.floatimg-left-hort { float:left; } .floatimg-left-caption-hort { float:left; margin-bottom:10px; width:300px; margin-right:10px; clear:left;} .floatimg-left-vert { float:left; margin-top:10px; margin-right:15px; width:200px;} .floatimg-left-caption-vert { float:left; margin-right:10px; margin-bottom:10px; font-size: 12px; width:200px;} .floatimg-right-hort { float:right; margin-top:10px; margin-left:10px; margin-bottom:10px; width: 300px;} .floatimg-right-caption-hort { float:left; margin-right:10px; margin-bottom:10px; width: 300px; font-size: 12px; } .floatimg-right-vert { float:right; margin-top:10px; margin-left:10px; margin-bottom:10px; width: 200px;} .floatimg-right-caption-vert { float:left; margin-right:10px; margin-bottom:10px; width: 200px; font-size: 12px; } .floatimgright-sidebar { float:right; margin-top:10px; margin-left:10px; margin-bottom:10px; width: 200px; border-top-style: double; border-top-color: black; border-bottom-style: double; border-bottom-color: black;} .floatimgright-sidebar p { line-height: 115%; text-indent: 10px; } .floatimgright-sidebar h4 { font-variant:small-caps; } .pullquote { float:right; margin-top:10px; margin-left:10px; margin-bottom:10px; width: 150px; background: url(http://www.dmbusinessdaily.com/DAILY/editorial/extras/closequote.gif) no-repeat bottom right !important ; line-height: 150%; font-size: 125%; border-top: 1px solid; border-bottom: 1px solid;} .floatvidleft { float:left; margin-bottom:10px; width:325px; margin-right:10px; clear:left;} .floatvidright { float:right; margin-bottom:10px; width:325px; margin-right:10px; clear:left;}
Jerry Stevens is the man who makes certain you can quench your thirst, water the plants or build a data center, if you’re of a mind to.

As the recently elected president of the American Water Works Association (AWWA), he would like to lead you to water as an occupation.

Stevens is general manager of the West Des Moines Water Works. He’s the guy who pulled some impressive water delivery numbers out of the department’s computer models to help convince Microsoft Corp. that it should build a data center in the city.

He also holds the distinction of being just the second Iowan since 1954 to head the AWWA, an international association of water professionals who are committed to delivering quality drinking water to your tap, whether you’re in West Des Moines or India.

Stevens, a civil engineer, came to West Des Moines in 2004 after working for 30 years in the municipal water department in Waterloo, his hometown.

In West Des Moines, he faces the challenge of delivering water to a legitimate boomtown, with a population that is expected to exceed 80,000 by 2025.

It is a city that has been living the good life so far as economic development is concerned, and that point was driven home when Microsoft announced last year that it would build a data center near the Raccoon River. Those plans have been put on hold for now, but Stevens said the city is prepared to run 16-inch lines to deliver water to quench the center’s seemingly massive thirst for water to cool its hyperactive servers, needing about 2,000 gallons a minute that would be recycled eight times.

That water comes from 22 wells and is processed at the city’s water treatment plant on Railroad Avenue. It feeds 2,000 fire hydrants, courses through six pumping stations and is held in four reservoirs and five towers.

And in time, it will travel through four counties, as West Des Moines proceeds with annexation plans that will take it into Madison County, which will join Dallas, Polk and Warren as counties touched by the city.

Rural water systems eventually will be replaced by the city’s water system in those annexed areas.

“We have to do a lot of planning so that we stay ahead of the curve, so that our facilities are sufficient to meet the needs of growth,” Stevens said.

Along with planning for future growth of the city, Stevens also faces another challenge in seeing to it that the water delivery industry is attractive to job seekers.

It was one of his key messages while running for election as AWWA president, a post he will assume next year. He already has served the organization as a vice president, and he has held leadership positions in state water organizations, too.

“This industry is a very stable industry,” he said. “Obviously, people are always going to need water. The water industry is a very stable career to choose and very satisfying because you are affecting people’s health with the quality of work that you do.”

A report from the nonprofit Water Resource Foundation says the industry faces a crisis in employment, with nearly 50 percent of its current managers, field workers and engineers expected to retire in the next 10 years.

“Baby Boomer retirements, shifting demographics and a declining number of students receiving science, engineering and technical degrees are just a few of the factors causing the workforce crisis,” according to the study.

Stevens said the need isn’t just for engineers. He noted that water utilities need information technology professionals, accountants, geologists, chemists, manufacturers of a variety of components, certified operators and customer service representatives.

“We need to make sure that we can attract young professionals,” he said.

Stevens noted that the one thing a water utility professional cannot deliver is hot water, a question that frequently comes to customer service representatives.

The last Iowan to serve as AWWA president was Dale Maffitt, for whom Maffitt Reservoir, which holds the city of Des Moines’ emergency water supply, is named.