ITEM:		CONSENT CALENDAR
2.	CONSIDER APPROVAL OF REORGANIZATION CHANGES TO THE DISTRICT’S ORGANIZATION CHART AND ADDITION OF HYDROLOGY TECHNICIAN POSITION
Meeting Date:			September 19, 2016	Budgeted:	FY 2016-2017 Operating Budget
From:			David J. Stoldt,	Program/	N/A
			General Manager	Line Item No.:
Prepared By:			Cynthia Schmidlin	Cost Estimate:	$49,000
General Counsel Approval: N/A
Committee Recommendation: The Administrative Committee reviewed this item on September 12^,2016 and recommended approval.
CEQA Compliance: N/A

SUMMARY: As a result of changes to the work performed by the District over the past several years, the General Manager has been consulting with the Division Managers and senior staff on plans for reorganizing the Water Resources and Planning and Engineering Divisions. Also, the Geographic Information Systems (GIS) Specialist has resigned and staff is preparing to conduct a search for his replacement. At this juncture, the reporting structure for that position, within the Administrative Services Division, has been re-examined.

The vacant Water Resources Manager position would not be filled at the present time, as various supervisory options are explored. The two divisions would be combined into a Water Resources and Engineering Division, with the exception of the three-person Fisheries Group, which would report to the General Manager for the time being.

The Planning and Engineering Manager/District Engineer, retitled Water Resources and Engineering Manager, would retain direct supervision for the Water Resources Engineer position, as well as two first-line supervisors. The Senior Hydrogeologist would assume direct supervisory duties for the Associate Hydrologist and Hydrography Programs Coordinator positions. The Riparian Projects Coordinator would assume direct supervisory duties for the River Maintenance Specialist and River Maintenance Worker positions.

It is proposed that a new Hydrology Technician position (Exhibit 2-A) be created to assist the Senior Hydrogeologist, Hydrography Programs Coordinator, and Associate Hydrologist. The new position would perform routine technical duties, so that incumbents of the professional classifications could concentrate on their higher level responsibilities.

The amount of work needed in the area of hydrology has increased significantly over the past few years. In 2010 the District operated two Aquifer Storage Recovery wells. That number has doubled. The number of private wells the District monitors for production has increased from 650 in 2009, to over 1000 today. A large percentage of the District’s 20 stream gages, monitoring surface water flow, were installed in the l980’s and 90’s. The older gages need to be replaced, while monitoring activities continue. The new position would be a stand-alone technical classification, not part of the professional Hydrology series. It would be placed in Range 23, on the District Salary Schedule. This is the same level as the Fisheries Technician class, which requires a similar level of education and experience in its subject area.

The GIS Specialist currently reports to the Information Technology Manager (IT) position, who then reports to the Chief Financial Officer (CFO). However, GIS is not, specifically, an IT function. GIS is a general support service, available to all staff. Direct reporting to the CFO would allow more proactive management of the GIS function by the Administrative Services Division Manager. This would be the only adjustment to the GIS Specialist job description. Placement of the position on the District Salary Chart would not change.

The proposed District Organization Chart would reflect the changes described in the preceding paragraphs. It is also proposed that the organization chart no longer show approved positions that are unfunded or will not be filled in the near future.

Unfunded positions have been approved by the Board, but are not being used at the current time. Removing them from the Organization Chart would not eliminate them. It would, rather, give a more accurate visual presentation of the current operational structure. To that end, the unfunded Community Relations Liaison, Project Manager, and Conservation Technician I/II positions, currently shown on the District Organization Chart as “unfunded,” would be removed from the chart, while retained as potential District positions in the future.

As there are no immediate plans to fill the vacant Water Resources Manager position, it would be retained as an approved District position, but removed from the Organization Chart. This change would be made in order to show the Fisheries Group reporting directly to the General Manager, at the present time.

RECOMMENDATION: Authorize a change from the current District Organization Chart (Exhibit 2-B) to reflect the reorganization changes described above. (Exhibit 2-C).

IMPACTS TO STAFF/RESOURCES: The cost of a Hydrology Technician position for eight months during the remainder of this fiscal year would be approximately $49,000. It would be funded from this year’s current Operating Budget. The annualized cost would be approximately $74,000.

EXHIBITS

2-A Hydrology Technician Job Description

2-B Current Organization Chart

2-C Proposed Organization Chart

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