Home Leadership Strategic Plan 2026 STRATEGIC PLAN Mesa Water District is dedicated to satisfying our community’s water needs. Mesa Water’s strategic planning process is designed to provide clarity, direction, and focus for its water service and to ensure the agency is working toward a common goal. Mission Statement Mesa Water District, a local independent special district, manages its finances and water infrastructure, and advocates water policy, while reliably providing an abundance of clean, safe water to benefit the public’s quality of life. Vision To Be a Top Performing Water Agency Strategic Goals Provide an abundant, local, reliable and safe water supply. Perpetually renew and improve our infrastructure. Be financially responsible and transparent. Increase public awareness of Mesa Water. Attract, develop and retain skilled employees. Provide excellent customer service. Actively participate in regional and statewide water issues. Practice continual business improvement. Core Values Health and Safety of the Public and Our Staff Excellence Philosophy of Abundance Perpetual Agency Philosophy Leadership Board of Directors Departments General Manager Public Notices Strategic Plan Strategic Goals Strategic Goal #1 - Water Supply and Reliability Provide an abundant, local, reliable and safe water supply. Objective A: Continue to meet and surpass water quality standards. Update the District’s Public Health Goals as required per the California Health and Safety Code by July 2025 Objective B: Maintain and protect a high-quality water supply. Submit the District’s Cross-Connection Control Plan to the California Division of Drinking Water by July 2025 Objective C: Continue to ensure a reliable and abundant supply of water. Update the District’s Emergency Response Plan (ERP) per the American Water Infrastructure Act (AWIA) by September 2025 Develop a Scope of Work for the recommended next step from the Local groundwater Supply Improvement Project (Local SIP) feasibility study by December 2025 Objective D: Ensure emergency operations. Construct emergency backup power at the District’s Headquarters and Reservoir 1 by March 2026 Strategic Goal #2 - Water Infrastructure Perpetually renew and improve our infrastructure. Objective A: Manage water infrastructure assets to assure reliability. Create and memorialize standard operating procedures for all routine activities in the Distribution section of Water Operations by December 2025 Objective B: Efficiently manage our water system. Complete the Master Plan and adopt high priority actions by August 2025 Implement vehicle maintenance software by September 2025 Complete a study by December 2025 to evaluate supplying local groundwater to the City of Huntington Beach and the City of Newport Beach Conduct a pilot conversion from aqueous ammonia to liquid ammonium sulfate at the Mesa Water Reliability Facility by March 2026 Submit a plan to implement Mesa Water’s Mobile Work Order Functionality by June 2026 Objective C: Plan future projects based on data-driven and life-cycle cost decisions. Develop the vision for a SCADA Asset Management Program by October 2025 Evaluate the installation of an Electric Vehicle Charging Station at the Mesa Water Reliability Facility by December 2025 Objective D: Improve Mesa Water’s information technology infrastructure assets to assure reliability and security. Secure a professional services firm to develop specifications and requirements for a modern financial and accounting system by June 2026 Implement improved meter reading software and hardware by August 2025 Complete a Microsoft Office 365 optimization review by December 2025 Competitively bid IT services and present results to the Board by March 2026 Strategic Goal #3 - Financial Responsibility and Transparency Be financially responsible and transparent. Objective A: Maintain AAA financial goals and meet the appropriate designated fund level goals. Develop a standalone report for the AAA rating metrics by December 2025 Objective B: Maintain competitive rates and efficiency in per capita expenditures. Objective C: Fund the Board’s and District’s priorities. Conduct Federal Earmarks advocacy through September 2025 for Mesa Water’s priority projects — “Mainline Valves”, “MWRF Backup Power” and “Cybersecurity” and determine 2026 priorities by March 2026 Implement a robust strategy to aggressively pursue grants and low-interest loan funding for Mesa Water’s Capital Improvements and priority projects by June 2026 Objective D: Encompass Financial Responsibility and Transparency. Standardize contracts and create a procurement matrix by December 2025 Obtain the District Transparency Certificate of Excellence by June 2026 Obtain the District of Distinction Certificate by June 2026 Create and implement Standard Operating Procedures across key financial processes: Accounts Payable, Accounts Receivable, Budgeting, Cash Receipts, Financial Reporting, Payroll, Procurement, and Project Tracking by June 2026 Strategic Goal #4 - Water Awareness Increase public awareness of Mesa Water. Objective A: Enhance Mesa Water’s visibility and positive recognition. Implement Phase II of the “Detail the District” plan by June 2026 Reach all audiences, e.g., renters, by cultivating partnerships and sponsorships with trusted local organizations and geotargeted digital and direct mail marketing by June 2026 Develop a policy that outlines how the District vets and selects trusted