The questions below are intended to help Oklahoma drinking water, wastewater, and water resource management and planning agencies address the needs of local and regional managers. We would very much appreciate your responses, which will help statewide agencies and organizations provide efficient, effective service to you, your customers, and your constituents. If you are involved with water sector operations in different capacities (such as both a treatment plant operator AND an elected official, or as a conservation board member AND a reservoir manager, and so on), please fill out a separate questionnaire to reflect your differing roles. Thanks in advance for your participation!

This survey will take about 8 or 9 minutes to complete – your responses are important!

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* 1. County / Counties Covered by Your Operations:
Check all that apply.

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* 2. Sector You're Involved With:
Please check all that apply.

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* 3. Type of Organization:

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* 4. Service Population:

General Questions

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* 5. In terms of staffing for the operations and activities you’re involved with, would you say your current level of staffing, compared to the minimum level needed to function effectively, is:

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* 6. What types of skills does your staff lack, but are needed for your operations and activities? Select up to three of the choices below that apply.

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* 7. What types of in-person or online training would be most useful for your staff? Please rank the choices below from 1 to 8, with #8 being the training most needed and #9 being the skills least needed. Click and hold on a selection to move it up or down with your cursor, or use the up and down arrows to move the selections up (for your top choices) or down (for the lesser choices), to indicate your preferred ranking.

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* 8. What issues are you most concerned about over the short term (i.e., the next 10 years)? Please rank the choices below from 1 to 5, with #1 being your biggest concern and #5 being your least concern. Click and hold on a selection to move it up or down with your cursor, or use the up and down arrows to move the selections up (for your top choices) or down (for the lesser choices), to indicate your preferred ranking.

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* 9. What financial issues are you most concerned about over the short term (i.e., the next 10 years)? Please rank the choices below from 1 to 4, with #1 being your biggest concern and #4 being your least concern. Click and hold on a selection to move it up or down with your cursor, or use the up and down arrows to move the selections up (for your top choices) or down (for the lesser choices), to indicate your preferred ranking.

Weather Impacts

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* 10. Have you heard or read much about increases in extreme weather events that might affect Oklahoma in coming years?

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* 11. Have extreme weather events or trends already affected any of your operations?

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* 12. What types of weather or other trends concern you the most, in terms of your operations? Please rank the choices below from 1 to 8, with #1 being your biggest concern and #8 being your least concern. Click and hold on a selection to move it up or down with your cursor, or use the up and down arrows to move the selections up (for your top choices) or down (for the lesser choices), to indicate your preferred ranking.

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* 13. How concerned are you about the possibility of extreme weather events or long-term trends affecting the technical aspects of your operations over the next 10 years?

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* 14. What about over the next 30 years?

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* 15. How concerned are you about the possibility of extreme weather events or long-term trends affecting the cost of your operations over the next 10 years?

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* 16. How about over the next 30 years?

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* 17. What do you feel might be most at risk for your operations if extreme weather events or trends increase over the next 10 years? Please rank the choices below from 1 to 8, with #1 being your biggest risk concern and #8 being your least concern. Click and hold on a selection to move it up or down with your cursor, or use the up and down arrows to move the selections up (for your top choices) or down (for the lesser choices), to indicate your preferred ranking.

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* 18. How about over the next 30 years? Click and hold on a selection to move it up or down with your cursor, or use the up and down arrows to move the selections up (for your top choices) or down (for the lesser choices), to indicate your preferred ranking.

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* 19. Please rank these other possible concerns as high/medium/low when considering the ability of your operations to provide service over the next 10 years. Click and hold on a selection to move it up or down with your cursor, or use the up and down arrows to move the selections up (for your top choices) or down (for the lesser choices), to indicate your preferred ranking.

Customer Perceptions

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* 20. Have you heard customers or constituents express concerns regarding the weather and other risks noted in the questions above?

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* 21. What do you think are the biggest concerns of your customers/constituents, regarding threats or impacts to your operations? Please rank the choices below from 1 to 10, with #1 indicating the biggest concerns of your customers/constituents, and #10 being their least concern. Click and hold on a selection to move it up or down with your cursor, or use the up and down arrows to move the selections up (for your top choices) or down (for the lesser choices), to indicate your preferred ranking.

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* 22. Given the knowledge, perceptions, and views of your customers or constituents regarding long-term weather trends, how willing do you think they would be to support measures needed to adapt and address those trends, even if it meant an increase in service rates?

Planning and Implementation

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* 23. Has your organization taken or planned any actions to deal with extreme weather events or long-term trends? Please check all that apply.

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* 24. What sorts of direct action has your organization already taken to adapt, reconfigure, or protect your infrastructure from threats posed by short/long term extreme weather impacts? Please check all that apply.

Available Assistance

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* 25. Do you feel like you have access to the data, information, research, and technical support needed to keep your operation running effectively and efficiently?

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* 26. Are you aware of any planning, training, technical, or other services available at the state or regional level that offer no-cost assistance to your facility or operations?

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* 27. Do you use any of the planning, training, data sharing, or technical services offered by the organizations listed below? Please check all that apply and indicate your level of use.

