The Water Environment Association of Texas (WEAT) is a nonprofit organization that aims to protect and enhance water quality. It has 19 sections, supporting 4,800 wastewater professionals, engineers, and operators across the state.
In one session at the 2026 Texas Water Conference, Fernando Olivas, senior staff engineer at Brown and Caldwell, and Sergio Castro, assistant superintendent at El Paso Water Utilities, spoke about their involvement with the Franklin Mountain Section located near the Texas-New Mexico border. Over the last decade, the section has undergone a rebrand, adopting a new name and refocusing its efforts.
A brief history
“The Franklin Mountain section has existed for 15 years, but it has been inactive for most of that time,” Castro says. “Then a small group of us got together and started looking at what this section would look like if it worked for operators.”
The Franklin Mountain section was originally called the El Paso Section, but it changed its name to accurately represent its regional identity. By only identifying as “El Paso,” it excluded professionals in other cities by its name alone.
The name change signaled that the section belonged to the region, not just the city of El Paso.
“We had to make the section truly regional,” Olivas says. “The Franklin Mountain name immediately resonated with locals, operators, engineers, and the community itself—it created a sense of ownership.”
Located near the base of the Franklin Mountains, the region’s water system is interconnected, from the Rio Grande and beyond.
“Our water from wastewater plants is used for downstream irrigation, it’s used for industrial cooling, and it’s used for recharge aquifers,” Castro explains.
This makes collaboration even more essential in the region’s water and wastewater industry—it’s a smaller sector, especially compared to larger metropolitan areas in Texas. As a result, everything is collaborative, from the infrastructure that water flows through to the people who run it.
When industry professionals work in tandem, Castro says, communication is clear, decisions happen faster, and operations are more reliable. But in order for that to happen, opportunities to collaborate must be convenient for wastewater operators.
Making collaboration accessible
Time limitations, staffing shortages, and long shifts often make town hall meetings a burden for operators. “Calendars fill up fast and there’s a lot of overlap with the same audience,” Castro adds.
Having monthly meetings wasn’t working for the Franklin Mountain Section. Participation was low—operators rarely attended—and once the meeting ended, engagement ended along with it. There was little collaboration happening between operators, engineers, and industry professionals to keep that momentum going outside of a scarcely-attended monthly touchbase.
“We had to take a step back,” Castro says. “Operators are responsible for compliance, reliability, and public health every single day. If meetings weren’t working for our operators, something needed to change.”
Instead of forcing operators to adapt to WEAT, the Franklin Mountain Section adapted to operators.
The rebrand in action
In an attempt to meet operators where they are, the organization started hosting signature engagements to rebuild the community and encourage stronger collaboration.
“The goal is informality, connection, and relationship-building,” Olivas says. “When we started focusing on participation, we removed the barriers completely. And by having events consistently, we give people opportunities to build relationships over time, not just during a single meeting.”
That meant trading conference rooms for bleachers and holiday celebrations.
Here are a few signature events the Franklin Mountain Section launched since its rebrand in 2022:
- Minor league baseball game. The Franklin Mountain Section hosts a networking event to ring in the start of the El Paso Chihuahuas season. “All the funds we raise for this event go to our scholarship program,” Castro says.
- University of Texas El Paso (UTEP) football game. Every year, the section will host a barbecue cook-off at a UTEP football game. Operators, chapter members, and industry professionals compete every year.
- Posada. Meaning “Christmas party” in Spanish, the annual posada is a joint holiday celebration and toy drive. “This event is free for all members and nonmembers,” Olivas says. “We open it to the whole community, and the only thing you need to access the event is a toy.”
One of the key lessons Castro and Olivas learned is that this collaborative approach works best in smaller WEAT sections with limited resources. Shifting their focus to be operator-centric has worked tremendously well, and has improved the collaboration between operators, engineers, and industry professionals.
“Beyond participation, we encourage operators to mentor each other and take on leadership roles,” Castro says. “This reinforces that their experience and perspective matters while creating space for knowledge sharing and recognizing operational experience.”