local organizations for partnerships, sponsorships and support Objective B: Increase awareness of Mesa Water and water among key audiences. Reinstitute Community Chats hosted at the Mesa Water Education Center by November 2025 Launch monthly public tours at the Mesa Water Education Center by October 2025 Host 100 field trips and tours at the Mesa Water Education Center by June 2026 Objective C: Increase customer knowledge about water-use efficiency and water-wise resources Host two CA water-wise landscape workshops, including smart timer education, by June 2026 Strategic Goal #5 - Human Resources Attract, develop and retain skilled employees. Objective A: Attract and retain a qualified, skilled and capable workforce. Explore and evaluate a new dental insurance plan by September 2025 Complete a general salary increase survey of our benchmark agencies by June 2026 Competitively select a firm by June 2026 to conduct an Agency-Wide Classification and Compensation Study Objective B: Develop employee skills. Facilitate training for managers and supervisors by September 2025 to enhance their ability to support employee development Conduct two Elite Onboarding sessions by June 2026 Objective C: Enhance employee engagement. Administer biannual and annual employee engagement surveys by June 2026 Objective D: Provide a safe working environment. Explore and evaluate a Lifestyle Spending Account (LSA) Wellness Program by March 2026 Objective E: Improve operational processes and workflow. Update recruitment and selection Standard Operating Procedures by September 2025 Strategic Goal #6 - Customer Service Provide excellent customer service. Objective A: Provide outstanding internal and external customer service in a timely, courteous, and effective manner. Objective B: Enhance the customer experience. Implement a new Customer Information System by October 2026 Objective C: Measure success. Implement new metrics for the Elite Customer Services Standards by January 2026 Objective D: Continuous improvement and reinforcement. Strategic Goal #7 - Policy Leadership Actively participate in regional and statewide water issues. Objective A: Accomplish the Board’s Policy Priorities. Advocate through June 2026 to support appropriate Low Income Rate Assistance programs for residential customers of public water agencies in California Support through June 2026 industry associations’ sponsored state legislation in alignment with the District’s priority Policy Platforms and Policy Positions (ACWA’s SBs 394 and 454, CMUA’s SB 72, CSDA’s SB 496 and CWSA’s SB 466) Continue engaging the Buried Utilities Coalition (BUC) through June 2026 to advocate on priority air quality regulations of high impact to Mesa Water, including CARB ACF and SCAQMD PR 1110.4 Objective B: Positively influence water policy and other priority policy issues. Engage in the state of California’s Ocean Plan Amendment process through June 2026 to enable more favorable permitting conditions for water desalination projects Influence implementation of California’s water use efficiency regulation through June 2026 to provide the maximum variance for potable reuse of indoor water Advocate through June 2026 for water quality regulatory rulemaking to include a standardized cost-benefit analysis for determining economic feasibility Objective C: Optimize governmental efficiencies affecting Mesa Water. Continue improving internal efficiencies through June 2026 for Water Policy processes involving other Mesa Water departments Objective D: Facilitate Mesa Water’s impactful participation with water, government, utility and non-governmental organizations. Support through September 2025 the candidacy for re-election to ACWA’s Region 10 Board for the 2026-2027 term Support through December 2025 the candidacies for ACWA’s Board President and Vice President for the 2026-2027 term Strategic Goal #8 - Business Improvement Practice continual business improvement. Objective A: Conduct the following Annual Audits: Present to the Board by August 2025 the Gallup Employee Engagement Survey Present to the Board by October 2025 the Mesa Water Annual Financial Report (AFR) Present to the Board by October 2025 the Mesa Water District Improvement Corporation (MWDIC) AFR Present to the Board by October 2025 the District-Wide Performance Audit Present to the Board by October 2025 the Environmental, Health & Safety Audit Present to the Board by October 2025 the Customer Service Audit Present to the Board by January 2026 the Information Technology Audit (including both Operations and Cyber Security) Objective B: Each year, in a six-year rotation, one department will be the focus of an in-depth Department Assessment. Hire a qualified consultant by July 2025 to conduct the FY 2026 Engineering Department Assessment Starting in October 2025, provide a workplan and begin quarterly updates to the Board highlighting the completed Action Items from the FY 2025 Financial Services Department Assessment Conduct the FY 2026 Engineering Department Assessment by April 2026 Hire a qualified consultant by July 2026 to conduct the FY 2027 Water Operations Department Assessment Implement by August 2027 the Action Items from the FY 2025 Financial Services Department Assessment Objective C: Assure annual completion of the District’s Business Improvement Process. Include by October 2025 the Audit Report Card in the General Manager’s Annual Review with the Board of Directors View PDF
