Embracing the challenge

Randall McCartney was just finding his feet as Possum Kingdom Lake's new reservoir manager when the COVID-19 pandemic upended everything.

He'd only been appointed to the position with the Brazos River Authority three months prior, and now he was going to have to work remotely to oversee a team of about 40 people that preserve and manage the Brazos River basin's oldest lake and dam.

"You're being sent home to work remotely, but you still had guys that had to come to work every single day because of their roles," McCartney said. "They couldn't just pack the dam up and go home. They couldn't just pack the parks up and go home and work remotely."

There were challenges and hurdles, compounded by the influx of people that came to the already popular lake because they were either out of school, out of work, or were able to work remotely.

"People were leaving the metroplex to come to PK to escape the crowds, which, inadvertently, caused us to, I'm not going to say go into panic mode but caused us to have to really shift on the fly to adjust to social distancing and all these other measures that we had to do," he said. "The challenges of only driving 1 to 2 people per vehicle, still having to maintain the parks and the cleanliness of that, going from having restrooms that the visitors could use, to having to utilize Porta Johns for the safety of everyone, the park visitors, our workers, and the folks that came in and cleaned those facilities. So those were all unique challenges that I feel like we faced as a team. I really feel like our team came out in a very positive light. I feel like our team did very, very well adapting and rolled with the punches, so to speak."

The pandemic is just one example of the challenges that come his way. Each day as reservoir manager is extremely different. That's one of the challenges, but also, one of the perks, he said. There's no getting bored.

Possum Kingdom Lake, located on the main stem of the Brazos River northwest of Fort Worth, covers an area of 18,568 acres with 219 miles of shoreline. Completed in 1941, Possum Kingdom Lake's Morris Sheppard Dam is the oldest of the BRA's water supply reservoirs.

"You're dealing with everything from a real estate issue to a septic issue to issues in the park, equipment failure, projects that we're doing at the dam, working with legal, working with H.R. You're managing anything from projects to budgets to people to opinions and you're trying to find a way to cohesively make all that mesh," McCartney said. "At the end of the day, that's the biggest challenge. But it's also the most rewarding when you can look back and see all the hurdles and all the challenges that you face daily from a budgetary standpoint, a pandemic standpoint, all the different hurdles, supply chain hurdles, any of those things like that, and you see your team come together and work as one unit. I think it's extremely rewarding to look back and see how successful we've been as a team and as an agency as a whole because of the folks we have on our team. They're vital to the BRA mission."

Michael McClendon, BRA's upper basin regional manager, said he is grateful and appreciates all the experience McCartney brings. McClendon said that McCartney truly cares for the work-life balance of his employees and strives to improve the BRA daily.

"Randall wouldn't hit water if he was in the middle of the ocean and jumped off a sinking boat," McClendon said. "He would have developed a detailed plan ahead, reviewed it with his staff and coordinated it with management and simply called the back-up boat over to come pick him up. This is not Randall's first venture offshore. Randall's experience and time in the Marine Corps. and with the US Army Corp of Engineers, made him an easy choice to lead the staff at Possum Kingdom Lake. Randall inspires his staff. He motivates them and provides them the opportunity, direction, equipment, and latitude to succeed."

McCartney grew up in the Sommerville area. After high school, he decided he wanted to serve his country and enlisted in the United States Marines Corps, where he spent four years in active duty and four years in inactive duty. Upon returning home, he became a park ranger for the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers at Lake Sommerville while attending Texas A&M University. McCartney earned a Bachelor of Science in recreation, park and tourism sciences and was offered full-time work with the Corps of Engineers. His two sons later graduated from Texas A&M University, and his daughter graduated from Baylor University, where his grandfather played basketball and baseball back in the 1950s.

McCartney spent two decades with the Army Corps of Engineers, largely overseeing a wide variety of duties, including managing all aspects of recreation for seven multipurpose lakes, creating and maintaining several multi-million-dollar budgets, and communicating with stakeholders and the public.

Then McCartney started looking for a new challenge, which landed him at the BRA at the end of 2019.

"I felt that the BRA was a terrific fit for me, and the things that they stood for, their mission, their goals, those things, to me, were very appealing," he said. "It just offered a new challenge and a new perspective. No matter whether it was the Corps of Engineers or the Brazos River Authority, it's just the pride that you take in trying to do a good job and making sure that you're following your mission or your objectives or whatever goals that you and your agency are setting out to do what you do."

When he's not working, McCartney can be found hunting, watching sporting events, traveling, and spending time with his wife and three children.

"I'm trying to find that work-life balance to where I can invest in my kids and my wife the same way I try to with all of my employees and the agency as a whole," he said. "So, getting away and being able to recharge is vital to being able to come back and still try to be successful on a daily basis."