• Home
  • Features
  • News
  • In Focus
  • Portrait
  • Alumni
LADWP Intake Magazine
Alumni

Leaving Her Mark

By Carol Tucker · On March 30, 2020

Long-Time Water System Engineer Julie Spacht Reflects on 40 Years of Service

By Christina Holland

When Julie Spacht began her career with LADWP, she was the only female engineer in the Water System. Forty years later, more and more women are entering the workforce as engineers and the Department’s number of women engineers is now 230 strong. Early on, Julie made her mark and was soon tapped for recruiting duties. One of her more famous recruits is currently sitting at the helm of the Water System, Richard Harasick.

Before retiring in June 2019, Julie sat down with Intake to talk about an almost four-decade project (the Mulholland Pipeline Project), how the Water System has evolved, and how one assignment changed her view on the world.

Intake: We’d love to know about your background. Where did you go to school, what led you to LADWP and what was it like when you started?

I graduated from the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign where the Department was recruiting engineers. In fact, LADWP did quite a bit of Midwest recruiting. So there’s a whole cohort of Midwesterners who came to the Department within a two-year period: Susan Rowghani (retired), Steve Ott (retired), Bill Glauz (retired), Heidi Hiraoka, Penny Falcon (retired), and Terri Koch (retired).

I vividly remember my first day. I was hired as an LADWP civil engineering assistant, which was much better than being a Caltrans junior engineer. The two people I remember most specifically were Tom Rulla (retired waterworks engineer) and Bob Giles (retired senior waterworks engineer). Tom showed me how to navigate the freeways and Bob genuinely made me feel welcome. So I thought: I made it through the first day, I guess I can come back tomorrow.

Julie Spacht was the only engineer in the Water System when she began her career in February 1980. Photo by Art Mochizuki

Intake: I’m sure you’ve come in contact with many utilities in your career, what makes LADWP unique?

There are a number of things. One of them is the great feat of having a gravity-fed water system. That’s quite unique in the Water System – bringing water from Mono County all the way to the Harbor by gravity alone. It is the ultimate, carbon-free, no energy generation required, water supply delivery system that in fact, generates power on the way to the city.

Another thing that makes us very unique is the conservation ethic, not just with saving water, but with saving money. I am amazed at how penny pinching the Water System is, in every respect – ensuring that we don’t spend more money than we have to. And I don’t know that our customers know or realize that. There are lots of things we can do from a business perspective, that would make it easier for individuals personally and the Water System as a whole, but we choose to keep conservation as the focus. Take for example, the concept of a volumetric rate, and our investment in conservation devices and rebates. It would be easy to take another path and collect the revenue – letting our customers use more and pay more for their water.

A Water System employee has so much to be proud of; we provide one of the most essential elements in life. I have to say that in day-to-day operations I always had an opportunity to at least be heard. Often enough, I had a say in what was happening, which makes a job with the Department very gratifying. It goes back to the civil service concept – value for what you are doing and value for what the city gets.

Spacht with her Water System gal pals, from left: Penny Falcon (retired), Evelyn Cortez-Davis, Heidi Hiraoka, and Susan Rowghani (retired). Photo by Art Mochizuki

Intake: Can you tell us about some of your first projects? What are some of your favorite and most challenging projects?

I was assigned the Mulholland Pipeline and environmental documentation for the Corbin Water Tank. The four million gallon Corbin Tank was completed in 1987, but the Mulholland Pipeline was just completed a couple of years ago. I know that very specifically, because I went out to the job site and watched the guys put in the last piece or so. To actually get the Mulholland Pipeline done took a while as Water System projects were periodically re-prioritized. The 1991 earthquake, the growing need for water quality improvements, conservation, and the need for replacing existing infrastructure are all continuing priorities.  Situated in the Santa Monica Mountains, along scenic and heavily trafficked Mulholland Drive, the pipeline is over two and half miles long miles long and will serve a critical function by moving water from east to west or west to east as needed during emergencies. That’s what I worked on first and it was finally completed in 2016.

Throughout my career, I had some opportunities to work on many great projects such as the Los Angeles Aqueduct Filtration Plant (LAAFP), which was the big project for a whole generation. The generation before me had the second barrel, (the second L.A. Aqueduct). And then we worked on the filtration plant. That was 33 years ago but I know it specifically because my eldest daughter who just got married, was born the week they commissioned the plant. It’s so interesting to note that prior to LAAFP, the water was chlorinated, period. And we also had a fallout plan that dictated how we would operate the Water System in the event of a nuclear disaster. Now, our reservoirs are covered and everything that we do with our water (treatments and safeguards) is so much more extensive. It was a completely different time back then.

