To learn how the waste and water system works at the Isle du Bois Unit of the Ray Roberts Lake State Park, ask Chris Sowell, the utility plant operator.
He can explain how the entire park’s system operates without missing a beat.
For the park's operations and functions for waste and water, it’s daily checks every day of the year: maintaining, fixing, testing, repairing and improving it to keep the water safe for use and consumption.
All the staff works diligently to keep the park maintained and operated.
“This is 24/7 consumption,” Sowell said. “We have two families that live here, the superintendent and assistant. Plus, we have hosts that are here. They live here, too. So, we have anywhere from four to six hosts, and there are multiple people living at each one of those campsites, and they're drinking the water every day. So, it's a nonstop thing with the water.”
Despite the demand, it’s a job he enjoys.
“It's a great park, and it's rewarding to provide and maintain that for our guests,” he said.
Before marrying his wife and moving to Texas in 2016, working at a park wasn't on his radar, nor was his current role as the utility plant operator, and he didn’t consider himself an outdoorsy person.
After serving in the Navy, Sowell pursued a career in IT.
Eventually, though, working in a cubicle became too stuffy.
“I was tired of being cooped up with the IT stuff,” Sowell said.
With rapid changes, Sowell found himself at a crossroads; he could either continue in IT or make a career shift.
Sowell chose a new path. “The field is changing so fast,” he said. “If you're not taking courses and getting certified or going to college, it gets hard to keep up with a younger crowd. And I wouldn't; I didn't have the fire for it anymore.”
Fast forward, a new opportunity arose when Sowell and his wife, walking the trails, stumbled upon IDB’s Career Day at the park.
During the presentation, a park staffer shared their enthusiasm for the park.
For Sowell, too much time has passed to remember specific names and faces, but what remains is the feeling he was left with.
“It made me feel like, yeah, I think I could really like this place, too,” he said. “And it felt good to be part of something that you like instead of just a job.”
It took time, however, for Sowell to land the job.
For two years, he applied several times to work at both the Johnson Branch and IDB locations, but eventually, his persistence paid off.
“I had probably six or seven interviews in both different places before I ever got hired,” he said.
He started at the seasonal level, which initially took a second for Sowell to get the hang of.
“There was so much to learn,” he said. “… It was like starting at a brand-new company in a whole new field.”
It was a challenge made easier with support from his leaders at the time.
He welcomed and persevered through the change.
“I had to really work hard because there's a lot of people so much younger than me, and I wasn't used to working physically outside for a long time,” Sowell said.
A change that took some time to adapt along with the Texas heat, but, Sowell added, “I adapted to it and got used to it,” before moving up to his current role.
Now, Sowell has been with IDB for nearly six years, four of those as the utility plant operator.
“[He’s] a real attention-to-detail type of guy, which is what we need in that role,” said Robbie Merritt, Ray Roberts Lake State Park superintendent. “He’s been working really hard to bring a lot of our aging systems up to code and where we need them and always working on the next project, trying to figure out what we need to get to make things better.”
Sowell takes pride in his work. “I am working on acquiring more advanced state licenses for drinking water and wastewater in order to better support IDB and the region,” Sowell said.
He plans to stay with the agency until he retires.
Many guests may never realize the behind-the-scenes work that keeps the park running smoothly, and Sowell is content with that, because as a ranger, their main priority is to “maintain the park for our guests, to come in and be safe, and to have a good experience to pass on down.”
“That's our mission,” Sowell said. “Every guest that comes in, we want them to have that type of experience.”
