Tucson Water employee sounds alarm about staff shortage

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TUCSON, Ariz. (KOLD News 13) – A Tucson Water employee said he is losing staff, leading to a worrying shortage.

“We watch the people in the water quality and operations department walk while I speak,” said the employee, who wanted to remain anonymous.

The worker said Tucson Water would need to relocate people from other departments to help.

“We are bringing people together from other areas and other departments to specifically cover the operational area that monitors water quality and drinking water parameters,” said the worker.

The employee, who has worked for the city for over a decade, said three people left last week because of the vaccination mandate.

“(We) feel that our employer, to whom we have dedicated our lives, is dispensable,” said the worker. “In my opinion, things could get to the point where we can no longer offer the service that we had before the mandate.”

While the worker said she was afraid for the future, they want to reassure the Tucsonans that the drinking water is safe and they will do everything in their power to keep it that way.

“I drink Tucson water and I look for the quality,” said the operator.

We contacted the City of Tucson about the staff shortage affecting safe drinking water.

“Tucson Water stands ready to continue to deliver safe, clean drinking water,” the city said. “The utility has plans, procedures, practices, and redundancies in place to ensure continuity of operations in the face of downsizing and other emergency scenarios.”

Copyright 2021 KOLD News 13. All rights reserved.

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