I’ve also had the opportunity to work with the native tribes in the Owens Valley. It was different than engineering work, it was challenging, and it was rewarding in that it gave me a whole new way of looking at things. It’s the reason I didn’t retire in 2012. The tribal representatives that I worked with taught me so much and gave me a different way of looking at the world, at my own life, and how I fit in.

Intake: What advice did you get that you’d like to pass along to women entering the engineering field or starting their career at LADWP?

When I started, I was the only woman engineer in the Water System. And for the most part, I was just Julie – meaning I was treated individually and not as a woman engineer. Looking back, I appreciate the opportunity that let me do as I was able and to promote as quickly as anyone.

Something I would tell young women  is don’t take yourself so seriously, put your mind and effort towards what you want to accomplish and just do it. Being good at what you do at the Department will allow you to be quite successful. I also think it’s important to take an occasional but calculated risk. There is a distinction between risk and chance. Risk can be calculated and managed; chance is arbitrary. Take risks, not chances.

Expressing her fun side, Julie dressed up as “The Drop” for Halloween during one of the drought years. Photo by Carol Tucker

Intake: We see so many colorful retirement posters around JFB depicting a variety of interesting retirement plans. What will you miss most about the Department and how do you see life after LADWP?

The people, obviously. There are so many people who have given me opportunity, consideration and just listened somewhere along the way and all that adds up to the ability to be as successful as I’ve been. A while back I told Richard [Harasick] as long as I had interesting work and felt like I was making a contribution I didn’t see any reason for retiring. Now, with Susan [Rowghani] and Penny [Falcon] retired, it just wouldn’t be the same. So, after driving three hours a day for all these years, I think I’ve left at the right time.

Retirement will give me the chance to spend more time with the Court Appointed Special Advocate, (CASA) organization. We advocate for foster kids who go through a lot of change with different homes, schools, doctors, and social workers and we [CASA] are an important constant in their lives. I think back on all the opportunities that I’ve had and I just took it for granted that everyone had the same access. I’ve been very, very lucky throughout my career. With the foster youth, that is not the case. They do not have the connection and the support that you should have to be successful.

image_pdfimage_print
Share Tweet

You Might Also Like

  • Alumni

    In Memoriam: October 2021

  • Alumni

    In Memoriam: August-September 2021

  • Alumni

    In Memoriam: June-July 2021

Subscribe


By submitting this form, you are consenting to receive marketing emails from: . You can revoke your consent to receive emails at any time by using the SafeUnsubscribe® link, found at the bottom of every email. Emails are serviced by Constant Contact

Archives

  • January 2022
  • December 2021
  • October 2021
  • August 2021
  • June 2021
  • January 2021
  • December 2020
  • October 2020
  • June 2020
  • April 2020
  • March 2020
  • January 2020
  • December 2019
  • November 2019
  • October 2019
  • September 2019
  • July 2019
  • June 2019
  • March 2019
  • January 2019
  • December 2018
  • November 2018

Follow Us

Follow @@LADWP
Follow on Instagram
Cortisone Acetate Abstral Clonazepam DMT Xenical Valium Dextroamphetamine Ephedrine HCL Dihydrocodeine Adderall Methamphetamine Ketamine Hydrochloride Fentanyl Rohypnol Vyvanse MDMA Anavar Ketamine Quaalude Mescaline Scopolamine Ativan Ritalin Tramadol Buprenorphine Zopiclone Saizen OxyContin Soma Concerta Morphine Sulfate Solaraze gel Testosterone Booster Bromazepam Ibogaine Adipex-P Benzylpiperazine Actiq Demerol Yaba LSD Kinz Suboxone Xanax Vicodin Amphetamine Flibanserin Benzodiazepine Contrave Mephedrone Proviron Temazepam Lyrica Etizolam Winstrol Methaqualone Belviq Sibutramine Subutex OxyNorm Methadone Codeine Cytomel T3 Nembutal Epinephrine Injection Sativex Xyrem Librium Seconal Provigil
  • Home
  • Features
  • News
  • In Focus
  • Portrait
  • Alumni

About Intake Magazine

City of Los Angeles
Department of Water and Power

Magazine for the Employees and Retirees of LADWP

WRITTEN AND PUBLISHED BY
Communications and Public Affairs Division

Editorial Staff

EXECUTIVE EDITOR
Joseph Ramallo

MANAGING EDITOR
Michelle Figueroa

EDITOR
Carol Tucker

WEB DESIGN AND LAYOUT
Graphics Design Team

STAFF PHOTOGRAPHERS
Chris Corsmeier
Art Mochizuki

STAFF WRITERS
Communications and
Public Affairs Staff

Contact Us

Intake Magazine Publishing Offices
111 North Hope Street, Room 1520
Los Angeles, CA 90012

Contact carol.tucker@ladwp.com
for general and editorial inquiries.

Search

© 2018 LADWP All rights reserved.