Wastewater Management
Municipalities: Effective management for a growing industry
Although any organization can develop and improve its system of controls, the San Jacinto River Authority is able to manage and develop its resources and people in a way that allows it to distribute clean water and manage employees in a way that makes them want to come to work every day. As one of the 10 major river authorities in Texas, our mission is to develop, conserve, and protect the water resources of the San Jacinto River.
Within any organization you are going to have flaws. One of the most mind-boggling of the dysfunctional control systems is the antiquity of procedures in this organization. There are so many rules, regulations, and standards that we have to follow to avoid fines by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and Texas Conservation Environmental Quality (TCEQ), that certain procedures were put in place so long ago to evade these fines. This might have worked at one time for them, but with new technology and more educated staff the procedures can easily be changed to create more efficiency and productivity. Another damaging dysfunctional control system would be the mass amounts of red tape one must go through in order to receive approval for any project big or small. As we all know, most large projects must go through all the hoops to ensure pricing, availability, capability, and approval, but at what cost. I know some projects I work on do not even get to the end of the line for approval until almost two months later. This makes it very difficult to ensure that something is done within the fiscal year and done correctly. I do not think this process ensures that no mistakes are made; there are routing processes that ensure that. This process just deters contractors from working with us due to mass amounts of extra paperwork and less productivity with project managers.
We are trained and taught to document for everything. We are often called on by our superiors for details on
Although any organization can develop and improve its system of controls, the San Jacinto River Authority is able to manage and develop its resources and people in a way that allows it to distribute clean water and manage employees in a way that makes them want to come to work every day. As one of the 10 major river authorities in Texas, our mission is to develop, conserve, and protect the water resources of the San Jacinto River.
Within any organization you are going to have flaws. One of the most mind-boggling of the dysfunctional control systems is the antiquity of procedures in this organization. There are so many rules, regulations, and standards that we have to follow to avoid fines by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and Texas Conservation Environmental Quality (TCEQ), that certain procedures were put in place so long ago to evade these fines. This might have worked at one time for them, but with new technology and more educated staff the procedures can easily be changed to create more efficiency and productivity. Another damaging dysfunctional control system would be the mass amounts of red tape one must go through in order to receive approval for any project big or small. As we all know, most large projects must go through all the hoops to ensure pricing, availability, capability, and approval, but at what cost. I know some projects I work on do not even get to the end of the line for approval until almost two months later. This makes it very difficult to ensure that something is done within the fiscal year and done correctly. I do not think this process ensures that no mistakes are made; there are routing processes that ensure that. This process just deters contractors from working with us due to mass amounts of extra paperwork and less productivity with project managers.
We are trained and taught to document for everything. We are often called on by our superiors for details on
References: Jones, G. R., & George, J. M. (2007). Essentials of contemporary management (2nd ed.). Boston: McGraw-Hill. Sunshine Coast Daily. Maroochydore, Qld.: Sep. 14, 2010. Pg. 20. Retrieved November 21, 2010 from: http://proquest.umi.com/pqdweb?did=2136410191&sid=5& Fmt=3&clientId=74379&RQT=309&VName=PQD