Last week, the EPA finalized the Lead and Copper Rule Improvements, officially kicking off the 10-year timeline on replacing 100% of all lead service lines (LSL) in the US.
While this is a much-needed regulation to remove toxic lead from our drinking water, many municipalities and public utilities are struggling with exactly how to roll out such a vast and costly program — which also requires the buy-in and coordinated participation from property owners — within the given timeframe.
What makes an LSL replacement program successful?
We recently had the privilege of speaking with Cathy B. Bailey, Executive Director and 32-year veteran of the Greater Cincinnati Water Works (GCWW) of the City of Cincinnati, who shared her perspective on what has made their LSL replacement program successful:
“I'm definitely a big proponent of connecting with your community. I’m very active in the community and have really been able to get the utility active in the community. And I think that has been a big part of how we can help make our program successful is that the community sees us on a regular basis. And by that, I mean, you know, if there's an event, we raise our hand and say, ‘Hey, can we bring our water buggy to your event? Can we staff a booth at your summit? Can we volunteer at your Girls in STEM event?’”
–Cathy B. Bailey, Executive Director, GCWW
GWCC’s LSL replacement program has successfully replaced over 5,900 lead service lines since the program's introduction in 2018. While this is a great achievement, Bailey acknowledges there is still a lot of work to be done to reach 100% replacement and prioritizing intensive community outreach will be critical to meet the EPA’s deadline.
How to build buy-in? Moving at the speed of trust.
Before GCWW kicked off their LSL replacement program, Bailey and her team spent nearly a year-and-a-half building relationships throughout the communities and neighborhoods of Greater Cincinnati. She identified the need to invest in and rebuild relationships between the utility and its ratepayers if the program had any chance of succeeding. To this end, Bailey formed a Speakers Bureau — composed of 40-50 staff who showed up monthly to community meetings — to listen, be present and find ways that the utility could help solve some of the issues facing their communities.
By consistently showing up, listening, educating and delivering on commitments — or addressing the “human side,” as Bailey put it — GCWW gradually and intentionally gained community trust, which would help set the stage for the launch of their LSL replacement program.
How to engage with a diverse group of stakeholders? Get creative!
GCWW used a multi-pronged approach in their communications that facilitated clear, ongoing dialogue between municipal leaders, stakeholders and residents, with a goal of true engagement.
“It's not an ‘us versus them’ … we [the utility] are the community. We are as much a part of the community as they are. And if we are the community, we have a problem. So how will we solve the problem? And when we started looking at it from that perspective, then it was all kinds of innovative solutions that came forward.”
–Cathy B. Bailey, Executive Director, GCWW
For engaging with the public, in addition to the more traditional outreach channels such as TV/radio, door-knocking and brochures, one of the more out-of-the-box ways Bailey’s team engages with the community includes showing up at community events in a branded water buggy — cleverly named the H20PE Mobile — to be a presence and to help educate residents. Other tactics included (and are certainly not limited to):
- Developing an interactive lead map where residents could easily look up whether their property was serviced by lead-containing pipes
- Hosting Thirsty Thursdays — programming at local breweries which allowed information-sharing in a more casual setting (while supporting local businesses)
- Testing schools free of charge and publishing testing examples (with school official buy-in) offering transparency to parents (who were especially grateful)
- Weekly social media posts (over multiple years) to keep residents informed of latest updates
And to stay engaged with those who signed up to participate:
- Offering branded water pitcher kit drop-offs with information and step-by-step directions for program participation
- Creating a dedicated texting hotline to field questions and support program participants to reduce program attrition
Of course, these public engagement strategies work only with strong internal support and alignment. Bailey’s team trained multiple high-level steering committee members to be trusted ambassadors who could speak to program specifics knowledgeably to community organizations to help make conversations as successful as possible.
All these coordinated and strategic communication efforts help address concerns and reduce resistance, making it easier for the public and stakeholders to understand the who, what, when, where and how of the program.
But what about the funding?
It’s no surprise that for many communities, cost is one of the biggest challenges to making infrastructure improvements, both for the municipality and the private property owner. One of the ways Bailey addressed this challenge head-on in Cincinnati was by seeking and obtaining approval from the City for a multi-year rate increase plan. The rate increase helped get the LSL replacement program off the ground and allowed for financial assistance for private-side replacement.
GCWW’s program initially started in 2018 as a cost-sharing program with GCWW paying for 40% of the private-side replacement. But in 2021, Bailey made the case to the City that full funding must be offered in order to increase participation, which she successfully achieved. With the City’s buy-in and funds from additional grants, GCWW now offers 100% free LSL replacements to all residents.
What will it take to get to 100% replacement?
Even with the remarkable advantage of being able to offer fully funded LSL replacements, there continue to be obstacles to getting full participation from all customers. These obstacles include things like property owners living out of state, or customers just not wanting to participate at all, and now, the 10-year timeline.
To continue increasing program participation, Bailey’s team is upping their outreach game with more direct conversations with customers. They’ve also started implementing yard signs on properties that have completed the replacement to get neighbors talking to neighbors and building trust and buy-in from within the community.
Bottom line? Creating strong connections with your customers (through many different avenues), building a network of champions (at all levels, inside and outside the organization), and securing solid sources of funding are critical pieces to making LSL replacement programs successful.
