UC Irvine

Water agencies face persistent workforce pressures related to retirements, recruitment, knowledge loss, and changing skill needs, yet the organizational capacity required to develop and adapt workforce responses remains insufficiently understood. This study examined how workforce development (WD) is structured in California water agencies and developed a preliminary framework for assessing adaptive capacity for workforce development (AC-WD). A three-phase mixed methods design was used. Phase 1 used key informant interviews to identify organizational conditions relevant to WD. Phase 2 synthesized these findings with adaptive capacity and organizational literature to develop a six-dimension AC-WD framework encompassing Resources, Social Organization, Flexibility, Agency, Learning, and Leadership. Water-sector WD practitioners reviewed a preliminary survey instrument. Phase 3 applied the framework across 13 California water agencies using survey responses from 34 participants, 11 interview accounts, agency characteristics, and voluntary turnover data available for nine agencies. Survey findings were examined descriptively, interview data were analyzed thematically, and the evidence was integrated to interpret variation across agencies and dimensions. Spearman correlations explored preliminary relationships between AC-WD and voluntary turnover. Workforce development arrangements ranged from designated teams and positions to responsibilities distributed across human resources, operations, external affairs, and other departments. Social Organization was the strongest and most consistent AC-WD dimension, reflecting the importance of internal relationships and external partnerships. Lower ratings and greater variation appeared in Flexibility and Learning, particularly in agencies’ ability to adjust programs, evaluate results, document knowledge, and apply learning. Survey and interview findings indicated that the six dimensions functioned interdependently rather than as separate organizational assets. WD action depended on whether relationships, learning, agency, resources, flexibility, and leadership support could be assembled around a workforce need. Recurring mobilization pathways included establishing legitimacy and visible sponsorship, translating workforce concerns into decision-ready proposals, assembling relevant stakeholders, identifying feasible entry points, converting support into operational capacity, and building shared ownership and direction. Correlations with voluntary turnover were not statistically significant, although Leadership showed the largest negative estimated relationship. The findings provide a preliminary framework for examining how agencies organize, mobilize, adapt, and sustain WD beyond identifying workforce shortages alone.