  Used Frequently Used Infrequently Not Used
Oklahoma Water Resources Board
Regional Council of Governments
County Conservation Districts
Other (please specify in comment box below)

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* 28. Do you know who to contact for the engineering, technical, administrative, data, and other services needed to run your operations?

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* 29. In the table below, please check off any services or other assistance you receive directly or indirectly from the organizations listed. Check off all boxes in the table that apply.

  OK Water Resources Board Regional Council of Governments County Conservation Districts Other (please specify in comment box below)
Engineering
Technical Support
Training
Planning
Finance/Administration
Grant Writing/Applications
Grant Management
General Management 
Monitoring
Well Log Data
Subsurface Aquifer Mapping
Resource Assessment
Resource Management
Floodplain Management
Dam Safety

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* 30. How should state and regional service organizations advertise and promote their services to drinking water, wastewater, and water resource professionals? Please rank the choices below from 1 to 6, with #1 being the best way to advertise and promote services and #6 being the least preferred way. Click and hold on a selection to move it up or down with your cursor, or use the up and down arrows to move the selections up (for your top choices) or down (for the lesser choices), to indicate your preferred ranking.

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* 31. If you ranked “Other” higher than last place for Question #30, please list your suggestions here:

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* 32. What is the best way for state and regional organizations to provide services to your operations? Please rank the choices below from 1 to 7, with #1 being the best way to provide services and #7 being the least preferred way. Click and hold on a selection to move it up or down with your cursor, or use the up and down arrows to move the selections up (for your top choices) or down (for the lesser choices), to indicate your preferred ranking.

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* 33. If you ranked “Other” higher than last place for Question #32, please list your suggestions here:

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* 34. During times of limited resources, how should state and regional service organizations allocate funding and other support to local drinking water, wastewater, and water resource operations? Please rank the choices below from 1 to 6, with #1 being the best way to support operators and #6 being the least preferred way. Click and hold on a selection to move it up or down with your cursor, or use the up and down arrows to move the selections up (for your top choices) or down (for the lesser choices), to indicate your preferred ranking.

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* 35. If you ranked “Other approach” higher than last place for Question #34, please list your suggestions here:

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* 36. What kind of support is needed the most by smaller, more rural communities? Please rank the choices below from 1 to 8, with #1 being the support most needed and #8 being the support needed the least. Click and hold on a selection to move it up or down with your cursor, or use the up and down arrows to move the selections up (for your top choices) or down (for the lesser choices), to indicate your preferred ranking.

Closing Questions

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* 37. Would you be interested in hearing more about the services offered by state or regional service organizations? Please indicate your responses by checking the box(es) in the table.

  Yes I'm Interested
Engineering
Technical Support
Training
Planning
Finance/Administration
Grant Writing/Applicatinos
Grant Management
General Management
Monitoring
Well Log Data
Subsurface Aquifer Mapping
Resource Assessment
Resource Management
Floodplain Management
Dam Safety
Other (please specify in comment box below)

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* 38. If your operations include wastewater or drinking water treatment, how comfortable are you with the following? Please indicate on a scale of 1 to 5, with #1 being very comfortable, #5 being not comfortable at all, and NA for not applicable.

  Very Comfortable (1) 2 3 4 Not Comfortable At All (5) NA
Level of comfort with current treatment levels
Condition of treatment plant and other infrastructure
Protection of infrastructure from extreme weather events
Availability of backup generators, pumps, parts/supplies, etc.
Ability to keep up with maintenance needs
Ability to meet service demands for the next 5 to 10 years
Short-term financing for maintaining operations
Long-term financing for maintaining operations
Willingness to consider joining a larger regional operation (e.g., wastewater or drinking water system)
Quantity of water supply (drinking water sources)
Quality of water supply (drinking water sources)
Use of reclaimed water to augment supplies (drinking water)

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* 39. If your operations include managing a water or other natural resource, like a reservoir, river, natural area, etc., how concerned are you about the following? Please rank your concerns on a scale of 1 to 5, with #1 being very concerned and #5 being not concerned.

  Very Concerned (1) 2 3 4 Not Concerned (5) NA
Long-term weather impacts on recreation
Long-term weather impacts on algal blooms
Long-term weather impacts on soil health
Long-term weather impacts on wildlife habitat
Long-term weather impacts on wildfire
Sufficiency of current plans to protect water supplies
Sufficiency of current plans to protect wildlife habitat

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* 40. If you manage a municipal reservoir for drinking water supply or recreation purposes, are you concerned with one or more of the following?  Please rank your concerns on a scale of 1 to 5, with #1 being very concerned and #5 being not concerned.

  Very Concerned (1) 2 3 4 Not Concerned (5) NA
Lack of real-time reservoir water level information
Sedimentation and impacts on water supply / yield
Beach closures or advisories due to low water levels
Lake turnover and related water quality issues
Beach closures or advisories due to harmful algal blooms
Source water quality and impacts on drinking water treatment
Taste and odor issues with drinking water
Impacts to the fishery

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* 41. Thank you for your responses! We will be releasing the results soon.
If you would like to receive information about the technical and other services mentioned in this survey, please add your name and email address.

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