By Kris Polly

In our cover story this month, we interview Angela Charles, a veteran of the Charlotte, North Carolina, water utility business who now serves as the director of Charlotte Water. We discuss the regional utility’s extensive infrastructure, ambitious capital projects and rehabilitation work, outreach programs, and technology adoption.

Then, 1 year after the devastating Palisades Fire in Los Angeles, we speak with Joe Ramallo, the chief customer officer for the Los Angeles Department of Water and Power. Digging into the agency’s response to the Palisades Fire and to another water disruption that occurred last year, we discuss crisis operations and the importance of clear, concise, and consistent communications.

After that, we turn to another facet of crisis response. Wildfire Water Solutions (WWS) provides mobile water systems to help communities rapidly deploy multiple layers of protection against encroaching wildfires. Its pumps and hoses can also be deployed for other innovative crisis response projects, such as temporarily repressurizing and supplying parts of a water system while broader problems are being addressed. CEO Mike Echols tells us more about how WWS is working to fight back against catastrophic fires.

Quench Buggy provides mobile water stations for festivals and events along with full onsite service. By bringing clean municipal water to eventgoers, Founder and President Darryl Hindle tells us, the company keeps people hydrated and reduces plastic waste.

Operators Without Borders is a Canada-based volunteer organization that sends teams to crisis-hit locations in developing countries to restore water service and also provides free capacity-building services to utilities in those countries. Founder and Chair Valerie Jenkinson tells us more about the mission and activities of this admirable organization.

Finally, Alex Shannon and Jennifer Brunton of consulting company WSP take a look at the promise and pitfalls of AI adoption for water agencies, highlighting the potential use cases of the technology and recommending that utilities seek out expert advice about how best to apply it to their particular operations.

Successfully running a water utility requires skilled personnel and careful preparation. In our stories this month, we see how the conscientious professionals of this industry work to preserve, improve, and expand infrastructure; prepare procedures and tools for emergency situations; and judiciously adopt new technologies. It’s our pleasure to highlight this excellent work, which—outside extreme circumstances—most customers are entirely unaware of.

Kris Polly is the editor-in-chief of Municipal Water Leader magazine and the president and CEO of Water Strategies LLC, a government relations firm he began in February 2009 for the purpose of representing and guiding water, power, and agricultural entities in their dealings with Congress, the Bureau of Reclamation, and other federal government agencies. He can be contacted at kris.polly@waterstrategies.com.