Survey Results from A Co-Produced Study Engaging Water Utility Frontline Workers

Abstract

This study engaged frontline crews at Seattle Public Utilities (SPU) to understand and inform how future frontline workforce engagement can be integrated in adaptation planning and investments including frontline crew engagement as a necessary part of a robust and equitable climate adaptation planning. Water utility crews are frontline workers because they may be directly exposed to climate impacts where they work. These frontline workers experience climate change impacts, including heavier rainfall, firsthand. This exposure has implications for climate equity. In Seattle, Washington, the City has made equity plans, community engagement plans, and climate action and adaptation plans, yet to-date none of them explicitly include frontline workers' knowledge, experiences, or exposure as critical to understanding and managing climate change. Frontline workers are not just impacted by climate-amplified hazards, but they are also implementers of climate adaptation strategies. These workers hold experience-based knowledge about the effective management of water utility systems and knowledge of current climate adaptation strategies. This study, through direct frontline worker engagement, explores how water utilities can intentionally include crews' on-the-ground perspectives in adaptation efforts and invest in increasing workers' ability to adapt as part of reciprocity for incorporating their experiential knowledge into climate adaptation planning and action. The data included herein are from a survey distributed to frontline water utility staff at the beginning of the study. The survey includes questions related to participants' perceptions of climate change impacts, anticipation of future climate impacts, changes to staff responses, and perceptions of needs that would enhance their adaptive capacity. Data are both qualitative (short answer), and quantitative (multiple choice).