U.S. Water Resource Agency – Flagstaff District
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The Flagstaff District (FD) is one of 41 districts within the U.S. Water Resource Agency
(USWRA—an Agency in the Department of Renewable Resources—DoRR) charged with the
responsibility to develop, protect and administer water resources within the United States. The
Flagstaff District provides six major product lines of goods and services: (1) the development of
The Flagstaff District’s purpose, vision, mission, and values are:
Purpose—To be effective stewards of the public trust
Vision—The Flagstaff District embraces the Agency’s vision as its own. This vision can be
summed up in terms of our commitment to protect and promote our nation’s water resources to
be second to none.
Mission—To ensure and protect water resources for economic and recreation benefit to the
nation, partner states, and local governments. FD’s principal mission areas include
• development and management of projects and programs to provide for inland
Field employees operate 24 multi-purpose dam projects and six lock-and-dam complexes,
an equipment-repair station, and a fleet of maintenance vessels. Field offices are connected to the
District Office by a radio network and Wide Area Network, or WAN. Computer-Aided Design
One of the hardest concepts to translate from the private sector into the public sector is
that of “competition.” In many cases, the services provided to the public by an agency of the
Federal Government can be obtained from only that Government agency. Historically, this has
led to the unfortunate perception that Government service providers are “the only game in town,”
lessening the concern for, or need to understand, customer needs, desires, or drivers of
satisfaction. In recent years, however, nothing could be further from reality. This realization has
Discussion Questions
1. As a public not-for-profit agency, who are Flagstaff District’s customers?
2. How might the district define quality? How could it use this definition to evaluate its
success in “competing” with other entities?