Water flowing.
Water Utility
Founded in 1882. Krishna Kumar, General Manager.

Community Advisory Process

Madison Water Utility oversees a variety of major public works facility projects aimed at providing safe, reliable drinking water for every family and business in Madison, as well as adequate fire protection. It's vital for our community to become involved in these projects by getting detailed information and giving feedback directly to our engineers, board members and lawmakers.

How It Works

If you're interested in one of our projects, you can be involved as much or as little as you choose. Some community members might attend every public meeting, offer continuous feedback and input, even testify before the Water Board and Common Council. Others may choose to give input electronically only, via email and online surveys. And some might choose to simply follow a project's progress by signing up for email updates.

The First Step

If you find a Madison Water Utility project that you're interested in, sign up for project email updates though the My City of Madison email subscription page, or email water@madisonwater.org. You'll be notified about public meetings and get meeting notes, planning documents, design drawings, online surveys and photos. You'll also get contact information for the engineer overseeing the project, so you can ask questions and give input at every step along the way.

For a detailed look at our approach to public participation, take a look at MWU's Community Advisory Process below. The process was adopted in 2014 by the Common Council.

Goals for our Community Advisory Process

  • Inclusive: Open to everyone, not limited to certain people.
  • Equitable: Recognize that barriers to public participation exist, particularly requirements for in-person participation, and work to make our process accessible to everyone.
  • Values all voices: Recognize that input given via survey, email, phone call, letter, etc. has as much value as input given at an in-person meeting.
  • Open: Allow participants to access information and give feedback according to their own schedules.
  • Transparent: Ensure everyone has equal access to clear and current information.
  • Has purpose: Demonstrate responsiveness to feedback and highlight ways that public participation impacts our projects.

PHASE 1 – Establish Public Outreach Budget, Public Notification, and Project Plan

1. ESTABLISH PUBLIC OUTREACH BUDGET

  • Determine budget to be used for public outreach. The amount would depend on each project and would generally range from $5,000 to $25,000 per project year.

2. INITIAL OUTREACH

  • Reach out to alder and relevant neighborhood associations.
  • Create project web page.
  • Send detailed mailer to affected community members.
  • Send web page link to any relevant email lists.
  • Post web page link on relevant neighborhood list serves.
  • Distribute web page link via social media.
  • Post sign at project site if in a heavily-trafficked area.
  • Attend neighborhood association meeting to outline project if possible.

3. FIRST PUBLIC MEETING/CREATION OF COMMUNITY ADVISORY PROCESS

  • Publicize meeting on website, city core site, via social media, with postcard mailer and through neighborhood listservs and/or email lists.
  • Create an email and/or mailing list of Community Advisory Process participants, which includes interested meeting attendees as well as those who cannot attend meetings but wish to be updated and involved in the project and give feedback via email or regular mail.
  • Provide access to a laptop or tablet so meeting attendees can sign up for project email notifications via our website.
  • Obtain address information for those who are interested in being involved in the project but do not have access to email.

4. GATHER FEEDBACK

  • Update website and solicit public feedback through the project email list and possible online survey. Include optional demographic questions on all surveys and participation forms so staff can evaluate the success of its outreach to different socioeconomic, ethnic, and generational groups. Mail information and/or surveys to community members who do not have access to email.
  • Review, discuss, revise and further revise project plan.

5. WATER UTILITY BOARD PUBLIC HEARING

  • Presentation by staff of recommended project plan.

6. WEB UPDATES

  • Make final revisions to draft plan as required by the Water Utility Board.
  • Update website with the finalized project plan that was approved by the Water Utility Board, and note any impact public input may have had on the project plan.
  • Send an email update to project email list. (Mail information to those who do not have access to email.)

PHASE 2 – Site Selection (if applicable)

1. GATHER FEEDBACK

  • Update website with relevant site selection information.
  • Provide participants with potential sites via email or regular mail and solicit other site recommendations.
  • Rank potential sites on website based on public feedback and other criteria, and distribute ranking to email list. Mail information to those who do not have access to email.

2. PUBLIC MEETING

  • Review potential sites and site ranking based on public feedback and other criteria.
  • Answer questions and solicit feedback from attendees.

3. WATER UTILITY BOARD PUBLIC HEARING

  • Presentation by staff of recommended site(s).

4. WEB UPDATES

  • Revise site selection as required by Water Utility Board.
  • Post final site selection on project web page, and note any impact public input may have had on site selection decisions.
  • Send an email update to project email list. (Mail information to those who do not have access to email.

PHASE 3 – Facility Design (if applicable)

1. GATHER FEEDBACK

  • Post all relevant drawings, diagrams and landscaping models on web page.
  • Email (or mail) a draft of facility design criteria and solicit feedback.
  • Revise design criteria as needed.

2. FACILITY DESIGN PUBLIC MEETING

  • Review design criteria.

  • Answer questions and solicit feedback from attendees

3. WATER UTILITY BOARD PUBLIC HEARING – FACILITY DESIGN

  • Presentation by staff of design criteria.

4. ADDITIONAL APPROVALS- FACILITY DESIGN (IF APPLICABLE)

  • Revise design as required by Water Utility Board.
  • Present plans to other relevant City Commissions or Committees for approval.

5. WEB UPDATES – SITE SELECTION

  • Make final design revisions as required. Post final design on project web page, and note any impact public input may have had on design decisions.
  • Send an email update to project email list. (Mail information to those who do not have access to email.)

PHASE 4 – Groundbreaking, Construction, Completion

1. PUBLIC MEETING

  • Publicize meeting on website, city core site, via social media, with postcard mailer and through email list(s).
  • Inform public of any road closures, traffic or water service disruptions that may be caused by construction. Address questions and concerns.
  • Post relevant information on project web page.

2. WEB UPDATES

  • Post regular updates on construction progress or changes to initial timeline on project web page, and email update links project email list. Mail information to those who do not have access to email,
  • Post relevant photos of construction progress on website and social media channels.

3. OPEN HOUSE/ COMPLETION MEETING

  • Public tour of finished facility.
  • Highlight the ways public input impacted various elements of the finished project.
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