Shreveport's Director of Water and Sewage William Daniels has resigned effective Tuesday, April 6.
Daniel resigned for family reasons.
This DOWUS director faced more challenges than those of prior directors combined. In this writer's opinion he handled them well--more will be written on his leadership in a future column.
Like the old adage "a good deed does not go undone", DOWUS gets another "F" by the state health department for 2024. It was a kick in the rear as a goodbye gift to Daniel.
Shreveport's 2024 score of 55 out of 100 is two points lower than 2023.
Here are the deductions in the score:
• 10 points for infrastructure noncompliance
• 5 points for failure to submit rate study or implementing adequate rate
• 20 points for unresolved significant deficiencies in infrastructure
• 10 points form customer satisfaction for valid water complaints
• 5 points for secondary contaminants exceeding manganese levels.
The city's water system earned 5 bonus points for assessment and maintenance plans/training.
The report certainly provides a roadmap for the selection of a new director. Many of the challenges this person will encounter will be financial resources to address the identified deficiencies along with the looming monster in the form of the EPA consent decree.