Water Leadership Insights from Tad Bohannon, Regional Water Architect and CEO of Central Arkansas Water

Tad Bohannon leads the largest public drinking water system in Arkansas, serving 500,000 consumers and 18 cities. Tad's law degree, water licenses, and recent Master's degree from the University of Oxford combine to make him the perfect man to lead Central Arkansas Water through the 21st Century.Tad and Aquasight Founder Mahesh Lunani discuss how CAW is set up and governed, including their naming of a Chief Innovation Officer to their team, and how that new role may change.  Also, typical Mergers and Acquisitions legal work does not apply to water systems.  Tad explains why.While a lack of fresh, clean water isn't a problem in his district, Central Arkansas Water faces many of the same problems as other water systems, including how to protect the land around that water, how to pay for new infrastructure, and the regionalization of water districts.Data will be very important to the future of water.  Tad and Mahesh discuss available technologies, what consumers will want, and some of the ways we can use data to be proactive.  In fact, he sees the future not as a water company, but as a technology company. In addition to talking about how COVID-19 has changed the current workforce, Tad and Mahesh brainstorm some ways to attract the water workers of tomorrow.   This includes a number of ways to reach out to students and teachers at the high school level. Also, water employees must be engaged with their local communities.  And when someone asks what they do, there are a number of better answers than, "I work for the water department."More:Central Arkansas Water Website: https://carkw.com/Tad Bohannon Bio: https://carkw.com/about/our-team/tad-bohannon/Aquasight Website: https://aquasight.io/ Aquasight Website: https://aquasight.io/