On July 1, Katz & Associates celebrated its 33^rd year in business. It’s been an incredible journey, made possible with the help of so many people over the years. As with life, we have grown both physically and intellectually, and continue learning valuable lessons along the way. As I reflect on these three-plus decades, and the incredible people and projects, I think about the important things that got us here and what’s important for the future.

Where we started is important. I began the firm around the need to communicate about water infrastructure issues, and that remains a core market to this day. K&A’s Water and Wastewater Practice continues to thrive under the inspiring leadership of Karen Snyder, whom I have worked with for more than 20 years on projects across the country. Luckily, Karen joined us full-time when she moved…

Fresno Residents Receive Water From New Treatment Facility

After more than two years of construction, the City of Fresno’s (City) new Southeast Surface Water Treatment Facility (SESWTF) is now distributing water to Fresno homes and businesses.

The SESWTF, the cornerstone of the City’s $429 million water infrastructure improvement program called Recharge Fresno, is a new facility that treats surface water to drinking water standards and enables diversification of the City’s water supply. Over the next several weeks, the facility will ramp up to a capacity of 54 million gallons per day with an ultimate capacity of 80 million gallons per day. The facility is fed with surface water from the Kings River through a newly constructed 13-mile-long Kings River Pipeline. Historically, the City relied predominantly on groundwater for drinking water supplies, but the Recharge Fresno program allows for conjunctive…

You’re late for work. You forgot your coffee. And now you see orange construction cones up ahead.

Construction zones are an unavoidable part of life, popping up at what commuters may feel to be the most inopportune times and impacting the surrounding community in foreseeable and unforeseeable ways. That’s why our construction relations specialists at Katz & Associates approach each project uniquely, tailoring our proven methods and tactics to ensure the public stays informed and involved throughout the lifespan of the construction project.

Over the past two years, construction activities for the U.S. Navy’s Miramar Fuel Pipeline Repair and Relocation Project have impacted portions of Rosecrans Street in San Diego’s Point Loma neighborhood, from dense residential and business areas to a waterfront walking trail. For residents and businesses, construction impacts were expected to be more varied than the usual traffic and detour impacts commuters experience when driving through a construction zone….

Civility. It’s a word I don’t recall hearing discussed much over the years, until recently, as our national political dialogue has shifted, with name calling and finger-pointing occurring on both sides of the political aisle and with challenging issues arising throughout our individual communities. As a strategic communications firm that has spent more than 30 years working with difficult and sometimes contentious land-use, environmental and other community stakeholder issues, we at K&A are reminded of how important this notion of civility is now, more than ever. From school campuses to board rooms to community groups, everyone has strong opinions and we need to remember to do as much listening as we do talking.

So, what could be contributing to this vitriol? With a 24-hour news cycle and myriad social media platforms to get news and information, attention spans are at an all-time low and statistics show that given the wealth…

During winter months on rainy days when large droplets pour from the cloudy skies across the concrete city of San Francisco, the water has only a few places to go. Gutters and storm drains are designed to manage the excess water in city streets when it drains, but if leaves and street debris collect over the storm drain grate, water cannot enter the catch basin below. This can result in localized ponding, which is a nuisance to pedestrians, vehicles, and neighborhoods. San Francisco Public Utilities Commission…