Water Resources Careers Outlook

For NWF certified Ecoleaders who are considering careers that foster a healthy environment, water careers are a smart choice. Water is essential for all life and a precious resource that needs to be knowledgeably managed for quality and quantity world-wide.

The financial and public health stakes of water conservation and quality are enormous. The U.S. is the world’s largest water market, spending $160 billion each year¹ and at least thirty-six US states are facing water shortages.² Globally, a rapid escalation of new skills and jobs will be needed to protect half the world’s GDP, grain production and population that would otherwise be at risk due to water stress by 2050.³
 

Sizing Water Jobs in the Clean Economy:

Water resource related jobs exist in every U.S. sector, including agriculture (which use 70% of the nation’s water), industry and the residential sector.⁴ Most of the jobs are hidden across these sectors and difficult to accurately count.⁵

Nevertheless, recent website listings (as of August 2017) show numerous available water resource related positions available all across the US. Indeed Jobs has 107,000+ job openings in water, Monster Jobs report 1000+, and LinkedIn Jobs has 114,000+.⁶

In his report, “Careers in Water Conservation,” James Hamilton identifies five primary water career categories. These are:⁷

1. Engineering occupations, such as agricultural engineers, civil engineers, environmental engineers, industrial engineers, and mining and geological engineers.
2. Planning and outreach occupations include: urban and regional planners, operations research analysts, landscape architects and public relations specialists.
3. Construction occupations such as construction managers, laborers, equipment operators, pipelayers, plumbers, pipefitters, and steamfitters, septic tank servicers and sewer pipe cleaners.
4. Agriculture and grounds maintenance positions include: farmers, ranchers, agriculture equipment operators, farm and nursery workers, landscaping and grounds keeping workers.
5. Water operations occupations include: water and wastewater treatment plant and system operators, and pump operators.

Here are some additional water resource positions currently being listed on various job websites:⁸
If you are interested in this sector, our friends at Earth Echo International have a great, interactive multimedia site called STEMexplore to investigate water engineering career paths and many more that you should certainly check out.

Salaries for Sustainable Water Jobs:

Salaries for jobs in water are highly variable and based on location and job function. However, the U.S. median salary is about $35,000 across all types of water resource related positions and sectors, the median pay range for Microbiologists, Conservation Scientists, Chemists, Environmental Scientists, and Hydrologists is $61,100 to $75,530 and $74,000-$84,320 for Engineering Specialist. Water Transportation workers earn a median annual income of $54,870, and water and wastewater treatment workers earn $47,930.⁹

Required Education and Certifications:

Required education could vary based on the position. Most entry level positions will likely require a high school diploma and some skill training. The best-paid jobs require an associate, bachelor or other professional degree.

Examples of Certification Programs in Water Resources:¹⁰

• Colorado State University OnlinePlus | Water Resources 
• Vermont Law School | Water Resources Law
• Columbia University | Certification of Professional Achievement in Sustainable Water Management
• University of Florida |  Water Conservation, Training, Research and Education for Environmental Occupations (TREEO)
• United States Environmental Protection Agency | Watershed Management Training Certificate    
• Center for Watershed Protection | Clean Water Certificate Training Program
• Michigan State University | Watershed Management Online Certification Program
• American Water Works Association | Water Use Efficiency
• American Water Works Association | Water Distribution Operator 
• American Water Works Association | Water Quality Laboratory Analyst
• American Water Works Association | Water Treatment Operator 

Examples of Academic Programs in Water Resources:¹⁰

• Gateway Community College | Associate in Applied Science Degree in Water Resource Technology  
• Mahidol University with Thailand International Cooperation Agency (TICA) and Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Thailand | International Training Course on Sustainable Water Resources Management
• Stanford University |  Summer Program for Environmental and Water Studies 
• University of Nebraska-Lincoln | Environmental Engineering Water Supply, Wastewater Treatment (graduate degree programs)
• University of Massachusetts-Amherst | Fish Passage Engineering, Civil and Environmental Engineering, Environmental and Water Resources Engineering Research 
• University of Texas at Austin | Civil Engineering with an emphasis on Water Resources (M.S. and Ph.D.)
• University of Wyoming | Entomology and Water Resources (M.A. or M.S.)

 

Sustainable Water Project Examples from the NWF Sustainability Database:

​Sustainable Water EcoTopic Page - Start here to find lots of resources for you to start and share your own Campus or Community Water EcoProject in the EcoLeaders community! Or find inspiration from the following projects that other EcoLeaders have done:

• Northhampton Community College – Pennsylvania uses biofiltration to clean the runoff from parking lots, resulting in a potable filtrate that can be used to water the on-campus community garden.
• Penn State University – Pennsylvania where NWF awarded a fellowship to a team of student who developed demonstration “living machines” that use plants and natural organisms to naturally treat water.
• Point Loma Nazarene University – California installs 42 waterless urinals from Falcon Waterfree Technologies, through a program run by the San Diego Water Authority.
• Seattle University – Washington students succeed in getting the campus administration to stop selling single-use, plastic, bottled water everywhere on campus in September 2010.
• University of California – San Diego AQUAholics Anonymous is a coalition between students, staff and faculty designed to combat UC San Diego’s water use addiction.

Also, NWF’s Generation E guide to student leadership for sustainability includes a chapter on student-lead water projects and other topics that link to water in dining halls, residences and beyond.
 

RESOURCES:

1. Sarah White, with Laura Dresser and Joel Rogers. Greener Reality: Jobs, Skills, and Equity in a Cleaner U.S. Economy. COWS. September 27, 2012 (p. 71) http://www.cows.org/greener-reality-jobs-skills-and-equity-in-a-cleaner-us-economy_1 (consulted April 10, 2015)
2. James Hamilton. Careers in Water Conservation. US Bureau of Labor Statistics. Sep 2013- Report 12. (p. 2) http://www.bls.gov/green/water_conservation/water_conservation.pdf (consulted April 7, 2015)
3. The Murky Future of Global Water Quality. International Food Policy Research Institute and Veolia. April 15, 2015. www.veolianorthamerica.com/en/media/media/newsroom (consulted May 4, 2015)
4. Hamilton, op. cit., p. 3 and 4.
5. 5. Ibid., p. 7
6. 6. Internet searches conducted May 7, 2015.
7. 7. Ibid., p. 7
8. 8. Internet research conducted May 10, 2015
9. 9. Hamilton, op. cit., pages 8-14.
10. 10. Ibid.

By: Julian Keniry,  NWF 2015 and Christina Lopez, NWF EcoLeaders Fellow 2017