Bill Geary checks the two wells supplying water to Grass Range, Montana as many as three times a day. They’re housed in small sheds filled with winding pipes and vats of chemicals used to treat the water.
Grass Range is a town of about 100 people in central Montana. Geary grew up here and operated a logging company on the edge of town for decades before semi-retiring. The 71-year-old operator took up the job around 2018.
“The reason I became the water operator is I helped build this system when I was just out of high school,” Geary says. “I know how to run it, and I know how it works, and that's one of the reasons I'm running it.”
The job requires daily maintenance 365 days a year.
“You’ve got the school drinking the water, you've got the restaurants and the bars drinking the water plus all the rest of the people drinking the water and it's your responsibility they have safe water,” he says.
Montana’s water operators are responsible for keeping drinking water clean and sewers running. But in rural towns, many are aging out of the workforce, and finding their replacements is a challenge.
Geary is ready to retire to spend more time with his wife, who’s been battling cancer for years. Recently his own health has faltered, too. They regularly drive about 100 miles to Billings for care.
“Between her and me, we're there every week right now,” he says. “It’s sad.”
But Gearly feels stuck. In more than six months of searching, only one person has offered to take on his job.
“We've had one 80-year-old guy that said he would be the backup water operator, which isn't going to do me any good to retire,” he says.
Small towns across the state are in the same boat. Low wages, insufficient housing and limited amenities in rural areas make it hard to attract younger water operators to small-town Montana. Industry reports project a declining workforce across the country.
In a hotel in Great Falls, water operators recently gathered for a conference. It’s held annually by Montana Rural Water Systems, an association for water operators.
The main hall was filled with greying beards and decades of experience. This includes 91-year-old Jack Kelly, the water operator for Zortman, population 63.
“I'm still healthy, so I help out the community a little bit,” Kelly says. “I know a little bit about what I'm doing, and everybody else is an old-timer in Zortman, so it's either me or some other old-timer, I guess.”
Kelly has been happy to help out his community at a lower wage. Some operators make less than $20 an hour. But he and many here say pay is what stands in the way of finding their younger replacements.
Montana law requires all water and wastewater facilities to have a licensed operator.
In a pinch, towns can get a temporary operator through a state program meant for emergencies. Long-term solutions are more challenging to find. Towns can contract with private companies to fill the roles, but most can’t afford that.
Montana Rural Water created an apprenticeship program to build the workforce.
“That's the problem we run into is we have guys that want to join the apprenticeship program, but some places we don't have anywhere to put them,” says MRWS Executive Director Ben Rigby. “The little town can't afford to have two guys on staff.”
Rigby also hopes to work with high schools to better appeal to young people.
“You could start this at 18 years old, so it could be a career right outside the gate to alleviate the guys that want to retire,” he says.
He knows this may not result in filling all of these rural positions, but hopes a community-based approach will help.
Back in Grass Range, Geary carries on.
“If I walk away from the water right now, no one knows anything about it,” Geary says. “What are you going to do? It'll be kapunk, man.”
Geary says he’ll hold out until someone walks through the door, hopefully sooner than later.
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