The Water Environment Federation (WEF) and the American Water Works Association (AWWA) have launched WorkForWater.org, a collaborative web site offering resources for recruiters, career seekers and students. The site addresses one of the water community’s top concerns: the coming retirement of 30 percent of the water workforce and the need to recruit new talent.

AWWA and WEF in March announced the Work for Water outreach campaign, which promotes water careers as professionally fulfilling and aligned to the greatest public health and environmental cause of our day — access to safe water and sanitation services. The new web site is a gateway to many recruiting and retention resources available throughout North America and beyond. The sponsors invite organizations to contribute documents, videos and links that benefit career seekers and employers.

“Work for Water aims to generate excitement about and interest in careers in the water profession," said WEF president Paul Freedman. “This new web site will act as a recruitment tool for all of us who are trying to make information on water sector careers readily available.”

AWWA president Craig Woolard adds, "A vibrant, reliable water workforce is critical to the health of our communities and the environment. The Work for Water Web site will highlight some of the great work already being done to address the coming workforce crunch.”

The U.S. EPA, which joined AWWA and WEF in developing the campaign, posted a portion of its new “Water You Waiting For?” video on the site. WorkForWater.org also highlights efforts such as the Georgia Association of Water Professionals’ H2Opportunity!, and the Water Sector Competency Model jointly released by WEF, AWWA, the U.S. Department of Labor and U.S. EPA last November.

The site has landing pages for four audiences: high school and vocational school students, college students, second career and retired military job seekers, and advanced science professionals.

For more information, visit www.WorkforWater.org.