Weekly Wave: CAP Keeps Water Flowing and Employees Safe During COVID-19

Last Friday, Ted Cooke, General Manager at the Central Arizona Project (CAP), presented “How Arizona’s Largest Water Utility Responded to the Coronavirus Pandemic,” a talk highlighting the measures CAP took to keep delivering water while ensuring the safety of its nearly 500 employees. After providing some background context, Cooke presented a timeline that detailed developments in the COVID-19 pandemic and CAP’s responses, connecting human and operational considerations. By mid-March as the spread of the virus became evident, CAP took early action by canceling or converting their meetings into virtual events. Administrative, technical, and professional staff were asked to work remotely to cut down employee numbers within CAP facilities. Field employees who had to perform essential work were required to socially distance and respect health guidelines. Since the onset of the pandemic, CAP has only experienced 14 cases of the infection. Cooke added that because of rapidly changing information from CDC and local health departments, CAP monitored sources of critical information daily to ensure employee safety. CAP employees may return to pre-COVID schedules by January 3, but this decision might change depending on the state infection rates in the upcoming weeks.