaching retirement
- A certified operator resigns unexpectedly
- Recruiting qualified applicants is difficult
- The utility depends heavily on one employee
- There is inadequate backup coverage
- Preventive maintenance is falling behind
- Equipment failures are increasing
- Water or sewer emergencies are becoming frequent
- Infrastructure documentation is incomplete
- The system needs additional technical expertise
- Employees are carrying too many responsibilities
- The municipality is preparing for facility improvements or expansion
- Leadership wants to evaluate the sustainability of the current operating model
None of these automatically mean contract operations are the correct solution.
They are reasons to evaluate the options before circumstances make the decision more urgent.
What Should Municipal Leaders Ask a Contract Operations Provider?
Municipal leaders should understand exactly what a proposed partnership includes.
Ask:
What certifications and operational experience does the provider offer?
Who will have responsibility for our system and how is backup coverage provided?
What happens during an emergency?
What preventive maintenance responsibilities are included?
Can the provider support both treatment and collection or distribution systems?
How will activity be documented and municipal leadership receive operational updates?
How will existing employees fit into the structure and how will institutional knowledge be captured?
What additional technical resources are available?
What happens during the transition?
A contract operations proposal should be evaluated as an operating structure, not simply as a replacement salary.
Alliance Water Resources’ Four C’s
Municipal leaders do not have to know exactly what type of operating agreement they need before contacting Alliance Water Resources.
The process starts with understanding the situation.
Contact Alliance
Begin the conversation.
Maybe an operator has announced retirement or recruiting has been unsuccessful.
Maybe preventive maintenance is falling behind.
Perhaps leadership simply wants to evaluate whether the current operating structure is sustainable.
Collect Information
Alliance reviews the facilities, infrastructure, staffing, certification needs, maintenance responsibilities and current operational challenges.
Consider Your Options
Municipal leaders can evaluate potential approaches and determine what makes sense for their community.
The solution may involve targeted assistance or broader contract operations.
Contract: Partner
If contract operations provide the right fit, Alliance and the municipality establish the scope and begin building the partnership.
Build the Utility Around the Community, Not One Employee
A great operator can be one of a municipality’s most valuable employees.
That person should not also be the single point of failure for an essential public service.
Municipal leaders should know what happens when experienced employees retire, resign or become unavailable.
They should also understand who provides backup.
They should know where operational knowledge is documented.
Additionally, they should know whether preventive maintenance can continue during staffing changes.
And they should understand their options before a vacancy becomes an emergency.
For some Nebraska communities, the best answer will continue to be an internally staffed utility.
For others, contract operations may provide the organizational depth, expertise and continuity needed to build a more sustainable operating model.
Alliance Water Resources works with municipalities to provide professional water and wastewater operations based on the needs of individual communities.
If your Nebraska municipality is preparing for operator retirement, struggling to recruit qualified personnel, falling behind on maintenance or simply evaluating the future of its water or wastewater operations, contact Alliance Water Resources.
Start the conversation while you still have time to consider your options.
Frequently Asked Questions
Does Nebraska require certified wastewater operators?
Applicable Nebraska municipal, commercial and industrial wastewater treatment facilities are required to employ certified operators based on facility classifications established by the Nebraska Department of Environment and Energy.
How are Nebraska wastewater facilities classified?
NDEE uses factors including design flow, type of treatment, instrumentation and control systems, and laboratory analysis requirements to determine facility point ratings and appropriate operator classifications.
How many certified wastewater operators are there in Nebraska?
NDEE reported 1,011 certified wastewater operators statewide for FY2025. That statewide number includes operators serving different facility types and classifications and does not mean every operator is available for municipal employment.
Can a Nebraska municipality use a contract operator?
Nebraska regulatory documentation recognizes contractor information for facilities requiring certified operators. The specific operator qualifications and requirements depend on the facility and applicable regulations. Municipalities should confirm requirements with NDEE for their individual systems.
When should a Nebraska municipality begin planning for operator retirement?
Ideally, succession planning should begin well before the operator’s final year. Early planning creates time to document institutional knowledge, evaluate internal employees, understand certification requirements, recruit candidates and compare professional contract operations.