What Do Water Resource Specialists Do (including Their Typical Day At Work)

Job Description

Water Resource Specialists design or implement programs and strategies related to water resource issues such as supply, quality, and regulatory compliance issues. They also perform hydrologic, hydraulic, or water quality modeling.

Other tasks include:

• Conduct, or oversee the conduct of, investigations on matters such as water storage, wastewater discharge, pollutants, permits, or other compliance and regulatory issues.
• Develop plans to protect watershed health or rehabilitate watersheds.
• Develop strategies for watershed operations to meet water supply and conservation goals or to ensure regulatory compliance with clean water laws or regulations.
• Identify and characterize specific causes or sources of water pollution.
• Write proposals, project reports, informational brochures, or other documents on wastewater purification, water supply and demand, or other water resource subjects.
• Present water resource proposals to government, public interest groups, or community groups.

We asked Water Resource Specialists how satisfied they are with their job. Here is what they said.

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75% of them said they were satisfied with their job and 62% said they find that their job makes the world a better place or helps to make someone else’s life better.

Typical Day At Work

On a daily basis, Water Resource Specialists monitor water use, demand, or quality in a particular geographic area. They perform hydrologic, hydraulic, or water quality modeling.

• Conduct, or oversee the conduct of, investigations on matters such as water storage, wastewater discharge, pollutants, permits, or other compliance and regulatory issues.
• Develop or implement standardized water monitoring and assessment methods.
• Develop strategies for watershed operations to meet water supply and conservation goals or to ensure regulatory compliance with clean water laws or regulations.
• Identify and characterize specific causes or sources of water pollution.
• Conduct technical studies for water resources on topics such as pollutants and water treatment options.

We asked some Water Resource Specialists a few questions to find out what else does their work day look like. Here is what we found.

	Do you have telephone conversations everyday in this job?	79% said yes
	How important is it to work in a team in this job?	34% said very important
	Do you have group discussions everyday in this job?	66% said yes
	Do you talk or work with customers everyday in this job?	14% said yes
	Do you have to deal with angry customers everyday in this job?	4% said yes
	Do you have to make decisions everyday in this job?	31% said yes

Other responsibilities

Besides their typical day, Water Resource Specialists also conduct, or oversee the conduct of, chemical, physical, and biological water quality monitoring or sampling to ensure compliance with water quality standards. They may also compile water resource data, using geographic information systems (GIS) or global position systems (GPS) software.

On a weekly to monthly basis, Water Resource Specialists Review or evaluate designs for water detention facilities, storm drains, flood control facilities, or other hydraulic structures. They might also Analyze storm water systems to identify opportunities for water resource improvements.

In addition, they Perform hydrologic, hydraulic, or water quality modeling.

Although specific duties may vary, many of them Write proposals, project reports, informational brochures, or other documents on wastewater purification, water supply and demand, or other water resource subjects.

To some Water Resource Specialists, it is also their responsibility to Compile and maintain documentation on the health of a body of water.

Working life

More than 40 hours per week

Regular schedule like a 9 to 5

In a typical work week as a Water Resource Specialist, you can expect to work more than 40 hours per week.

Is this right for me

People who are suitable for this job tends to like working with ideas, and require an extensive amount of thinking. They like searching for facts and figuring out problems mentally..

They also like starting up and carrying out projects. They like leading people and making many decisions. Sometimes they require risk taking and often deal with business.

You can read more about these career personality types here.

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