Water District 19 (WD19) was at half-staff last January, when John Martinak took over as general manager. One of the district’s four water operators had recently left. On New Year’s Eve, the lead operator called to say that he too was resigning.

“My first day at work we were down 50%,” recalls Martinak. The district had been actively looking for replacements, he says. “They just weren’t getting any bites.”

No surprise there. Certified water operators are an endangered species. Water systems everywhere live in fear of losing them. Officials at Washington State’s Office of Drinking Water have been sounding the alarm for years. As far back as 2014, they warned that 50 percent of the state’s certified operators would be lost to retirement by 2028. We’re on track to make good on that projection.

“But water systems are slow to react,” says Ernie Klimek, who supervises the water operator Training & Apprenticeship program at Evergreen Rural Water of Washington. “They prefer to steal from each other. In the past couple of years they are realizing they are running out of operators to steal.”

Martinak managed to hire a new lead operator at WD19 fairly quickly. But when it came to the lower-level opening, says Martinak, “There was just nobody to choose from.” So he decided that the district should start developing its own talent.

“Instead of looking for people with experience, let’s just find somebody who wants to give it a shot, and we’ll train them,” says Martinak. “That’s how we hooked up with Jayce.”

Jayce is Jayce Alberthal: 20 years old, third-generation islander, and proud product of the Vashon school system. Alberthal heard about the job opening from a friend whose uncle works for WD19.

“What really caught my eye was the fact that it’s a union job with all the benefits,” he says. “I have full health care, state retirement and union retirement. For my age, to be in a union and to have all these benefits is amazing.”

His first day was March 7, 2022.

Alberthal’s new full-time job came with one additional and valuable perk. Martinak enrolled his new hire in the Evergreen apprenticeship program. Evergreen is a nonprofit based in Shelton, Washington. Its mission is “to provide the best technical assistance, training and advocacy” for the state’s water and wastewater utilities.

Evergreen launched its apprenticeship program in 2019 as a way to meet the urgent need for new operators as skilled veterans continue to retire. The program offers one- and two-year training in three different categories: Water Distribution Manager (WDM), Water Treatment Plant Operator (WTPO) and Wastewater Treatment Plant (WWTP).

As the only local water district that operates a surface water treatment plant, WD19 employs both WDMs and WTPOs. Alberthal is currently making his way through the one-year WDM program. WD19 is covering the program’s $3,024 annual cost, as well as travel expenses for the occasional in-person training sessions, such as the three-day conference Alberthal attended in Yakima last August.

Once he successfully completes 144 hours of classroom instruction, 2,000 hours of on-the-job training, and several exams, Alberthal will be a certified water distribution manager.

“Some people complain that the [Evergreen] program is too slow-paced,” says Martinak. “But I really like it because they’re taking the time to give him this big, broad-brush experience.”

Evergreen’s curriculum features classes in operator safety, operator math, basic electrical, utility operation, Safe Drinking Water Act and Clean Water Act requirements, and reviews for certification exams.

“Jayce is being exposed to a lot of stuff that most operators aren’t,” says Martinak. “So he’s going to come out of it really well-rounded and prepared.”

All Evergreen apprentices must have an assigned workplace mentor. Alberthal’s mentor is Keith Kassik, a veteran WD19 operator.

“Keith knows everything about the system,” says Martinak. “We just joined those two at the hip, and Keith showed Jayce the drill.”

The drill involved tagging along on service calls, learning how to read and replace meters, and assisting on system repairs. But in the last couple of months, “I’ve kind of been let off the leash,” Alberthal says. He’s been doing daily rounds, about a dozen different stops to check chlorine levels, record data from pump stations and confirm that everything’s working as it should.

He has also begun soloing on some customer service calls, where he might need to make a basic repair, swap out a meter, etc. The responsibility upgrade has been exciting for Alberthal and maybe even more exciting for his bosses.

“Once he gets his certification and can be here on a weekend all by himself, that’ll be huge,” says Martinak, who is pleased with both the apprentice and the program.

The shrinking pool of veterans makes it hard to find qualified operators; the island’s rising cost of living makes it hard to hire and keep them. So will apprenticeships become a mainstay of Water District 19’s staffing strategy?

“If someone leaves, I think this is going to be the new practice,” says Martinak.

If Water District 19 were to “branch out into satellite management” and start servicing smaller island water systems on a contract basis, “then we would need extra operators,” Martinak says. In that case, the apprentice approach would come in extra handy.

There are upsides for prospective apprentices too, beyond the job itself.

“To learn a trade and have [the training] all paid for?” says Martinak. “That’s a great opportunity. Even if Jayce doesn’t stay here his whole career — and realistically, what are the odds? — he’s got these marketable skills now.”

Alberthal never dreamed of being a water operator.

“I didn’t really think about how drinking water gets to the tap,” he says. “But after working here I just see it being a career path for me. I like knowing how the water gets everywhere, about all the pipes in the ground that are moving water. I don’t think people realize that if it wasn’t for us, they wouldn’t have water to their houses every day.”

Developing local talent like Alberthal won’t lower Vashon’s cost of living. But it’s a smart investment both for island water providers and for the community.

—Mary Bruno writes frequently about water issues at vashonnaturecenter.org/blog, where this article was first published.