Jessica Glowczewski- Akron Watershed Superintendent
Walking up to the City of Akron Water Supply facility can be a bit daunting. Just getting there involves a 30 minute drive north and then making your way down some windy back roads through heavily tree lined streets until seemingly out of nowhere, the space opens up to large brick buildings set back behind a tall fence lined with barbed wire. As we approached the closest building, a woman came out and waved us over. Jessica Glowczewski’s appearance might not be what you’d expect from someone running a robust watershed program servicing nearly 300,000 consumers, including all of Akron residents. By that I mean, you can’t help but notice immediately how young she is; oh and the purple hair. For someone so accomplished, that seems slightly jarring; almost out of place. As she began to talk about the watershed program and gave us a tour of the facility, it quickly became apparent that it was quite the contrary. How could she be out of place? She was in an environment she helped create. Before going to her office, she showed us the one women’s bathroom in the building. She said when she started, she was the only woman in her division. Now she’s responsible for an entire City Division.
She took us up to her “office” which ended up being a table in the middle of a room lined with her staff’s desks. This isn’t surprising when you see her answers on nearly every question in the interview. She couldn’t help but steer the conversation back to her staff and how proud she is of all they do. It was evident, she wasn’t trying to appear humble, she simply couldn’t talk about herself alone when it is the team effort that gets everything done. This ideology seems to be the backbone of the facility: everyone cares; everyone works hard; everyone has the same mission.
1. What does your job entail?
It’s hard to explain exactly what I do because it is a wide variety of responsibilities. My primary job is to make sure that water at the intake is the cleanest raw water supply that it can be. Doing this involves reservoir monitoring, working with farmers and landowners, doing research and grant writing for the division, working on a forestry program, amongst a lot of other daily monitoring tasks. There are 4 reservoirs that are part of the Watershed: East Branch, LaDue, Mogadore, and Rockwell. There are also 26 sample sites throughout the watershed. I’m extremely proud of my staff and the work that we do here. The EPA has recognized us as an example of how to manage a watershed. We also do education for the bureau which involves conducting tours and talking to students.
2. What is your favorite part about your job/working for the city of Akron?
I’m given a lot of freedom to develop programs, come up with creative ways to help fund operations and to do necessary research. I’m encouraged by upper management to think outside the box. The truth is that water treatment won’t get any easier. It will only ever get harder as the EPA gets stricter and it is really expensive. Just to give you an idea what we are working with, we have an annual budget of $20M for the Plant. I know that sounds like a lot to some people but keep in mind we are processing 35M gallons of water per day and that is 24/7/365. And that money is just covering getting the water to the city. It doesn’t fix pipes or help update infrastructure. This place was built in 1915 and a lot of the structures you see are original. We really try to do the most with the resources we have available. Because of that we are given freedom to get creative with how we can save money. My ideas are listened to and the upper management trusts us to be the experts. It really feels like we are all on the same team and that this team truly cares about the work that we do.
3. Do you have a favorite memory of working for the city?
Any nice day that I got to spend sampling the watershed in a canoe. I don’t get to be outside as much now that I’m the superintendent. It’s a lot more inside the office work. But honestly, we all feel that what we do here is important. I’m satisfied in knowing that we make an impact and that we are doing good work. It’s often a thankless job. If the water is coming out perfect, no one is going to call to congratulate us. It’s only when something is wrong that people come calling. It’s a good day if we don’t hear from the public (laughing). Water is a basis of public health and that is something that all of us take very seriously. We understand what it means for everyone to have safe, clean drinking water.
4. What is your proudest accomplishment while working for the city?
The whole program. I started here in 2008 as a ranger with a degree in biology. The economy collapsed shortly after that and the city started the voluntary separation program, so a lot of the staff here left. We looked around and there were just a handful of us left. Many of us were younger with a definite learning curve in front of us. We had some foundational pieces for the watershed program just historically because of the land we owned but the majority of the program we wrote from scratch. Now I’m in my 12th year with the city and we are recognized for having a premier watershed program with accolades from the State of Ohio and Federal EPA. We are often asked to come speak at professional conferences to help others manage their own watersheds and the land management aspect. We try to help them with sustainability so that these programs can last. I’m proud of my staff for the work that we’ve done.
5. What are some of your hobbies or what do you enjoy doing in your free time?
I like to write. I make soap. I like to make jam/jelly and can vegetables. I’ve got a 10 year old and a 7 year old and they help me. I think they are pretty sick of making soap at this point. We also like to travel. We went to Maui this year.
6. Do you have a favorite Akron restaurant/brewery/coffee shop/etc.?
Well my husband’s would definitely be Crave. I’m a big fan of Chill personally. I like sweets.
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Jessica’s passion for the watershed and for the work that is being done at the facility was apparent in every step we took through the maze of buildings. She was nearly beaming as she explained exactly how the water was being treated at each interval and ultimately how that improved the water for the end of the line. You might think that a tour of a water facility would be boring, but not with Jessica as the tour guide. I found myself asking questions to learn more because her interest in her work was contagious.
Before we got started, I had asked her how to say her last name (GLOW-CHESS-SKI). She obliged, but admitted that her Polish ancestors would be angry if they heard how the family had modernized the pronunciation. She told us sometimes her staff and others just called her Jessy G or Jessy Glow. I had to tell her that would make a great roller derby name to which she revealed that she did indeed try her hand at roller derby in the past. Of course she did. Once you meet her, you’ll understand how fitting that seems. Jessy Glow — Watershed Superintendent.