Stronger readiness: across more assets, more stakeholders, and higher expectations.
Mid-sized water and wastewater utilities face a unique challenge- you’re large enough to have complex systems and heightened public visibility, but not always staffed or resourced like a major metro utility. Gradient Planning helps you strengthen compliance, resilience, and continuity with practical, department-ready plans, training, and exercises that work in real operations.
The mid-sized reality
As systems grow, so do interdependencies: multiple treatment sites, pressure zones, pump stations, interconnections, contractors, and technology. At the same time, incidents get harder to manage—because the impact is broader, coordination is more complicated, and expectations from boards, regulators, and customers are higher.
Common Tension Points
More assets and facilities to coordinate during incidents
Higher consequence disruptions (more service outages, boil water advisories, regulatory scrutiny)
Cyber and operational technology (OT) risks across multiple sites and vendors
Emergency plans that exist, but aren’t consistently trained, exercised, or updated
Difficulty sustaining momentum after an exercise or audit, improvements stall without ownership and sequencing
We act as an extension of your leadership and operations teams, helping you standardize readiness across departments, clarify decision-making, and translate requirements into repeatable practices. Our work is designed to reduce burden on staff while strengthening day-to-day reliability and crisis performance.
How Gradient Planning supports mid-sized utilities
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Streamlined, role-based Emergency Response Plans (ERP) and annexes that match how your utility actually operates
Risk and resilience assessments that prioritize high-consequence vulnerabilities and dependencies (power, chemicals, IT/OT, staffing, contractors, mutual aid)
Practical continuity procedures that keep essential operations running through disruption
Training and exercises that build muscle memory, validate plans, and produce implementable improvement actions
Leadership-ready documentation that supports board oversight, regulatory expectations, and funding conversations
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Mid-sized utilities often need a more structured approach than “one plan update,” but not the heavy overhead of a large multi-year program. We offer scalable support, project-based or ongoing, tailored to your organization, risk profile, and operational priorities.
Typical engagement options
Readiness Baseline + Prioritized Roadmap
A focused diagnostic of current plans and capabilities, plus a sequenced improvement plan.ERP + Annex Modernization
Updates to core ERP materials and targeted annexes (cyber/OT, power loss, mutual aid, supply chain, critical assets) with clear roles and triggers.Exercise Program + Improvement Management
A repeatable annual program: training, tabletop/functional exercises, after-action reporting, and follow-through support so improvements actually get implemented.
Meet supplier diversity goals while gaining specialized resilience and emergency preparedness support.
What you'll receive
Readiness Summary for Board
A clear, concise summary of risks, gaps, and priorities written for leadership decision-making and accountability.
Practical Plans and Procedures
Operationally usable documents and tools: role-based checklists, call-downs, decision points, and site-specific actions.
A Roadmap
A sequenced roadmap that matches budget realities and staffing capacity—plus support to maintain progress over time.
“Exceptional Partner”
“We build for utilities. We build for real incidents.
Gradient Planning brings deep water/wastewater experience and a practical planning style that respects utility culture. We focus on plans that are usable at 2:00 a.m., not binders that sit on shelves and we help you sustain readiness through training, exercises, and continuous improvement.”
“The City of Framingham’s Water & Wastewater Department has been working with Gradient Planning each year since 2017 on all aspects of risk management. Gradient Planning has been an exceptional partner to Framingham, offering practical solutions-focused planning that consistently strengthens our overall preparedness. Their deep subject-matter expertise and willingness to respond to our evolving needs, has allowed Framingham to progressively work toward our preparedness goals and continue to maintain compliance along the way.”
25+
years supporting critical infrastructure resilience
Deep, sustained experience helping water and wastewater utilities manage risk, maintain continuity, and meet evolving regulatory expectations.
100%
regulatory acceptance of risk assessments and ERPs
All assessments and emergency response plans accepted by EPA and state regulators with zero corrective follow-up required.
50+
utilities served across small, mid-size, and large systems
Trusted by utilities in New England and beyond to deliver practical, solutions-focused planning tailored to real operational conditions.
Common questions from mid-size utility personnel
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The test is whether your teams can use them quickly under pressure. We validate usability through targeted plan reviews, role-based training, and exercises that identify what’s unclear, missing, or impractical, then we convert those findings into updated procedures and an improvement plan with ownership and timelines.
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We standardize the core framework (roles, triggers, communications, documentation) while tailoring site-specific actions where needed. That approach reduces confusion, speeds decision-making, and helps each facility operate from the same playbook during a disruption.
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We manage the improvement cycle: after-action reporting, prioritization, assignment of owners, and check-ins tied to realistic schedules and budgets. This turns recommendations into completion—without creating a new administrative burden for staff.
Be ready before it happens
Every moment counts during an emergency — plan ahead with a partner who's been there.